Nielsen: Latinas Control Spending Power, Love Smartphones

A new study has been published by Nielsen, the global information and measurement company best known for its television ratings, underscoring how important Latinas are for the future of consumer technology, as well as the U.S. economy in general. The report Latina Power Shift comprises metrics gathered on the powerful emerging U.S. demographic, including how Latinas interact with the modern world through technology and media.

Nielsen finds Latinas, or Hispanic Females in the United States, to be increasingly important for marketers, as well as in a unique position. "The modern Latina is 'ambicultural' with the ability to seamlessly transcend between English and Spanish-language - two cultures - giving her a unique position in our consumer landscape," said Mónica Gil, senior vice president, public affairs and government relations, Nielsen.

"Latinas are a key driver of economic influence, giving marketers an opportunity to establish new and loyal consumer relationships by acknowledging the needs and following the unique behavior trends of Hispanic women."

Latinas are expected to become one of the fastest growing female demographics in the U.S. over the coming years, making up about 17 percent of U.S. females by 2015, and growing to comprise as much as 30 percent of U.S. females by 2060. Along with that, Latinos are seen "outpacing Latino males in their educational pursuits and career development, are overwhelmingly the decision-makers in household spending... and through their youth and increased incomes have become an attractive consumer segment who is being actively courted by marketers," according to Nielsen's report.

On top of all that, Nielsen's study found that "Latinas are adopting and adapting all types of technology at a higher pace than U.S. females," including, but not limited to social networking.

For technology and media, that means more influence of the Latina over what kinds of products and services get made, and which ones succeed. Nielsen, for example, found that, while most decision about buying home electronics and personal electronics were made by both genders concurrently (at 50 percent), over a third of home electronics decisions are made just by Latinas in the household, compared to 17 percent primarily male Latinos. And, when it came to personal electronics - smartphones, tablets, and other devices like that - Latinas were the primary decision makers 38 percent of the time.

What do Latinas want out of their electronics? For the internet savvy, smartphones and social networking are a huge combination. Fifty-six percent of Latinas who share information across their communities in the U.S. and Latin America do so on social media platforms, and Latinas who use the internet regularly are doing it on mobile devices: "Online Latinas," says the Nielsen report, "are more likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to own smartphones at 77 percent (vs 55 percent)."

Text messaging, internet browsing, sharing Instagram photos (or other picture messaging services), and email were all smartphone-specific popular activities that Latinas outpaced non-Hispanic white female. Latinas are using online information to base majorities of their lifestyle decisions, product purchasing, and brand attention on.

Nielsen states that "It is inevitable that Latinas will strongly influence the U.S. new mainstream with their upward trajectory and growing impact on the future of families, media, technology and commerce." Some of that is already happening. For example, Jennifer Lopez has partnered with Verizon Wireless to open up a gadget boutique and wireless service geared towards Latinas called "Viva Movil." Expect more initiatives like that to pop up more and more, as the power of the Latina only grows with increasing numbers of young, ambicultural, internet-savvy purchasers of technology.