Multiculturals’ Media and Shopping Experiences: Distinctions That Matter

Summary

MESH, an experience agency, sought to learn the ways that multicultural markets are distinct in their experiences with media, brands, and shopping.  MESH believes that a brand’s “share of experience” correlates more strongly to their share of market than measures such as share of voice. In order to looks at multicultural marketing through the lenses of multicultural experiences, MESH employed their Real-Time Experience Tracker. This method collects data from consumers online during “pre” and “post” phases and through a mobile diary for “real-time” measurement.  MESH uses SEP (SABEResPODER), a panel of over half a million U.S .Hispanics who complete surveys via SMS and the mobile Web, to conduct this research among Hispanics. Their research on the experiences of multicultural consumers revealed distinct patterns for particular groups:

• Asian-Americans tend to be more critical buyers who seek more information before making purchase choices. They found that newspapers – an “informative touchpoint” -- generate higher “positivity levels” for brands among Asian-Americans than in the general population.
• They found that African-Americans “experience more online and less TV” than whites and that they are more persuaded than whites by messaging about product characteristics.
• Billboards play a larger share of experience in the Hispanic community.
• Hispanics also feel more positively about and are more persuaded by print than non-Hispanic whites; local newspapers in Spanish are among their top three sources of information, and they are more likely to pay attention to printed coupons and promotions.
• With respect to shopping behavior, Hispanics plan their grocery shopping  more than other multicultural groups. To reach them, MESH concluded, “price and promotional messages are key.”