Hispanic Power to Spend in U.S. Growing Rapidly

April 20, 2004 - A wake-up call to businesses: Hispanic purchasing power nationally is likely to hit $1 trillion by 2004, according to a Hispanic marketing report released Thursday.

But experts say spending on Hispanic advertising is still a fraction of what it should be, and a number of businesses are not attuned culturally to the diverse Hispanic market, said Loui Olivas, an associate management professor at Arizona State University, who compiled the report, called Datos.

"There are still corporations in denial of the growing Hispanic economic clout."

One of the exceptions is MasterCard, which many marketing experts consider a model for using television and other media to reach out to Hispanic consumers. Its commercials tie into family and sports, which strike chords with many Hispanics.

The Datos reports' $1 trillion estimate factors in spending by undocumented Hispanics and in Puerto Rico. Excluding those, Hispanic buying power is estimated to hit the $1 trillion market by 2010.

Companies, meanwhile, spend 3.2 percent of the marketing dollars to reach Hispanics, which make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.