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Survey: U.S. Latino internet usage
Recent research in to internet usage amongst U.S. Latinos has revealed
what experts are calling one of the largest ethnic gaps in the digital divide.
While Latinos comprise 14 percent of the U.S. adult population, just over
half (56 percent) go online. Compared to 71 percent of non-Latino whites and 60 percent
of non-Latino blacks there is a big drop off when it comes to the Spanish speaking
segment of U.S. society.
Pew Internet & American Life Project, along with the Pew Hispanic
Center, surveyed more
than 6,000 Latino adults by telephone, in both Spanish and English, and discovered
several reasons for their online absence.
The more educated a Latino was, the more likely they were to use the
internet. Those who did not complete high school made up just 31 percent of online
Latinos, whereas 89 percent of those with a college degree went online. The figures for
non-educated Latino users are actually fairly similar to non-Latino whites and blacks,
the difference being that a higher percentage of Latinos, 41 percent, fail to complete
their education.
Internet connections in Latino homes were found to be considerably lower
than their white counterparts with 79 percent of Latinos having a connection of some
sort, compared with 92 percent. The cost of broadband connections could well be a
barrier. The survey included questions on income and found that white respondents had
more income than Latinos which is reflected in just 29 percent of Latino households with
broadband compared to 43 percent of white adults.
Marketers need to keep the growing Latino community in mind. At present,
it is the fastest growing minority group in the U.S., and eMarketer recently predicted
that Latino online ad spending would soon show greater increases than general-market
online ad spending. They estimate that Latino growth would be around 32 percent, 7
percent higher than general-market.
“Even though many Hispanic Internet users speak English, they still
want advertising and online content that speaks to them in a culturally relevant
way,” said eMarketer
senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “Marketers will reach some Hispanic people by
advertising on general-market sites, but they should also consider sites that are in
English but are specifically aimed at the Hispanic population.”
by Helen Leggatt
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