Multicultural musings

The 2nd annual Yankelovich MONITOR Multicultural Marketing report presents some findings that any media maven might take a minute to contemplate. You can put a marketing spin on their findings to discover the silver lining in this cloud, but the implications for our civil society and the quality of life in our country are harder to spin as positives.

• There is an evolution of the Hispanic family underway due to the varying levels of acculturation and language proficiencies living under one roof. The Hispanic woman is now adding to the household income and making more decisions. The children are becoming the go-to persons for information about U.S. culture and society. And, the decision making process for Hispanics is a multi-generational group process in which every family member has input.
• In the African American market, the higher number of female-headed households contributes to more liberal attitudes about gender roles. And there are increasing numbers of African-American women who choose to remain unmarried and or childless.
• African Americans are pessimistic about their economic situation, feel out of touch with the current government, and have lost what little faith they might have had in corporate entities, but they still trust the brands that effect their lives. The Hispanic family puts the needs of the family before others. This cultural value is largely due to the lack of trust in outside institutions, which is common in Latin American businesses and government.
• The data suggests that both African Americans and Hispanics are showing signs of marketing frustrations.

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