HISPANIC RACE IMPACT IN BUSINESS TODAY

Hispanic race Impact In Business Today

Hispanic race Impact In Business Today

Introduction

The US Census Bureau (2000) shows that more than one person in eight who lives in the USA is Hispanic, and the US Hispanic population continues to grow at a more rapid pace than non-Hispanic populations. By 2011, nearly one person out of every six living in the USA will be of Hispanic origin. Along with population increases, Hispanic purchasing power has jumped from $212 billion in 1990 to $798 billion in 2006 and will rise to almost $1.2 trillion by 2011, at which point it would account for 9.5 percent of all US buying power, according to a report by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia (Bridges, 1996) report also noted that US Hispanics' buying power will grow faster than any other ethnic group's in the USA. According to HispanicTrends.com (2005), despite their lower average income level when compared to the national average median income, Hispanic households tend to spend more of their disposable income on goods and services than non-Hispanics. Given the significant growth in the population and purchasing power of this group, Hispanics have become a attractive consumer group for marketers to target. Therefore, appealing to this consumer group and capitalizing on the estimated hundreds of billion dollars of annual sales potential might be a critical goal for retailers in today's competitive retail environment.

According to a report by HispanicTrends.com (2005b, January/February), in 2004, Hispanic households spent a greater share of their income on groceries, footwear, men's and children's apparel, gasoline and motor oil, and household textiles than other goods. Hispanic households spent, on average, $2,097 annually for purchasing apparel items in 2004, which accounted for 6 percent of their annual expenditure based on an annual income of $35k. These statistics support previous studies claiming that Hispanics enjoy shopping for apparel and spend significantly more money and time shopping than do other ethnic groups (Bridges, 1996). A DRI McGraw-Hill study (Bridges, 1996) also shows that Hispanics are expected to drive significant growth in apparel and shoe purchases. Previous research suggests that the substantial purchasing power of this consumer group, along with the increase in the population of Hispanics, may transform the existing apparel market and define the apparel market of the future (Bridges, 1996). However, despite the ever-increasing evidence of the growing impact and significant influence of Hispanic consumers on the apparel market, the apparel industry is currently one of the business sectors that spend the least amount of money marketing toward Hispanics. Moreover, little research has been conducted to investigate Hispanic consumers' apparel shopping behaviors. Thus, the present study focuses on Hispanic consumers and their apparel shopping behaviors.( Kwok, 2005)

Theoretical framework

Distinctiveness theory suggests that a person's distinctive traits in relation to other people in social contexts will be more salient to the person than other common traits. Researchers suggest that a person's ethnicity is a distinctive and salient trait that differentiates behavior (Bridges, ...