Trans-Adaptation: Sampling
Planning and executing against the right sampling frame is a critical component of any US Hispanic market research. Too often, market researchers quickly and oftentimes incorrectly oversimplify sampling within the US Hispanic market by assuming it is homogeneous. In fact, there are two common misconceptions that generally drive this action:
- The assumption that Hispanics of differing origins can be aggregated together as one singular cohort.
- The assumption that the DMAs with the highest population density of Hispanics are where most of the Hispanics live.
The truth is that there is vast diversity within the U.S. Hispanic market that can have an impact on the way you design research.
While 67% of the U.S. Hispanic population is of Mexican origin or decent, there are nuances within this segment depending on where they reside in the United States (i.e., Los Angeles vs. Houston) and what region in Mexico they migrated from. The remaining 37% of U.S. Hispanics also have very unique characteristics and differences that are often geographically driven as well.
| Nationality | Population | Percent of Hispanics |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 47,112,000 | 100% |
| Mexico | 31,518,000 | 67% |
| Central America | 4,240,000 | 9% |
| Puerto Rico | 4,005,000 | 8% |
| South America | 2,497,000 | 5% |
| Cuba | 1,790,000 | 4% |
| Dominican Republic | 1,413,000 | 3% |
| Others | 1,649,000 | 4% |
Depending on the category being studied, it is quite possible that the only attributes shared by Hispanics of differing backgrounds is the Spanish language. These considerations must be thought out and carefully planned for in conducting quality market research within the US Hispanic market.
A closer look at the top ten U.S. Hispanic markets and their compositions reveals three critical pieces of knowledge:
1.These consumers are geographically concentrated in key areas of the country: the top 10 Hispanic population centers represent nearly 60% of the total U.S. Hispanic population, the top 20 represent 72%.
Top 10 Markets (MM) – Hispanic Population
The population of US Hispanics is not geographically well aligned with the general US population meaning that samples should not be drawn the same way as a general market sample.
2. While the majority of these markets are heavily populated by Mexicans, two of the largest population areas (New York and Miami) have a more diverse makeup and are mainly comprised of Caribbean Hispanics.
Top 10 U.S. Hispanic Markets – Population and Penetration of the Market – Country of Origin and Descent
(Truncated. Click to view the full chart.)
Without careful consideration given to sampling, the sample may be too heavily weighted Mexican with other origins underrepresented.
3. The population density of US Hispanics (% of population of Hispanic origin) within a given market is not necessarily related to the actual magnitude of the Hispanic population within that market.
Top 10 Markets – Hispanic Population Density (Hispanic % of Total Population)
An uncontrolled “population density sample” will almost assuredly be too heavily weighted to Mexicans residing in Texas and will severely under represent markets such as New York and Chicago.