Univision Communications recently partnered with GfK Consumer Trends to compare Hispanic and non-Hispanic generation-mates and identify where Hispanics are leading total market trends. The research initiative, titled “Decoding Y: Millennials Revealed,” clearly makes the case for a total market strategy—or better said, a total millennial strategy.
For any marketer looking to reach millennials, Hispanics must be integral to your plans from the outset of research and planning and throughout the entire marketing funnel. You can’t expect to apply a one-size-fits-all strategy and effectively reach Hispanics. Instead, our research indicates there is room for core cultural values, such as traditions, which can be leveraged in synergy with the common values derived from being part of the same generation.
Here are a few key highlights of the study:
• Traditional Values Matter
We looked closely at GfK Roper’s value segmentations, called Value Scans, which help us understand what truly makes a segment tick. These segmentations revealed that at 21% of millennials, Hispanics mirror their peers in many top values. However, we found traditional values like respecting ancestors, cultural purity and faith to be more important to Hispanics than their general market peers.
Marketers can be more effective in designing communication programs targeting millennials when they factor in these nuances.
• Family Trumps Materialism
The power of culture, tradition and family really shined when we asked a pie-in-the-sky question of millennials: What would you do if you won the lottery?
Winning the lottery, particularly for Hispanic millennials, isn’t all about flash, glamour and bling. Instead, it’s about planning for the future and repaying those who have come before. Hispanic millennials were substantially more likely to say they’d use the money to buy a house for their parents, or save for their children’s education, whereas non-Hispanic millennials were more interested in traveling the world with their friends.
Having been in the business of studying Hispanics for a long time, this didn’t prove to be particularly surprising: Hispanics’ decisions often take into account emotion, familial respect and pragmatism.
• Traditional Family Roles and Definitions
There is more of a focus on shared household responsibilities, too, among this population. Hispanic millennials are at the tip of the spear in a shift to a more collaborative approach at home where many domestic activities such as child care, grocery shopping and household cleaning are viewed as shared responsibilities, probably because they count as social and family time.
We also find that the consumer mindset towards gay and lesbian marriages and families is changing very rapidly, and Hispanics, though from a more traditional background, are on par with their total market peers in being more open-minded.
We saw this confirmed in a recent telenovela, a historically traditional viewing genre, when Univision aired its first-ever gay wedding on Amores Verdaderos. The episode was the second-highest-rated in the entire show’s run among 18-34 year olds.
• Sphere of Influence
Lastly, our research has taught us that influence is not a zero-sum game. Of course, social media, mobile showrooming and digital content consumption are influential to young consumers in this day and age. However, for all millennials, the No. 1 source of influence in seeking opinions before buying a product is “asking family or friends” (82%).
In this analog, interpersonal influence trumps online reviews (76%) and mobile showrooming (64%). Once again, Hispanic millennials are at the core of this, given their proven cultural tendency to shop socially with family and friends.
You can follow Univision’s Hispanic Insights on Twitter@hispanic411.
