Young Latinos Want Bicultural Content, Says Bilingual Channel

LONDON - JANUARY 27: In this photo illustration two young child watch television at home, January 27, 2005 in London, England. (Photo Illustration by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) (2005 Getty Images)

Young Latinos—ages 14 to 34—are eager for bilingual, bicultural content, says a new study co-sponsored by Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más—a bilingual, bicultural channel.

The Máximo report, conducted by Latino media and marketing firms Motivo Insights, LLC and the New Generation Latino Consortium (NGLC), focused on U.S.-born Latinos and those who had been in the U.S. for at least 15 years. Like most consumers, it found, these “New Generation Latinos” want to see content in which “they are the star”—i.e., to have their lives and interests represented.

But they’re not so concerned about the language of this content. The study also found that these consumers are language-omnivorous: 50 percent said they sought out more bilingual/bicultural programming, and over 30 percent said they looked for 'mainstream' English-only content.

This, the marketers wrote, was in contrast to older Latinos, higher percentages of whom tend to prefer Spanish-language content.

Some other insights:

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• Respondents felt they were better equipped to deal with the recession compared to Caucasians. The report says this is “mostly due to culturally based realities that give NGLs a slightly different perspective on finances.”

"Latinos for generations have been having to make dollars stretch," explains Gonzalo Perez, Principal and Founder of Motivo Insights. "And they have a history of not being too proud to take a job—or two or three jobs—to keep the family going."

• Seven out of 10 “think that seeing an English language commercial on Spanish language TV is a good thing.” (Translation: Bring on the advertising money, honey!)

• Peer-to-peer recommendations are important to this group. In fact, the study says, these young Latinos “are more likely to forward opinions and info about a brand compared to their Caucasian counterparts.” (translation: Bring on the social media advertising money!)

The study surveyed over 1,000 respondents online, and over 120 via video diaries and focus and discussion groups in New York, Houston and Los Angeles. Most were Latino, with a smaller portion of Non-Latino whites for comparison.