Hispanics and Other Ethnic Markets Account for One-Third of Consumer Spending on Telecommunications

InSight: In 2006, US ethnic communities account for one-third of every dollar spent on consumer telecommunications services. The largest minority group, Hispanics, representing nearly 44 percent of the US minority population, spend the most. The ability to tap into the increased spending power of the Hispanic-American, African-American, and Asian-American communities will be crucial to the survival of telecommunications providers over the next five years.

The study emphasizes that the US Latino market is not one homogenous market; rather, it is made up of many markets. The study found that 68.3 percent of the overall US population owns cell phones, with White Non‑Hispanics having the highest ownership rate at 71.9 percent, followed by Asians at 71.3 percent, African Americans at 68.2 percent, and Hispanics at 60.6 percent. When sub-segmenting the Hispanic market, however, Insight found that English-oriented Hispanics nearly approach the overall market penetration rate at 67.5 percent.

The purchasing power that the Hispanic-American, African-American, and Asian-American communities exert in the telecommunications industry is not being ignored. Yet the cell phone companies that now spend millions of dollars on undifferentiated Spanish-speaking advertising campaigns that blanket the Latino community have missed the boat. The Hispanic community must be addressed with nuanced messaging appropriate to its internal diversity or those cell phone carriers simply won’t survive, .

US Hispanic Use of Telecommunication Services 2006-2011

Publ 20060920