Appealing to the Children of Immigrants

Posted by MiriamDeDios on February 26, 2013

Catering to the Hispanic consumer requires an appreciation of the many nuances that exist inside this fast-growing market. When broken into its many unique segments, the Hispanic market becomes fairly complex. This can be intimidating for short-staffed or resource-challenged financial institutions looking to adapt their products, services and operations to the service of this crucial demographic.

Part of the draw to serving Hispanic consumers – particularly for credit unions who struggle with aging memberships – is the unmatched youth of the U.S. Hispanic market. For this reason, targeting “second-generation” or children of Hispanic immigrants, is a smart strategy for credit union leaders who want to introduce their cooperative to the next generation of financial-service consumers. Beyond this target market’s youth, second-generation Hispanics generally have higher incomes, more degrees and own more homes, making them attractive financial clients.

Thankfully, Pew Research had studied this segment of the Hispanic market extensively and has recently published its findings in a new report, “Second-Generation Americans: A Portrait of the Adult Children of Immigrants.” Jam-packed with intell on this segment, the report includes several interesting guideposts for credit unions that are right now mapping out their Hispanic-outreach strategies. Chief among them are that second-generation Hispanics:

• place more importance than does the general public on hard work and career success
• more likely to say their standard of living is higher than that of their parents
• think of themselves as a “typical American”
• have friends and spouses outside their ethnic or racial group

Credit union leaders should keep in mind that serving first-generation Hispanics can help credit unions attract the coveted second-generation Hispanics. The U.S. Census reveals that the more than 18 million foreign-born Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S. have a median age of 39 years old. These are the hard-working parents of these relatively young second-generation children. Courting the first generation will have a residual effect of creating trust and loyalty with the second generation of Hispanics.

Pew’s research includes findings on immigrant children from other influential minority groups, and it contains an extremely interesting set of information. As you and your teams sit down to strategize your outreach, be sure to take a read.

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