NEW YORK — Spanish-dominant Hispanics like store brands, but are less likely to buy them compared with their more acculturated counterparts, according to a new study from the Food Marketing Institute.
About half (49%) of Spanish-dominant households agree that private label offers a “great value,” while 55% say private label is about as good as national/international brands.
Yet about one-quarter (23%) said they rarely buy them, compared with 14% of English-dominant Hispanic households who said the same, according to the study, which was commissioned by FMI, executed by New American Dimensions and sponsored by Marketing Management Inc.
The difference between English-dominant and Spanish-dominant preferences is most likely due to the geographic distribution of Spanish-dominant households and their lack of transportation, Diane Huth, a sales executive at Valassis Sales and Marketing, said in a presentation at FMI's Private Brands Summit here last week.
“It probably has to do with limited access to stores that sell private label,” she said.
(Huth presented the research for FMI; Valassis was not involved in the study.)
The findings should be a wake-up call to retailers to do more to get Hispanics into their stores and buy private label, she said.
“Hispanics arrange for transportation to Wal-Mart. They should be doing the same for your stores.”
Called “Se Habla Isn't Enough: Private Brands Among Hispanics,” the research is based on 1,000 telephone interviews of primary grocery Hispanic shoppers in the Top 10 Hispanic markets. About 60% of respondents were first-generation Hispanics; 20%, second generation; and 20%, third.
The study shows that higher-income Hispanics purchase private label more often than others. One-third (33%) with incomes greater than $55,000 said they purchase private label “fairly often,” compared with one-quarter of those who make less than $25,000.
Among other top-line results:
More than one-third (37%) said they're purchasing more store brands today than one year ago, and 25% said they plan to buy even more in the coming year.
Hispanics spend about $86 a week on private label. Nearly one-quarter (24%) spends $101 or more in all outlets.
Private-label categories purchased “every time” or “fairly often” are dairy (54%), paper products (41%), cleaning supplies (34%), hot/cold cereal and breakfast items (34%) and carbonated beverages or bottled water (34%).
A strong majority (83%) shop more than once a week in their primary store format, amounting to 26 shopping visits a month to all store formats.
“They shop every single day,” Huth noted.
37%
of Hispanic customers report buying more private label this year than last year.
Source: FMI