Household income, language proficiency closely tied to Hispanic internet use

Posted by Elena del Valle on May 18, 2011

Hispanic Internet Use Location by Language – click to enlarge

A large majority of Hispanics with an income of $50,000 and higher is likely to use the internet while only 59 percent of Hispanics earning $25,000 and under is likely to do so, according to the recently released results of a Mintel survey.

In the same report Mintel indicated that members of blue collar Hispanic households that responded to the survey exhibited minimal internet usage. Many of the individuals in these households worked in positions that did not require use of a computer or access to the internet.

Acculturated Hispanics who live in a household where at least some English is spoken are more likely to surf the web than their less or least acculturated Spanish dominant counterparts, according to the Mintel findings. Most (95 percent) of adults in English only households use the internet compared to only just over half of adults in Spanish only homes.

The researchers believe these Spanish dominant and low income Latino market segments are rife with marketing opportunities for internet use and promotion. Mintel, an international research company, surveyed 531 nationally representative U.S. Hispanic respondents aged 18 and older in October 2010 used to prepare the report, Hispanics Online.