Not only are Hispanics the largest minority group in the United States, but Mexico is fast becoming our major trading partner, surpassing even Japan. In fact, the U.S. now has the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico, Spain, and Argentina. How has this demographic group transformed the U.S. into a bi-lingual nation within the span of a generation? Why do Hispanics resist assimilation and insist on speaking Spanish in public life? And how can businesses effectively reach the emerging Hispanic consumer market with its estimated puchasing power of USD1 trillion by 2010? These questions constitute the single-most important marketing challenge for corporate America in the twenty-first century. This book examines the Hispanic worldview and how it informs people's economic decisions, both in the United States and across North America. It challenges the viewpoint that American culture will soon dominate its NAFTA trading partners, looks carefully at the market for Hispanic goods in the U.S. and the market for our goods throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and shows how marketeers are now reaching the Hispanic community domestically. The information and insights found here are essential for teachers, students, and professionals in the fields of international finance and world trade, as well as almost all areas of business, marketing, and strategic planning.

Not only are Hispanics the largest minority group in the United States, but Mexico is fast becoming our major trading partner, surpassing even Japan. In fact, the U.S. now has the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico, Spain, and Argentina. How has this demographic group transformed the U.S. into a bi-lingual nation within the span of a generation? Why do Hispanics resist assimilation and insist on speaking Spanish in public life? And how can businesses effectively reach the emerging Hispanic consumer market with its estimated puchasing power of USD1 trillion by 2010? These questions constitute the single-most important marketing challenge for corporate America in the twenty-first century. This book examines the Hispanic worldview and how it informs people's economic decisions, both in the United States and across North America. It challenges the viewpoint that American culture will soon dominate its NAFTA trading partners, looks carefully at the market for Hispanic goods in the U.S. and the market for our goods throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and shows how marketeers are now reaching the Hispanic community domestically. The information and insights found here are essential for teachers, students, and professionals in the fields of international finance and world trade, as well as almost all areas of business, marketing, and strategic planning.

This book is about strategic thinking in Hispanic marketing. The size and economic importance of the Hispanic market in the US are attracting enormous attention. The buying power of the US Hispanic market is now larger than the GDP of the entire country of Mexico, and it is the second largest Hispanic market in the world. Businesses and institutions have launched major initiatives to reach this important segment. Yet, the number of qualified individuals who understand the market is small; and many of those already catering to the market still struggle to learn about its intricacies. This book is a cultural approach to Hispanic marketing. Each of the chapters describes and explains the cultural principles of Latino marketing. Recent case studies help marketers relate to the material pragmatically. The book integrates concepts and practical examples and provides critical guidance to discern between alternative courses of action. This book is not about repeating well-known statistics, but about the Hispanic market as a cultural target. It takes a profound look at the values, beliefs, and emotions of US Hispanics, which impact consumer behaviour. Each of the chapters has been the subject of public presentations and lectures to marketing professionals. It is their positive reactions as well as the authors¿ dedication to Hispanic consumers which motivated this book. Chapter 1: The Role of Culture in Cross-Cultural Marketing Chapter 2: Characteristics of the Hispanic Market Chapter 3: What Makes Hispanics ¿Hispanic¿ Chapter 4: The Role of Language in Hispanic Marketing Chapter 5: The Processes of Enculturation, Acculturation, and Assimilation Chapter 6 Cultural Dimensions and Archetypes Chapter 7: Culturally Informed Strategy Based on Grounded Research Chapter 8: US. Hispanic Media Environment and Strategy Chapter 9: The Evolution of Hispanic Marketing Chapter 10: The Future

A guide to succeeding in the Hispanic market that offers business owners tips for appealing to the three dominant Latino groups, influencing Hispanic teens, choosing the right market location, and more.

Hispanics and the Future of America presents details of the complex story of a population that varies in many dimensions, including national origin, immigration status, and generation. The papers in this volume draw on a wide variety of data sources to describe the contours of this population, from the perspectives of history, demography, geography, education, family, employment, economic well-being, health, and political engagement. They provide a rich source of information for researchers, policy makers, and others who want to better understand the fast-growing and diverse population that we call "Hispanic." The current period is a critical one for getting a better understanding of how Hispanics are being shaped by the U.S. experience. This will, in turn, affect the United States and the contours of the Hispanic future remain uncertain. The uncertainties include such issues as whether Hispanics, especially immigrants, improve their educational attainment and fluency in English and thereby improve their economic position; whether growing numbers of foreign-born Hispanics become citizens and achieve empowerment at the ballot box and through elected office; whether impending health problems are successfully averted; and whether Hispanics' geographic dispersal accelerates their spatial and social integration. The papers in this volume provide invaluable information to explore these issues.

A new history reveals how the rise of the Latino vote has redrawn the political map and what it portends for the future of American politics. The impact of the Latino vote is a constant subject of debate among pundits and scholars. Will it sway elections? And how will the political parties respond to the growing number of voters who identify as Latino? A more basic and revealing question, though, is how the Latino vote was forged—how U.S. voters with roots in Latin America came to be understood as a bloc with shared interests. In The Rise of the Latino Vote, Benjamin Francis-Fallon shows how this diverse group of voters devised a common political identity and how the rise of the Latino voter has transformed the electoral landscape. Latino political power is a recent phenomenon. It emerged on the national scene during the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s, when Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American activists, alongside leaders in both the Democratic and the Republican parties, began to conceive and popularize a pan-ethnic Hispanic identity. Despite the increasing political potential of a unified Latino vote, many individual voters continued to affiliate more with their particular ethnic communities than with a broader Latino constituency. The search to resolve this contradiction continues to animate efforts to mobilize Hispanic voters and define their influence on the American political system. The “Spanish-speaking vote” was constructed through deliberate action; it was not simply demographic growth that led the government to recognize Hispanics as a national minority group, ushering in a new era of multicultural politics. As we ponder how a new generation of Latino voters will shape America’s future, Francis-Fallon uncovers the historical forces behind the changing face of America.