L.A. County Is Hub of Nation’s Largest Latino Market by Far, Survey Finds
With spending that reaches $57 billion yearly, Latinos in Los Angeles and six other counties are the mighty giant of the $273-billion U.S. Latino consumer market, far surpassing the Miami and New York areas, according to a respected marketing firm that calls itself the national leader in such research.
The “1998 U.S. Hispanic Market” study, conducted by Strategy Research Corp. of Miami, is a detailed annual profile of the spending habits of a diverse and expanding Latino population that is estimated at 30.4 million nationwide.
The sprawling territory it defines as the Los Angeles market has about 6.3 million Latinos--4.4 million in Los Angeles County and the rest in Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern and Inyo counties.
The L.A. market far outranks New York’s 3.6-million Latino market, the second largest ($35 billion), and eclipses the $15-billion Miami Latino market, the survey said.
“This is the largest Hispanic market in the United States--where the trends start,” said David Thomas, the general manager of the western office of Strategy Research, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Market Facts, Inc.
Its survey draws on information whose sources include the U.S. Census, library research, academic and marketing journals and extensive door-to-door interviews.
Taken as individuals, it says, Latino consumers in the Los Angeles market have less disposable income than those in 15 other U.S. markets.
The Miami area’s 1.4 million Latinos have the greatest annual per capita buying power, $10,777. New York’s $9,685 per capita spending is ranked eighth highest, after such areas as Tampa, Santa Barbara and San Francisco. L.A. Latino consumers are 16th, with $9,013 per capita to spend, it said.
Though 78% of Latinos report using media in both languages, in immigrant enclaves such as Los Angeles, the thriving Spanish-language radio and television stations are a highly viable means of reaching the many less-acculturated Latino consumers, according to the research.
About 55% of Los Angeles Latino adults said they preferred advertising in Spanish, and 60% say they comprehend Spanish ads best. Fifty-two percent of the L.A. Latinos said Spanish ads were “more persuasive,” as opposed to 29% for English ads. Nineteen percent found ads in both languages convincing, the survey said.
Although English preferences will increase with the acculturation of each generation, the use of Spanish--and other foreign languages--is in the United States to stay, marketers predict.
“Nineteenth century Italian immigrants crossed an ocean and cut all ties,” Thomas said. “These days you can get on a plane, pick up a phone and reach all the way around the world. That makes it possible for family-oriented cultures to preserve their family-centeredness and that means preserving language.”
In addition, “there’s a global economy now,” Thomas said. “There is a value and dollar incentive to preserve languages, to speak a second and even third language.”
A snapshot of the region identified as the Los Angeles market finds that:
* The average size of the Latino households is four people, compared to 2.3 for non-Latinos. Most are of Mexican descent (76%) or Central American descent (10%). Mean household income is $44,658, Strategy Research said.
* The homeownership rate in the L.A. market is 40%. About 22% have personal computers, compared to 27% among Latinos nationwide. More than a third of computer owners have Internet access, it said.
* Top annual expenditures were for food and cars--$7.1 billion is spent on each--dining out ($3.9 billion), clothes ($1.9 billion), gasoline ($1.8 billion), furnishings and appliances ($1.8 billion), and drug stores ($900 million).
* Close to 100% of U.S. Latino households have televisions and about 80% have VCRs.
* In the Los Angeles market, cable penetration in Latino households is 48%. About 10% have large satellite dishes. Stereo ownership (64%) is relatively low. Many households have cars (88%) and vacuum cleaners (81%) but fewer have washing machines (66%) or air conditioners (56%).
* Sports games reportedly attended recently by L.A. Latino men were soccer (33%) and baseball (about 30%).
* Nineteen percent said they have purchased a telephone calling card, most often from a convenience store (34%) or a grocery store (29%).
Individual Latino buying power is affected by how much money is sent to families in the home country in the form of monthly remittances. In Miami, where personal disposable income is highest, 22% send an average of $188 monthly to relatives outside the United States, the survey said. In New York, 26% send about $180. In Los Angeles, 31% of Latinos report sending about $206. In Chicago, 25% say they send about $443, the survey said.
Among the sponsors of the survey were the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Spanish Broadcasting System and La Opinion.
Although the economically powerful Cuban community in Miami often enjoys a higher profile, the Los Angeles Latino community is far more representative of Latinos nationwide, Thomas said.
“Miami has very special circumstances,” Thomas said. “Castro exported the upper classes to Florida, and they brought many things with them the great majority of Hispanics didn’t--education, connections, assets, and a middle and upper class outlook.”
