MRSI (Marketing Research Services Inc.) introduces a new Hispanic acculturation model to help marketers and advertisers more effectively segment the Hispanic market. This model goes beyond standard acculturation models that rely primarily on language preference and demographics, incorporating key attitudinal and behavioral dimensions. By incorporating these dimensions, the model can provide better insights on the Hispanic consumer, their perceptions, and their shopping behavior.
Acculturation is the process where cultural traits are adopted, lost, combined, and created. In turn, these traits have an impact on ideas, values, conventions, and behaviors.
The impact of acculturation can be far reaching. By understanding where a marketer’s Hispanic audience fits in MRSI’s acculturation model, he or she will have a more accurate assessment of the message nuances, brand imagery and media mix that’s most effective in reaching this audience and impacting purchase decisions.
MRSI’s vice president of Hispanic services, Miguel Martinez-Baco states, “Marketers and advertisers understand the tremendous buying power of the Hispanic market. So, the question is no longer ‘if’ they should target Hispanics, but ‘how’ to reach this audience effectively. When you look at what works and what doesn’t, you’ll most often find that successful Hispanic marketing campaigns are those that are culturally relevant to their intended audience.”
Martinez-Baco goes on to say, “Given this, we felt acculturation could be an extremely useful tool in identifying cultural nuances that could truly make the difference in the relevance and ultimate success of a campaign. Many models however, rely primarily on demographics which don’t paint the full picture of acculturation and specifically how this process impacts how a person behaves and interacts with the marketplace. So, we made it our quest at MRSI to develop a model that incorporates attitudinal and behavioral dimensions to give marketers greater insight into this group of consumers and at the end of the day help them segment and market to this group more effectively.”
For more information, listen to our recent podcast: Effectively Engaging Hispanics and the Role of Acculturation.