Research and Statistics

Week 5 entry 1

Wow!  I was setting up my Linked-In account and read an article about Non-Verbal Latino Communication & Social Networking by Ricardo Lopez and it caught my attention.  I learned through firsthand experience in my travels through Mexico and South America that Latinos communicate using their emotions and spirit, and use non-verbal communication to express themselves.  Lopez states, “…I am a market researcher, and we are in the business of generalization.”  This view differs from the goal of ethnography of understanding the culture as a whole, and not making generalizations.  Lopez believes Hispanics in the U.S. use non-verbal communication and gut feelings in nearly all personal events.  Latinos rely on non-verbal communication cues including facial expressions, physical touch, voice pitch, and physical and emotional appearance to express emotion.  Smell also plays a role in communication.  Many Hispanics use perfume to represent their personality.  Other fragrances communicate something about themselves, like how much they care about their family.  I could relate to the example of using Fabuloso as a cleaning product.  Most Latinos admit Fabuloso is not a good cleaner, but the main purpose of the product is the smell which shows how a woman takes care of her house and family.

Latinos have been able to participate in the non-verbal online social networks like Mi Gente, Facebook and MySpace.  These online networks allow users to reveal personal expression through non-text mediums of video, chat, music, personal status updates, and photos, and are successful because they enable the user to show their more personal and emotional sides.  Communication over the internet has not taken advantage of these new methods of communicating, which fit with Latino consumer preferences.   Current research with questionnaires is boring and unappealing to Latinos.   One suggestion is to administer surveys through a webcam to see physical gestures and non-verbal communication.  Technology needs to allow Latinos to complete online surveys in more comfortable manner.  Online marketing seems like an area to explore to attract future consumers.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 20th, 2009 at 11:15 pm and is filed under hispanic marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.