¶ … Hispanics have become the largest minority group in the United States (Grow 2004). Like every immigrant group before them, they have faced obstacles assimilating and adapting to life in the United States; from overt discrimination to subtle discrepancies in lifestyle, life in a different nation than that of one's origin is never easy. Business practices have been significantly influenced by the Hispanic demographic, however, and in larger and more noticeable ways than any immigrant group before them. This essay will explore a few ways that Hispanics have influenced the business world as well as ways in which their difference in terms of background has been a factor in their treatment.
There are three major ways that Hispanics have influenced business practices: products demanded, languages available, and as business owners and entrepreneurs. These changes are especially significant because the type of demographic shift that the increasing numbers of Hispanics represents is unprecedented (Grow 2004). Companies have never had to adapt so quickly and in so many ways to accommodate such a large bloc of consumers.
The first category, products demanded, is rooted in the substantial purchasing power wielded by the Hispanic demographic. One study put this purchasing power at over $492.5 billion a few years ago, doubling the projections of the prior year (Dougherty 2001). An even more recent study put the disposable income number at $652 billion, a 29% jump since the former figures were issued (Grow 2004). While much of this cash is directed...
consumers, many products are specific to the Spanish culture; notably foods, music and decor. Growth in the Spanish-language media, such as Univision, has soared, increasing at a rate higher than that of traditional media (ibid.).
This influence of a certain culture on its second nation is part of any group's emigration; the "melting pot" of America requires that the American culture adapt and adopt practices and products of other cultures. Since the beginning of the United States, groups of immigrants have brought with them their heritage, language, likes and dislikes. These values and desires are quantified in the products they buy and the services they demand. In the case of Hispanics, this purchasing power has been referred to as influencing American culture "in the way rap exploded out of black neighborhoods in the late 1980s" (Grow 2004).
The influence of the Spanish language on the market is significant, as well, moreso than the native language of other groups has been. More Latinos are bilingual than any immigrant group in history, and their demand for Spanish-language media and marketing has greatly altered the market. Proctor and Gamble spent $90 million on advertising directed toward Latinos last year, adding a 65-person bilingual team in 2000 (Grow 2004). In addition to these marketing changes, the demand for Spanish-language services has increased exponentially. PacifiCare Health Systems, upon beginning to target Hispanics, found that they already constituted 20%…
