Influential Online Hispanic Consumers Super ‘E-fluentials’

Influential online consumers (”e-fluentials”) among Hispanics use the internet to not only connect with friends and family but also share views about products and brands - often in higher proportions than other e-fluentials, according to a Burson-Marsteller study, writes MarketingCharts.

Below, some key findings of the study.

Online Interaction High

“Hispanic-fluentials” spend more time interacting with others online - 30 hours per week, compared with the 25 hours spent by general-market e-fluentials (i.e., all e-fluentials) - view table of media/communication activities.

Compared with general-market e-fluentials, Hispanic-fluentials also…

• Have more offline interaction in face-to-face conversations - 30 hours vs. 21 hours.
• Communicate in person, on the phone, or online with more family members, friends and coworkers each day - 58 people vs. 45. Among female Hispanic-fluentials, the number jumps to 68.

“Hispanics cultivate the most extensive personal and professional networks both online and offline among the efluentials studied, attesting to the potential effectiveness of grassroots and viral campaigns,” said Theresa Rice, Director, US Hispanic for Burson-Marsteller.

Use of Email, Blogs

Some 66 percent of Hispanic-fluentials forward product recommendations by email, compared with just 28 percent of general-market e-fluentials. (View chart of email types forwarded by e-fluentials and Hispanic-fluentials.)

Hispanic-fluentials, more so than general-market e-fluentials, tend to forward the following types of emails:

• Product warnings (58 percent vs. 42 percent)
• Online information about causes (56 percent vs. 24 percent)
• Invites to events (64 percent vs. 35 percent)
• Retail promotion/sale info (46 percent vs. 29 percent)

About half (49 percent) of Hispanic-fluentials use blogs to tell others about product experiences; 39 percent of general e-fluentials do so.

Brand Loyalty

Some 87 percent of Hispanic-fluentials are loyal to their favorite brands, sharing positive brand experiences with an average of 23 people (compared with general-market e-fluentials’ 10 people). However (as seen in this chart), they also share negative brand experiences with more people (28 vs. 16).

Among Hispanic-fluentials…

• 84 percent are eager to warn others about problems with products and services (72 percent of general-market e-fluentials do so).
• Nearly three in four (72 percent) say they are more motivated to buy an environmentally friendly product - one in two general-market e-fluentials say so.

“Since Hispanic-fluentials share their opinions - both positive and negative - to an incredibly wide audience, keeping a pulse on word-of-mouth discussions in the Hispanic community is vital to managing a brand reputation among this community,” said Ashley Welde, Director of Research and e-fluential Programs for Burson-Marsteller.

Decision-Making

When deciding what to buy, Hispanic-fluentials are more likely than general-market e-fluentials to take into account…

• Customer service (92 percent vs. 77 percent).
• Recommendations from family and friends (83 percent vs. 69 percent).
• Promotions - 90 percent are more likely to pay attention to companies that offer them coupons, 72 percent are interested in companies that send emails with special offers.

About the survey: Burson-Marsteller commissioned MSI International to conduct an online survey of 1,013 US Hispanics, age 18+, 14.6 percent of whom (148 respondents) were identified as “e-fluentials.” Data was weighted to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total US Hispanic population.