BONUS CONTENT: Bringing to Life the Hispanic Millennial

NATIONAL REPORT — As researchers, we have noticed over the past few years that our clients are finding enormous value in understanding Millennials — in our case, Hispanic Millennials. There are thousands of articles, books, blogs, etc., that talk about Millennials. All marketers are paying attention to this audience and trying to tailor their initiatives to target them better.

But, what is really unique about the Hispanic-dominant and bicultural Millennial? Does this group behave exactly the same as the mainstream Millennial?

Ingenium Research Boutique decided to leverage its knowledge about this segment gained over the past years while conducting research for some of our clients, and complement this knowledge with some ethnos among Hispanic-dominant and bicultural Millennial respondents.

Our final outcome portrays the story of four very different Hispanic Millennials while, at the same time, it points out commonalities among them. 

Some of the most interesting insights identified are the specific differences between less-acculturated Hispanic Millennials vs. mainstream Millennials in terms of concepts such as narcissism,  the “Peter Pan” generation and “I want it now” — all of which are very common beliefs about the Millennial segment.

• Narcissism vs. Collectivism. Hispanic Millennials are not narcissists, as mainstream Millennials are usually described. This group has hectic lives and limited time for themselves, and as a key differentiator, they consider collectivism a very important value. When reaching out to this Hispanic segment, it is important to acknowledge their strong desire and need for acceptance, reassurance and validation that Millennials tend to look for.
• “Peter Pan Generation” vs. “Early Adulthood Generation.” Contrary to what is believed about mainstream Millennials who are perceived as “delaying” their passage into adulthood, Hispanic Millennials must mature fast as they tend to have children earlier and/or need to start providing for their families and themselves earlier. When designing marketing strategies, keep in mind that many young Hispanic Millennials are already parents of at least one child, work hard in order to provide for their families (and/or their parents), and may have matured faster than mainstream Millennials.
• “I want it now” vs. “I have to work hard to get it.” Millennial Hispanics come from a culture that has to work very hard in order to pursue the American dream — nothing is “fast and easy.” As immigrants, and because of language barriers or Hispanic stereotypes, this segment has learned to be patient and work hard when they want to accomplish a dream. As a marketer, acknowledge and celebrate with Hispanic Millennials their hard work and persistence when pursuing a dream. Marketing efforts can portray how your company can be their ally during the hard path to get where they want to go. 

Furthermore, it is also very interesting how this particular segment of Hispanics starts having different motivations compared to older Hispanic audiences.

• “I want to be successful” vs. “I want my kids to do better than me.” Older Hispanics tend to dream about their kids getting what they could not get (i.e. having my kids go to college and having good jobs). However, Millennial Hispanics tend to believe they still have the opportunity to succeed in life so their kids will be proud of them. We recommend marketers encourage and support Millennial Hispanics to pursue their goal of getting the proper education to get the job of their dreams. Marketing campaigns can talk about how your company can help Millennial Hispanics make their dreams come true.

Similar to mainstream Millennials, Hispanic-dominant Millennials look for convenience and affordability when selecting which retail channel to make their purchases. Convenience is defined by these Hispanics as: close to my home, has everything I need/one-store shop, and extended store hours.

The best selection of products is another key driver for this segment as they like to have the opportunity to compare various options and choose which they like the best. Price is important, yet quality also plays an important role.

Main stores cited as meeting these criteria are Walmart, Walgreens, Publix and Ross.

Editor's note: This Bonus Content story is a complement to the April 2014 Convenience Store News Consumer Insights Special Edition. Click here to see in-depth insights on why and how Millennials shop c-stores, mined from the 2014 CSNews Realities of the Aisle consumer research study.