In households where adults speak English less well, children often wield significant influence on purchase decisions, from choice of category or brand to playing the role of negotiator with vendors, Anderson notes.  Overall, two-thirds of the Hispanics in the U.S. who speak only English are children.

As a community, young Hispanics exert influence over some $930 billion in consumer purchasing power.  And the more acculturated their households become, the more their spending patterns resemble those of U.S. natives. 

Anderson cites data from Nielsen’s Los Angeles-based Homescan Hispanic Panel showing that households with members who have been in the U.S. less than five years make an average of 61 shopping trips per year, while households whose members have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years — or have U.S. natives — average more than twice that many.

Among Hispanic consumers in L.A., those who have been in the U.S. longer are also more likely to buy specially discounted items, Homescan data shows.  On average, a Hispanic household whose members have been in the U.S. for less than five years will devote 7.7% of its purchases to such “deals,” while an acculturated Hispanic home, whose members have been in the U.S. for 15 to 20 years, spends 36.2% of its grocery dollars on discounted goods.

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Learn more about marketing to Hispanic consumers in the U.S.: attend Nielsen’s Webinar, “Honey, We Acculturated the Kids: The Influence of Household Composition on Buying Behavior,” on November 5.

Read about multi-cultural marketing in the U.S. — also in the latest issue of “Consumer Insight.”

View the latest issue of “Consumer Insight.”