Products

Insider Intelligence delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About Insider Intelligence

Our goal at Insider Intelligence is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how Insider Intelligence came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about Insider Intelligence.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to eMarketer's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

$1.5 Trillion Spending Power of US Hispanics Has a Caveat

In the latest edition of its annual report, the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s business school pegged total buying power of the US Hispanic population at $1.539 trillion in 2018. Having added more than $500 billion since 2010, this figure is expected to grow nearly $400 billion more by 2023.

There is an important caveat, though. While the report said Hispanics accounted for 10.4% of total buying power in the US, that’s significantly smaller than their 18.3% share of the US population.

Despite having an above-average number of members, Hispanic households spend less than total US households do. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2018 “Consumer Expenditures Survey” showed Hispanic-headed households making average expenditures of $50,891, vs. $60,815 for total US households.

But average spending does tend to be higher among Hispanic households for certain categories. For instance, Hispanic households outspent their non-Hispanic counterparts for mobile phone service, at $1,313 vs. $1,125. Apparel and services was another category where Hispanic households outspent non-Hispanic ones, at $2,097 vs. $1,812. (An intriguing tidbit: Hispanic males ages 16 and older spent more than non-Hispanic males in that category: $409 vs. $335. But Hispanic females underspent non-Hispanic females: $497 vs. $590.)

Unsurprisingly, Hispanics make extensive use of digital resources when shopping.

In Q1 2019 polling by GlobalWebIndex, search engines received the most mentions when US Hispanics identified the resources they mainly use when “actively looking for more information about brands, products or services.” But more than one in four respondents included consumer reviews, social networks or product/brand sites.

Much of the advertising Hispanics see also comes via digital channels. Morning Consult polling from September 2018 asked respondents where they encountered the last advertisement they saw. For about half of Hispanics, the venue was digital, including social media (36%), online video (9%), a website (5%) or an email (3%). In general, 57% felt there was too much advertising on social platforms.

Hispanic consumers often combine shopping in-store with researching online. In January 2019 YouGov polling, US Hispanics were slightly less likely than total respondents to say they prefer researching and buying online, and a bit more likely to prefer researching online and buying in-store. But among Hispanics and others, a plurality voiced a preference for researching and buying in-store.

“For US Hispanics, shopping is a social experience,” said Roberto Ruiz, executive vice president of research, insights and analytics at Univision. “It goes deeper than just a trip to the store to buy what’s needed.”