Editor’s note: Marta Villanueva is president at market research firm NuThinking, San Antonio. This is an edited version of a post that was originally published under the title, “Lost in translation? 8 best practices for conducting online research with Hispanics.”  

Online research with Hispanics can provide you with breadth and depth in consumer understanding. This thriving community forms a veritable goldmine for online research for several reasons: frequent smartphone use, security issues in Latin America and a particular affinity for social media. According to Pew Hispanic Research, Hispanic adults report going online "frequently," so they are often plugged in. If you want to get the most out of working with this demographic, you need to first delve into the intersection of culture and technology. 

Both are critical elements to consider when catering to a Hispanic audience. Use the principles below to achieve the greatest success when conducting online research with this demographic.

1. Work with a moderator who understands cultural nuances and online research. An experienced moderator can skillfully navigate the idiosyncrasies of Hispanic culture, including the following:
  • Time is more of a working suggestion than a hard rule. Fixed appointment times are often considered flexible by Hispanics. You can work with this tendency by conducting a raffle or asking participants to be prepared much earlier than the actual start time. Have a plan in place like adding time between interviews for those who show up earlier or later than kickoff. 
  • The collective is prioritized over the individual. If understanding the family dynamic is a key element of your study, you may benefit from having kids and other family members involved in the webcam session. Otherwise, you should consider asking respondents to make alternate plans for the children during webcam focus groups/interviews. Even with clear instructions, you may end up with some family visitors. Turn this into an opportunity to observe and learn. A “permanent” visitor can be a radio or TV going in the background. Supply specific instructions for the day of the discussion to minimize this and other distractions.
  • Deference of authority can get in the way of honesty. Hispanics often defer to someone with authority or higher status. For this reason, the moderator should avoid being perceived as an authority figure. Otherwise, the responses may be highly biased. To ensure a level playing field, be mindful of your attire, body language and tone during webcam interviews or introductory videos posted on bulletin boards. 
  • Building rapport is imperative. The absence of eye contact and handshakes means you will need to compensate in other ways to establish rapport. Despite the physical limitations inherent in digital communication, you want participants to be at home in the discussion. They should feel like welcome guests sitting on your sofa, chatting over a coffee. It’s tempting to rush through the intro or skip it entirely when you have a packed discussion guide. Slow down and dedicate some time to making your respondents feel like guests in your home. That means you need to allow for storytelling, tangents and talking about their family. It will help them answer more easily and honestly. Alternatively, set-up a test/run through session to build rapport and break the ice before the actual session. This will help to establish rapport and work out any tech issues before going live. 
  • Communicating in-language includes incorporating cultural nuances. Pay attention to body language (despite webcam limitations) and determine whether to communicate using formal (usted) or informal (tu) language when asking questions in webcam sessions or writing responses in a bulletin board or chat group. Moderating should go beyond in-language communication – it should also interpret and incorporate cultural particularities.

2. Empower respondents to express both positive and negative feedback. Hispanics can tend to provide responses that are both overly optimistic and socially acceptable. For example, when asking participants to use a 5-point scale (5 being the most positive) to rate marketing materials, you’ll receive plenty of 5 and 4 ratings. An experienced moderator will effectively compensate for this tendency (i.e., forced choices, trade-off techniques, projective techniques, etc.). Probing is critical to understanding the true significance behind their responses. Through probing, you may learn that a 4 rating means they are not overly impressed. 

3. Consider respondent language preferences for optimal interactions. Screening for identification to culture, language, acculturation and other cultural filters is key to determining the best way to segment U.S. Hispanic sessions. You should ideally separate the sessions based on language (Spanish dominant, bilingual, English dominant). You may also need to look at comfort levels in speaking, reading and writing to ensure participants are fluent conversationally (webcam sessions) and/or in written forms (online bulletin boards/chat groups). This will give you the best shot at full respondent participation. If you simply cannot hold the sessions separately, you can include English dominant and bilingual or bilingual and Spanish dominant in one bulletin board/webcam group/chat group. However, optimal interaction among U.S. Hispanics must consider the following:

  • English, Spanish or Spanglish. While screening for the study language is important, you need to expect some switching between languages. Accommodating the switch from English to Spanish and vice versa can allow you to go deeper, especially with bilingual participants. So, bring on the Spanglish! Bilingualism is on the rise in the U.S. and will likely affect future generations. Your moderator must be able to integrate a fluid switch between languages. 
  • The need to call out segment differences. Keep in mind that mixing bilinguals with another segment may not allow you to call out segment differences in webcam focus groups. By using a bulletin board, you can tag based on these characteristics, allowing you the opportunity to identify unique differences. Another way to uncover differences is with individual webcam interviews.
4. Account for special considerations when recruiting Hispanics for online research. An experienced recruiter will adjust for cultural complexities. Don’t be shy – ask for specifics about the experience of culturally-tailored recruitment. Some recruiters may not have a large enough database and/or resources to recruit Spanish-dominant Hispanics or those in Latin America. You may benefit from hiring multiple recruiters, working with an in-country recruiter and/or an independent recruiter.
  • Work with bilingual recruitment staff. If your technology partner offers to manage the recruit, make sure that they have a fluent Spanish speaker on staff or plan to have a team member bridge the gap. Loose time considerations come into play for recruiters too, especially in Latin America. You just need to expect that things will take longer. For example, plan for an additional week when recruiting in Latin America. Daily profile updates may also prove to be a challenge. Clearly spell out your expectations right from the jump and be ready to compromise. Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) members tend to be familiar with U.S. best practices – take this into consideration when hiring a recruiter in Latin America as this can ease the process. 
  • Literacy can vary widely among Hispanics. It is not unusual to have a range from elementary level to post graduate education in a U.S. Hispanic study – when education is not accounted for, that is. In the U.S., pre-tax annual household income is a widely used standard. But in Latin America, there is a wide gap between household incomes, and it is a rarely used statistic – most importantly, that information is considered totally confidential. For this reason, socioeconomic status features prominently in Latin American recruitment. It necessitates many questions to ensure accuracy, down to including the number of light bulbs in the house (really). Screening Latin Americans for socioeconomic status will result in a more uniform level of education. Use detailed exercises when screening to ensure the respondents are articulate, literate and competent with the study technology. 

5. Offer in-language support services. Providing Spanish tech support is critical when working with participants in Latin America. Your tech support must be ready to address issues in technology, connection, participation, etc. Along the same lines, you also need to provide adequate simultaneous interpretation. For English-speaking observers, the moderating is only as good as the interpreter. An experienced moderator should provide recommendations for a simultaneous interpreter who is well-versed in interpreting qualitative sessions – being court certified does not guarantee experience with qualitative sessions. Doing a tech check with the simultaneous interpreter and team is important to ensuring a smooth launch, especially for webcam interviews. 

6. Remember that Spanish is a longer language. Spanish is around 25% longer than English. This means your English guide will likely be longer when executed in Spanish. This is especially important for webcam focus groups. You need to take this into account when determining the group length. Your moderator should be able to accommodate when working with the same discussion guide across countries. For bulletin boards, it means you will be reading longer/more descriptive responses. This can really eat into your time when you have 30+ respondents. One way to compensate for this is to keep your groups smaller, with about three-to-five respondents per webcam group, eight-to-12 per chat group, and 12-to-16 per bulletin board. 

7. Respect social norms when considering the group makeup. Mixing males and females in the same group may come with some sensitivities. Configuring Latin American groups carries certain peculiarities even when compared with U.S. Hispanics. You may want to separate males and females; socioeconomic levels; and/or education levels within webcam groups. This is especially important when there are clear social divides between male and female behavior. If separation is not possible, you may want to incorporate friendship groups. Bulletin boards provide greater anonymity. You can use a bulletin board to completely mask questions, so respondents feel more comfortable. You can also create aliases for respondents to mask for personal characteristics like gender. 

8. Elicit storytelling to benefit from the cultural impact on communication style. Hispanics love to elaborate with storytelling. Projective techniques can work well to elicit storytelling and emotion. Keep in mind, Latin Americans may not be as research savvy or familiar with exercises like collages commonly used with U.S. Hispanics. This means that you may need more time to explain the exercises. You can complement the Hispanic tendency towards tangents and storytelling by using non-linear techniques like free association and mind mapping. Use simple and culturally relevant techniques with less educated Mexican respondents like having them select an image from a lotería card to bring their words to life.

Culturally sensitive practices

There’s never been a better time to conduct research with Hispanics. Adopting culturally sensitive practices will help you get the most from your Hispanic online study.