Hispanic Consumers' Preference for Spanglish in Print and Television Advertisements

Abstract

Hispanics are now the largest minority in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Along with this population growth, greater affluence has occurred. Advertisers are taking notice of these facts and are scrambling to find the most effective way of marketing to Hispanics. Spanglish dialogue use in advertising is an increasingly popular method marketer use in attempts to advertise to Hispanics. The Texas/Mexico border provides a unique opportunity for the study of Spanglish in advertising. The population of the RGV identifies as overwhelmingly Hispanic, 89.1 percent according the U.S. Census Bureau (2006). The population of this region, then, represents the target audience of advertisements that utilize Spanglish dialogue. This study investigated the valence (positive, neutral or negative) Hispanics who live in the Rio Grande Valley hold toward advertisements that utilize Spanglish Dialogue. This study compared preference for Spanglish advertisements against English only advertisements. The study found that participants preferred English advertisements.