How the Recession impacts you and I as consumers may be quite different than it impacts Hispanic consumers according to the MediaPost article "Marketers say Hola! To Hispanic Consumers". The interesting facts that are pointed out can lead you to some additional revenue streams and to not committing cultural suicide when you interact...
"America's 45.5 million Hispanics have been particularly hard hit since the U.S. economy went off the rails. Unemployment among Hispanics shot up in March to 11.4%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, compared with 8.5% for the U.S. population as a whole. But Hispanic consumers are less likely to be hobbled by mortgage or credit-card debt, and tend to have two or more income earners in a household, according to market researcher Experian Simmons. What's more, Hispanic consumers typically like to buy products and services from brands advertised on TV, according to a consumer survey that Experian conducted last year for the Hispanic television and radio company Univision Communications.
As one might expect, Hispanic consumers spend heavily on the basics, including packaged goods and wireless phone services. "Their disposable income might be lower," says Kelly McDonald, a Dallas-based marketing consultant, "but Hispanic consumers spend a far greater percentage of what they have" than the rest of the U.S. population.
Since General Mills began buying more ads in Spanish-language media, it says sales of its Progresso, Honey Nut Cheerios, and other brands have soared. Besides putting Hispanic TV stars in its commercials, General Mills has been sending a quarterly magazine to 350,000 Latino homes, featuring recipes made with its products."
The interesting statistic to me is that companies like General Mills have tripled their Hispanic Ad Spend because they have experienced double digit sales gains.