Speaking the Right Language in Hispanic Marketing

For the last forty years, U.S. Hispanic marketers have preached to corporations that the most effective way to reach the Hispanic segment is by using Spanish, and by leveraging the cultural nuances that make Hispanic consumers different from the Anglo population.

Just a few months ago, the Hispanic marketing industry announced that language alone—
English or Spanish—would no longer define Hispanic marketing. Instead, it proposed a new conceptual (not empirical) model based on the “Latino Identity,” centering on a set of complex, interrelated and changing cultural values. Surprisingly, it also claimed that language and acculturation would play a supporting role as opposed to a defining role in Hispanic marketing. But is this correct?

A central question in Hispanic marketing continues to be—what role should language and acculturation play in Hispanic marketing? The fact that the industry has proposed a new framework centering on cultural values and has explicitly said that, “language and acculturation will no longer define Hispanic marketing” requires a closer look. The implications on marketing strategy are huge.

Language: a Defining Factor for Hispanic Marketing

Undoubtedly, the role of language in culture has been a source of great debate—and controversy—for decades. Two researchers who have had a significant impact on this subject are Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, who brought attention to the relationship between language, thought, and culture back in the 1930s.

Although neither of them wrote what researchers have termed “the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis,” researchers, however, agree that culture is shaped by language, which in turn shapes the way that humans categorize their thoughts about the world and their experiences. As initially expressed in The Status of Linguistics as a Science (1929) by Edward Sapir, himself:

“… the real world is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached …”

Language is central to the understanding of human thought and behavior. Ironically, Hispanic marketing has grown into a billion-dollar industry not by minimizing the importance of language, but rather by getting corporate America to believe that there are linguistic differences between U.S. Hispanics and Anglos that need to be addressed.

These differences are not minor but significant, as the Hispanic marketing industry has strongly advocated for years that organizations interesting in reaching the U.S. Hispanic population effectively: (1) develop separate marketing efforts with incremental funding, (2) capitalize on the unique (Hispanic) cultural insights, and (3) communicate their message in the so-called language of preference (Spanish), if they were to succeed.

Moving the discussion away from language doesn’t really make sense, particularly when this strategy has worked so well. So, why the sudden change?

Changing the language in Hispanic marketing was not done by mistake, but rather by necessity. Recent statistical data has shown that the U.S. Hispanic market is not only Spanish-speaking, but English-speaking also. Much of the Hispanic segment today speaks English in addition to Spanish, and the traditional way of conceptualizing the U.S. Hispanic segment no longer is congruent with the changes in the demographic landscape.

Language—whether it’s English or Spanish—should not be the only variable that is used to define Hispanic marketing, but language should continue to be a defining one. After all, language will continue to shape the reality of all Hispanics in this country, whether they speak Spanish, English, or both.

Acculturation: Measuring Change in the Hispanic Market

Acculturation deals with the social and psychological changes in which there is continuous contact and interaction between individuals from different cultures.

The acculturation framework that most academics favor today proposes that acculturation is comprised of two independent dimensions: (1) the maintenance of the culture of origin and (2) the adherence to the dominant or host culture. Cultural maintenance is defined as the extent to which individuals value and adhere to their culture of origin.

Central to this construct is the strength with which individuals value the maintenance of their cultural identity and culture of origin. This second dimension intends to capture the level to which individuals become involved and value the culture of the host country. This dimension theoretically ranges from full participation to complete rejection of the dominant culture’s values, attitudes and behaviors. These two dimensions create a theoretical framework that allows individuals to live in two worlds.

Acculturation affects the majority of U.S. Hispanics, whether they are immigrants or third generation Hispanics. Stanford University professor, Amado Padilla, examined the cultural orientation across three-generations of Hispanic adolescents. This study found that the Hispanic cultural orientation decreases across three generations, while orientation to the American cultural orientation increases linearly.

What this means is that as Hispanics acculturate, they tend to lose some of their Hispanic cultural values (but not entirely), while gaining cultural values that traditionally define the host country (e.g., the United States). This study supports the bidimensional conceptualization of acculturation, mentioned above. More importantly, however, this study supports the notion that the adherence to cultural values changes with time, and that one’s cultural orientation is rooted in two cultures, not one.

Acculturation is useful in measuring the changes that take place in the lives of U.S. Hispanics. Acculturation can help define the ‘Hispanic experience’ in the United States accurately, and minimizing its role in marketing can only help create a false sense of reality. Acculturation can help measure a market that is changing—a market that is, in fact, heterogeneous.

At the same time, bidimensional acculturation poses a threat to the current business model for Hispanic marketers because this construct helps dispel the view that Hispanics are homogeneous in language and culture. Bidimensional acculturation measures the extent to which an individual adheres to the host (Anglo) culture and the culture of origin. Changing the language in Hispanic marketing is about changing a Spanish-centric business model that no longer fits the changing cultural landscape.

Does the Shift in Rhetoric Signal a Change in Marketing Strategy?

Absolutely not. Much of the industry’s growth has been based on the popular, but over-simplistic monolinguistic and monocultural view of the U.S. Hispanic market.

Significant growth can only happen when the diversity within the U.S. Hispanic market is openly discussed, prompting marketers to broaden its strategy in targeting all U.S. Hispanics. This approach will move beyond the ‘in-language, in-culture’ approach the industry has used for so many years.

Changing the conversation in Hispanic marketing is badly needed; most of us would agree. But Spanish language is a defining factor in Hispanic marketing. English will inevitably play a larger role in the future, but it has not significantly changed the marketing landscape, thus far.

Creating a new model based on the “Latino Identity” has not solved anything. It changes the conversations, but does very little to address the changing multicultural landscape. As Yogi Bera once said, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” At this point, the Hispanic marketing industry is on the same path it was on. Different rhetoric. Same language.