Under the general rubric of advertising in the United States there is an increasing concern about marketing toward certain cultural and attitudinal subgroups. One of the most visible and growing groups that advertisers have become aware of has been the Mexican-American, or Hispanic, market.
This research will consist of a review of the literature on the subject of the Hispanic market. It will be comprised of a five-part study that will identify the Hispanic market through demographic analysis, review the manner in which advertisers have portrayed Hispanics, and look into the tactics that advertisers use in order to market to that intrinsic market.
The purpose of the paper itself is to show that contemporary American corporations have become increasingly cognizant of the fact that the Hispanic market is growing and changing, and provides a vital and necessary marketplace for a wide variety of products. The Hispanic market has significant buying power, and the intent of change in attitudes, cultural modifiers, beliefs and behaviors has a substantial impact on the way advertisers have changed their strategies in order to more effectively harness the wide range of possibilities in a unique and strong market.
One of the most evident characteristics of the Hispanic market is its rapid growth. Although there are large clusters of Hispanics in most major urban areas, the Southwest and Western part of the United States holds the largest concentration of Hispanics. In general, the ethnic background of a given population affects the consumption habits of many population clusters. For instance, one author noted that Hispanics spend more on food than other American groups, and are also more likely to spend money on home remedies (Weiss, 1988, pp. 128-129; Sullivan, 1985, pp. 7-32). This paper will now turn to a more detailed examination of those clusters, and analyze some of the patterns of consumption engendered by such an ethn...