Computer Ownership Surges Among Latino Households

Computer ownership by U.S. Latino households grew by 68% during the last two years, outpacing the 43% increase in the general population and further narrowing the digital divide, according to a new survey.

The survey by Cheskin Research of Redwood Shores, Calif., found that 42% of U.S. Latino households now have a computer, compared with 60% in the general population. Although the main reason given by those who don’t was cost, the survey found that lack of knowledge of the technology was also a top concern.

Those findings are significant because they indicate that more aggressive marketing, easy Internet access and education efforts could further narrow the gap that is keeping many minorities out of the “new economy.”

Forty-five percent of Cheskin’s 2,017 survey respondents could not name a computer brand unaided. Of those brands mentioned, Apple/Macintosh topped the list, but that awareness did not translate into a purchase preference.

Of the Cheskin respondents who are online, 43% had made a purchase, and of those who do not shop online, the primary reason given was lack of trust in the process.

The telephone survey, conducted in Spanish and English, found a “prevalent use of English” on the Internet and a preference for general market portals over the emerging group of Latino market portals. Fifty-eight percent of consumers online used Yahoo and 52% America Online. A little more than 10% chose the bilingual, Phoenix-based Quepasa.com, 6% chose Spanish- and Portuguese-language StarMedia, and 5.5% chose Spanish-language El Sitio and Yupi.

However, the Cheskin survey suggested that more Spanish-dominant users will come online as Spanish-language content broadens and they gain access to the technology.

A separate survey of its customers by New York-based StarMedia Network Inc. found that about three-fourths of U.S. users preferred Spanish-language content.

The network reaches users throughout the U.S. and Latin America.