Beyond the usual

Editor’s note: Claire Rose is qualitative manager at The Blackstone Group, a Chicago research firm.

The estimated 40 million Hispanics in the U.S. represent an incredibly lucrative market for providers of products and services ranging from wireless telecommunication products to personal finance. More and more research clients acknowledge this market and are trying to find ways to tap it.

However, clients are finding that the currently accepted research methods they use in the general market are not as easily adapted to Latino research. Language is one obvious barrier and unfamiliarity with technology is another.

While younger Latinos are straddling the bilingual divide with ease, many older Latino men and women have no need to speak English or surf the Internet. They get their news from Spanish-language television and newspapers. Spanish soap operas, game shows and musicals satisfy their need for entertainment. Computers generally are not an integral part of their lives.

Are technical tools working?

This creates a conundrum for market researchers. How do we serve our clients and meet their demands for increased utilization of technology-based survey tools to reach a market segment hesitant to use or uninformed about those very tools?

With large and diverse Hispanic populations, Chicago and Miami represent pivotal markets for recruiters and moderators. What are they seeing and hearing? How are they using technology to reach Spanish-dominant respondents? Or, are they using it at all? I asked several Latino moderators and recruiters in these two markets what part technology plays in their work. Each of them has a slightly different take on the topic of if, when or how technology-based research gathering tools and techniques can be used to get the information clients are clamoring for.

In terms of using technology to reach Spanish-dominant respondents, one Miami-based moderator was basically pessimistic, yet had also experienced the possibilities. “As a rule, the average income for Hispanic families falls below that of the general market across most areas. As a result, few Hispanic households have computers,” she says. “Therefore, as a group they tend to be less computer savvy. The Internet hasn’t made as big an impact on Hispanics in the U.S., particularly in the 40+ age group, as the general market.”

This same moderator, however, had experienced the Internet’s potential as an effective interview tool. “I was contracted by a British firm to conduct an online focus group with men in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico who had logged-on to the firm’s Web site and registered. We e-mailed this universe of names and asked if they would participate in the online group. I had entered the discussion guide beforehand so when I was ready for the next question, I didn’t have to type it, which saved time. During the online surveying, as I was ‘talking’ to the respondents, the client in the U.K. was looking at what we were typing. They could send me messages and I could ‘talk’ to them, as well as the technical support team located in Seattle, on a different screen. By the end of the session, I had a transcript of the entire conversation to print and translate for the client.  Although our response wasn’t spectacular, it was an interesting experience. Respondents received an online gift certificate.”

Hispanic Internet use growing fast

Another researcher from Miami had a much more optimistic view. “Hispanic Internet usage is growing fast. Hispanics tend to be more honest with their personal information and their opinions tend to be less polarized than the general market. Hispanics feel honored to be asked their opinions and they value sweepstakes and prizes more than the general market.

“Depending on the project, we use different approaches. For regular focus groups, we provide a laptop for each respondent, give general instructions, let them navigate, and discuss normally about clearness, user-friendliness, content, graphics, etc. We hook up a laptop to a projector and one person navigates according to others’ instruction, then we discuss normally. We instruct respondents to navigate the site at their homes, beforehand, so they come with their impressions and comments ready to go.”

For quantitative studies, this researcher uses one of three different approaches. “We send e-mails to respondents from a list, ask them to complete the attached interview and send it back, with the promise of an incentive. We send e-mails and instruct respondents to click a link that takes them to a Web site we’ve set up with the survey. Or, we work with the client to include a link or a pop-up screen on their company Web site so surfers are taken directly to the survey. Better lists are a must for Internet focus groups. Group surveying will grow, but slowly.”

Blending traditional and technological

The most successful use of technology was accomplished by blending traditional random pulse-taking and helper-assisted laptop surveying.

According to a very optimistic Chicago-based recruiter, “We recently were quite successful in conducting an all-male, technological-based survey on a street corner in a heavily Hispanic Chicago neighborhood. We set up several sidewalk stations for laptops on which a self-administered online survey was loaded. There were no open-ended questions and no typing was required-all respondents had to do was highlight a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer and click.

“We found that English-speaking participants generally agreed to take the survey without hesitation. Spanish-speaking-only participants had more difficulty, but were still interested in participating. We kept the process simple. If respondents couldn’t read or didn’t understand English, a helper assisted them. They were read the questions and instructed to either click ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Many of them were scared to death, but once they were walked through the process, they were patient, wanted to do it right, enjoyed it and were very proud of themselves once they’d completed the survey. We ended up surveying 40 participants. I think this same type of set-up could easily be conducted in an office setting.”

Time for out-of-the-box thinking

So what’s the answer for using technology to reach and expand the Spanish-speaking market? Maybe it’s time to encourage out-of-the-box thinking. We need to be looking at approaches like:

  • Allowing younger English-speaking relatives to accompany and help older respondents in focus group or quantitative survey situations. Respondents may feel more comfortable with their younger counterparts present to help them through the process. This method should only be used if technology is not the focus of the study, merely the vehicle through which data is collected. Minimum age requirements, education levels and English-speaking skills of the relatives should be approved by the client.
  • Partnering with Hispanic community centers and religious institutions to offer educational sessions on how to use the Internet as a premium for participation. The research process will be strengthened by a partnership with trusted community leaders and institutions. This approach to data-gathering would offer mutual benefits to all. The research provider would gain greater acceptance of marketing research in the Hispanic community and learn more about the community by partnering with a community institution. The community centers and institutions would benefit financially and perhaps gain more contacts in the community. And, of course, participants would learn something new or have a chance to increase their computer skills.
  • Hiring programmers and Web site designers who know about the cultural differences between the Hispanic communities. Knowing what is aesthetically and linguistically pleasing to a Latino of South American descent versus one of Puerto Rican descent, for example, is a sensitivity that is difficult to teach and even more difficult to demonstrate on a Web site. The goal would be to develop appealing Web sites designed specifically to speak to one of the communities or designed to speak to all the communities, depending on the requirements.

Help us to respond

Creative thinking, respect for the many cultures represented by the Latino community, and educating ourselves about cultural dislikes and preferences to incorporate into our research methodologies to make them more appealing and interesting will help us respond to our clients’ growing awareness of the importance of this market.