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Hispanic Passion Points

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Hispanic Passion Points
What matters most to Hispanic consumers? Collage Group’s latest Multicultural Passion Points study includes key insights into Hispanic consumers to enhance brand engagement and activation.

View our webinar replay and download the attached presentation for key insights and implications:

Passion Points are the activities and areas of life of deep interest to consumers. They are the “things” that people prioritize when spending their time, money, and attention. And, they are concrete expressions of culture.

Collage’s Passion Point research offers deep insight into the 8 Passion Points we know are most important to American consumers. This work offers brands and marketers important tools to engage and win multicultural consumer segments.

To get you started with our Passion Points research, read on for topline findings on Hispanic consumers, as compared to other racial and ethnic segments.​​

1.) Food

When we asked respondents to rate their interest in cooking and baking, we found that 67% like or love cooking, and 63% like or love baking. Hispanic Americans have an even higher interest in cooking and baking, with 71% saying they like or love cooking and 69% saying they like or love baking. So, why is that the case?

One reason is: Hispanic Americans cook or bake to help them connect with their family’s culture. 35% of Hispanic Americans cook to connect with their culture, compared to just 27% of the total population. Bicultural and Unacculturated Hispanics particularly enjoy cooking for this reason. But the love of cooking isn’t just about family culture…

Hispanic Americans are also more likely to enjoy cooking for the broader social connections it allows. In our research, we found that 60% of Hispanic Americans say they enjoy cooking and baking with others, and 73% say they like discussing recipes with others. This desire for connection speaks to Hispanic Americans’ group trait of warmth, which is characterized by a drive to build meaningful relationships and an openness towards others.

2.) Travel

When we asked respondents how they feel about traveling, most (72%) said they like or love it. Hispanic Americans are particularly fond of traveling, with 78% saying they like or love it. Unacculturated Hispanics especially enjoy traveling. Data from 2021’s Passion Point research suggests that the greater desire to travel is likely tied to having family and friends that live outside of the United States.

When forced to choose whether vacation is about relaxing or doing exciting things, most Hispanic Americans (57%) said relaxing. However, when we look by New Wave (individuals aged 18-42) and Old Guard (individuals age 43-76), we see that younger Hispanics seek out travel that is “exciting.”

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Healthcare Across Race and Ethnicity

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Health & Wellness Across Race & Ethnicity
Multicultural Americans have unique perspectives, needs, and experiences related to health care that brands must understand. Keep reading for key insights that will help your brand or organization better understand and connect with these segments.

A rapidly growing multicultural population and the emerging consumer mindset are changing consumer demands on healthcare. To win in this constantly evolving space, brands and organizations need to understand multicultural Americans’ unique health-related perspectives, needs, and experiences and how these impact their engagement with health insurers and providers.

Download the attached presentation and take a look at a few key insights and implications below:

Collage Group’s 2021/2022 Health & Wellness Study leverages data captured from more than 3,500 Americans to help brands understand how health-related attitudes and behaviors differ by racial and ethnic segments. Our research reveals how the emerging consumer mindset affects Americans in both the health insurance and health care provider space. We explore barriers to insurance coverage, drivers of and barriers to trust and satisfaction, provider preferences, willingness to follow provider advice, and more.

Here are a few key insights and implications:

#1. There is room for growth in overall satisfaction with medical care across all multicultural segments and age groups. To improve satisfaction, focus on building trust and humanizing the health care experience.

Over half of Americans are satisfied with their health care

Pfizer’s ad (shown below) seeks to gain trust with Black Americans by first acknowledging that the segment’s distrust in the health care system is understandable given the discrimination and injustice they have experienced. The spot then notes that this lack of participation means Black Americans may not be getting the best care they could, and that greater representation in research will ultimately lead to better care. It ends with a call to action to have more Black Americans participate in clinical trials.

#2: Multicultural consumers want doctors who take the time to understand their cultural backgrounds. Prioritize culturally competent care through services in multiple languages, training on different cultural norms and preferences, and ensuring there is staff who look like them.

Multicultural segments more likely to value doctors

Kaiser Permanente has made a name for itself as a leader in culturally competent care. Marketing messaging highlights the translation services the system offers in over 100 languages, the fact that over 60% of their staff are multicultural, and the training  staff receive on culturally appropriate etiquette and care.

Kaiser Permanente Prioritizes Culturally Competent Care

#3: Family is important to Multicultural consumers during their health care journey, especially Hispanic Americans. Make sure that the health care process is focused on both the patient themselves and the family members.

3 in 10 have a friend or family member with them when receiving care

Marketers should highlight the ways their organizations support family engagement. Below are several things that can signal your organization is family-friendly and keen to provide support beyond the patient.

Health Care Providers Catering to Family Need

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How Americans Feel About the Olympic Games

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How Americans Feel About the Olympic Games
People around the world will soon be captivated by the spectacle of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Read on for Insights on how multicultural Americans experience and follow the Olympics curated from our 2021 Holidays and Occasions research.
 

On February 4th the 2022 Winter Olympics will officially begin in Beijing, China. While these Olympics will look different than past competitions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a diplomatic boycott by countries including the United States, Australia, Britain, and Canada, millions of people around the world will still tune in to see their nations’ best athletes compete in skiing, skating, and more.

American’s attitudes and habits surrounding the Olympics often differ by race and ethnicity. For example, almost two-thirds of Black, Asian, and White Americans say that watching the Olympics makes them feel proud to be American, but this figure is closer to half of Hispanic Americans. When investigating deeper into acculturation-level data, we see that only about 4 in 10 Unacculturated Hispanic Americans feel a sense of patriotism during the Olympics, while Acculturated Hispanic Americans are closer to the other segments at 62%. Since Unacculturated Hispanic Americans are more likely to be immigrants to the United States, they may have an additional rooting interest in their home countries during the Olympics.

Most Americans Say the Olympic Games Give Sense of Pride

Cultural duality is at the forefront of many Hispanic Americans’ identities and manifests elsewhere in their feelings about the Olympics. Hispanic Americans are the most likely of any racial or ethnic segment to see the Olympics as a great occasion to build unity among different countries. And these attitudes make them more likely to consume Olympics content as well. Sixty-eight percent of Hispanic Americans say they watch sports during the Olympics they otherwise wouldn’t watch, which is higher than all other groups and significantly higher than White Americans.

Hispanic Audiences View More Sports Only During Olympic Games

Understanding the Hispanic community’s love of the Olympics and desire to have content in Spanish, NBC and its subsidiary Telemundo aired over 300 hours of Spanish-language events during the 2020 Summer Olympics, specifically featuring soccer, basketball, baseball, and volleyball. They also sent famous Hispanic sports figures to the Olympics in Tokyo to provide live commentary.

Multicultural Audiences and the Olympic Games

Advertising around the Olympics can be tricky due to the International Olympic Committee’s strict rules around using their copyrighted logos and trademarks. It’s even trickier this time around, as China is being accused of human rights abuses that have led to several diplomatic boycotts and calls for existing advertisers to drop out as well. Regardless of the host country, the Olympics are a chance for athletes who have worked their entire lives on their sports to show off their skills. Focusing on them and their incredible achievements could be a great way to invoke the sense of American pride and unity that many report feeling during the Games.

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Multicultural Women Expect Brands to Take Action towards Gender Equality

Multicultural Women Expect Brands to Take Action towards Gender Equality
This research is part of a series that expands on our 2021 Roundtable Presentation, America Now. Read on to learn more about American consumers today, their relationship to their gender identities, and what they expect from brands like yours.
 

Brands can better engage with consumers if they understand how they view identity. Race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, and gender are just some of the characteristics that people consider important to who they are. The different intersections of identity that people hold also impact how they think about themselves and the world around them. Women, and especially Multicultural women, consider their gender identity important and want to see brands support women in a variety of ways.

In a recent survey, Collage Group asked people to choose the most important aspect of their identity. Personality came out on top, followed by race, American nationality, and age. Just 5 percent of women responded that gender is the most important aspect of their identity. However, as Americans place increasing emphasis on all aspects of their identities, gender is no exception. Nearly half of women say that their gender has become an increasingly important part of their identity in recent years. Multicultural women are significantly more likely to agree with this statement, at 52 percent, compared to 39 percent of White women.

Multicultural Women and Gender Identity

As gender becomes a more important element in how women see themselves, brands must improve on current gender representation in advertising. Only about half of women say they’re satisfied with portrayals of their gender in advertising, significantly less than the approximately 60 percent of men who agree.

Representation is especially important to multicultural women. Nearly two thirds of multicultural women say it matters to them either somewhat or a lot that advertisements portray people of the same gender identity as them. This is significantly more than the 40 percent of White women who say the same. Multicultural women also more often agree that they are more likely to patronize brands that use their advertising to challenge gender stereotypes.

But for many women, representation alone is not enough to prove that your brand cares about their identity. About half of women want to see brands commit to equal pay for equal work and train their employees to recognize and confront sexism. Women also want to see brands hire more women in leaderships roles and make supportive statements and donations. Multicultural women demand a wide span of action from brands towards gender equality and are significantly more likely than White women to say they want brands to take all of these actions.

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How Women Want Brands to Get Involved in Women’s History Month

How Women Want Brands to Get Involved in Women’s History Month
How do women celebrate Women’s History Month? And what are their expectations from brands during the month of March? Read on for insights curated from our 2021 Holidays and Occasions research.
 

Women’s History has been celebrated in March nationwide since 1982, when the government designated the week of March 7th as Women’s History Week. The occasion expanded to Women’s History Month beginning in 1987.

Today, about four in ten Americans – women and men – celebrate Women’s History Month in some way. More than half of younger women ages 18-40 celebrate the occasion, as do more than 60 percent of multicultural women.

4 in 10 Americans celebrate Women's History Month

The most common way women mark Women’s History Month is to support women-owned businesses. Overall, about a quarter of all women do this, with multicultural women even more likely to do so. Education, both about women’s history and the challenges facing American women today, is also a common way many celebrate the month. It’s also important to note that multicultural women are significantly more likely to participate in all the methods of celebration we asked about than White women. The sole exception to that trend is donating money to relevant non-profits.

Multicultural women celebrate Women's History Month

In 2021, the food delivery app DoorDash celebrated Women’s History Month by leveraging women’s interest in supporting their peers’ businesses. They created a “Made by Women” section of the app to allow users to browse women-owned businesses all in one place. Plus, for each order from these restaurants that month, DoorDash donated $1 in support of women culinary entrepreneurs. This campaign allowed DoorDash to both support women-owned restaurants directly and provide support to the non-profit sector.

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How Americans Celebrate the Lunar New Year

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How Americans Celebrate the Lunar New Year
As we enter the Year of the Tiger, learn how Asian American consumers prepare for and celebrate Lunar New Year. Read on for insights curated from our 2021 Holidays & Occasions research.
 

This Lunar New Year begins on February 1st and will say goodbye to the year of the Ox and hello to the year of the Tiger. Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the calendar year for cultures whose months are moon-cycles and notes the transition between different zodiac signs. Celebrations in 2022 will last from February 1st to February 15th. While Lunar New Year is often referred to as Chinese New Year, it is important to note that Non-Chinese cultures that celebrate New Year do not necessarily refer to their holiday as Chinese New Year. For example, South Korean Americans often celebrate Korean New Year and Vietnamese Americans celebrate Tet. Regardless of how they refer to the holiday, almost half of Asian Americans we surveyed told us they celebrate Lunar New Year!

This holiday is really about time with the family and is usually celebrated with having special foods or drinks. Gifting money in red or white envelopes is also a key part of the occasion, generally given from adult to children to pass on a year of good fortune and blessings.

Another key part of this holiday is the climactic ending, through the Lantern Festival. Activities that are part of the Festival include lion and dragon dancing, stilt-walkers, and eating rice balls.

While Asian Americans are split on whether brands should activate on Lunar New Year, very few believe that they should never do it.

If brands do market or advertise about Chinese or Lunar New Year, Asian Americans — especially those who are Chinese and Vietnamese — want them to explain what the holiday is about and why it is important. Sharing stories of people celebrating the holiday, showing how to support Asian Americans and the issues this segment faces, and what people can do to celebrate the holiday also rank quite high.

So what should your brand do if you want to market during the Chinese or Lunar New Year?

  1. Build awareness of what Lunar New Year is and why it is important. Panda Express did just this through an ad campaign in 2021 that taught a young child the important traditions that make up this holiday.
  2. Highlight how your brand supports Lunar New Year through increased representation of the components that make this holiday special (e.g., food, décor). Target offers a great example of this by highlighting Jing Gao on their website. Jing Gao is the Founder and CEO of Fly By Jing and is bringing Chinese flavors to American households. Her brand is now available at Target.
  3. Include Lunar New Year as part of a larger promotion of holidays and occasions celebrated by multicultural consumers. American Girl has done this through their recently released celebration outfits which includes Lunar New Year, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, and Hannukah.

Learn more about our Holidays & Occasions work and contact us via the form below to access deeper insights on our cultural intelligence platforms.

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America Now: Acculturation and Afro-Hispanic Identity

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America Now: Acculturation & Afro-Hispanic Identity

This research is part of a series that expands on our 2021 Roundtable Presentation, America Now. Read on to learn how acculturation and race impact Hispanic identity.

As more Americans embrace intersectional identities, you may be wondering what that means for the Hispanic population which is anything but monolithic. One of the most talked about intersections in recent years are Afro-Hispanics (sometimes referred to as Afro-Latinos), individuals with origins in Spanish speaking countries that identify as black or African American.

Fill out the form to view a sample from our research presentation,  America Now: How We Have Changed Since 2020.

America Now

According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, 15 percent of Hispanic adults self-describe as having darker skin. This proportion largely tracks with Collage Group’s data from September 2021, in which 22 percent of Hispanic respondents do not identify as “White” and about 12 percent identify as Black or African American.

Within this sub-set, Black Hispanics balance the importance of their racial identity and Hispanic heritage. Among respondents identifying as both Black and Hispanic, 45 percent – almost half – say their race is one of the most important components of the way they describe themselves. Just over half – 51 percent – say the same of their Hispanic or Latino heritage.

For these Black Hispanics, racial identity is important partially because they believe it puts them at a disadvantage in society. Pew finds that about 6 in 10 Hispanic adults agree that:

    • Having a darker skin color hurts Latinos’ ability to get ahead
    • Having a lighter skin color helps Latinos’ ability to get ahead
    • Skin colors shape their daily lives and experiences

Given these high numbers, and recent controversies over colorism in the casting in productions like In the Heights and Crazy Rich Asians, it’s essential for brands to recognize the importance of diversity within multicultural segments. And it’s clear that Afro-Hispanic Americans aren’t impressed with how they’re currently being portrayed.

While a slim majority of Hispanic Americans say they’re satisfied with how their ethnicity is portrayed in advertisements, most Black Americans are not, and even fewer Afro-Hispanic Americans say they like what they see when it comes to seeing themselves in ads. Further, Afro-Hispanics’ dissatisfaction with their portrayals in advertisements demonstrates the importance of telling diverse, culturally-nuanced stories in marketing content. Even though a brand may be working towards creating content more inclusive of Hispanic and Black consumers, that might not translate to intersectional identity segments of Americans.

Here are three suggestions for marketing to consumers who navigate between their Black and Hispanic identities:

    1. Don’t make them choose. Black and Hispanic identity are both salient for this segment, but many feel “forced to choose” between their identities. Reinforce the empowering idea that they can identify as both fully Black and Hispanic.
    2. Find country-of-origin intersections. Many Caribbean and Latin American communities are predominantly Black, challenging American conceptions of race and ethnicity. Tell stories from their perspective to ensure they feel authentically portrayed.
    3. Be inclusive of the overlap. Black Hispanics are just as much part of the Black community as they are the Hispanic community. Represent this segment and their needs in marketing to both Black and Hispanic consumers.
  1.  

Other Data Notes:

Among Biracial Hispanic/Black Americans, 58% say their race is important to their identity, while only 15% say their Hispanic/Latino heritage. Race is the most important identity consideration for this population, at 32%, and 13% say Hispanic/Latino heritage takes first spot.

Acculturation associates with increased importance of Ethnicity, lessened importance of race. Unacculturated/Bicultural Hispanics are MORE likely to say being Hispanic/Latino is important to them.

Gen X is most likely to say Hispanic/Latino heritage is the most important identity consideration (49%).

Source: Pew Research, “Majority of Latinos Say Skin Color Impacts Opportunity in America and Shapes Daily Life,” November 4, 2021

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America Now: Economic Inequality

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America Now: Economic Inequality

This research is part of a series that expands on our 2021 Roundtable Presentation, America Now. Read on to learn how Americans feel about income inequality in the United States today.

Income inequality is a significant issue in the United States today, especially for many non-White Americans. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that the top 10 percent of earners in the country hold almost 70 percent of the nation’s wealth. And findings from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances reveal that White families’ median wealth ($188,200) is almost eight times that of Black families ($24,100) and five times that of Hispanic ($36,100) families. Brands and companies have an opportunity to connect with diverse America by understanding their perceptions on income inequality and taking steps to address the gap.

In a recent survey, we asked Americans how serious of a problem they feel economic inequality to be in the country today. While almost half of all Americans believe it’s a “serious problem”, Black and Hispanic Americans were much more likely to hold this belief. Non-Hispanic White respondents are clearly divided on this issue based on party affiliation – with 60% of White Democrats viewing it as a serious problem compared to only 26% of Republicans.

Multicultural Americans Are More Likely To See Economic Inequality

Further, when asked what political and societal issues were most important to them in today’s climate, 27% of Black Americans named reducing economic inequality followed closely by Asian Americans (24%) and Hispanic Americans (22%). For White Americans, the percentage who listed reducing economic inequality as a top three priority issue, was far lower. However, far more White Democratic Americans listed it as a top issue.

And it is not just that multicultural Americans are more sensitive to income inequality—they’re also more willing to reward brands that take active steps to reduce it. In fact, 40% of Asian Americans, 39% of Black Americans, and 34% of Hispanic Americans share this sentiment, compared to just 27% of White Americans. Again, White Democrats are more closely aligned to the multicultural segment – 43% of White Democrats are more likely to buy from brands who support reducing income inequality, compared to only 15% of White Republicans.

Now you may be thinking, what can my brand do to address a systemic issue as challenging as income inequality? The answer: quite a lot! Below are some examples of what brands and companies are doing.
    • Costco, among other retailers, recently raised their minimum wage way above state and federal mandates. The move resulted in significant media attention.
    • Mastercard has launched the Center for Inclusive Growth ; their twitter page (@CNTR4growth), provides daily updates and insights for the public.
    • Noodles & Co teamed up with the app Even to offer instant pay options to their employees as well as a suite of financial wellness tools that include budgeting and organizational guidance.
Sources:
    • Federal Reserve Data. “Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. Since 1989.” October 2021.
    • Federal Reserve Data. “Disparities in Wealth by Race and Ethnicity in the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.” Sept 28, 2020.
    • ABC News. “Costco raises minimum wage to $17 an hour as businesses hike pay to retain workers.” October 28, 2021.
    • Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. Mastercardcenter.org
    • Payments Dive. “Noodles & Co. teams with Even.com on financial wellness benefits.” September 16, 2019.

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CultureRate: Better Target Your Brand While Driving Halo Effects in Ads

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CultureRate: Better Target Your Brand While Driving Halo Effects in Ads

Using our CultureRate database, we analyzed over 500 brands and 100 ads gathered across the last 12 months to establish a set of lessons that help marketers better connect with today’s “New Wave” consumers between 18 and 41, across race and ethnicity.

June 7, 2022
David Evans – Chief Product Officer

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Read on and fill out the form for an excerpt from our CultureRate:Brand – Better Target Your Brand While Driving Halo Effects presentation.

Brands Are Challenged by Rising Cultural Diversity and Polarization

As shown in research accompanying this initiative, marketing and insights leaders face increasing pressure to translate the rapid cultural transformation underway in the U.S. marketplace into clear action steps for brands. From 2020 to 2021, we witnessed an astonishing 10 percentage point-plus increase in the already-high importance of race and ethnicity for multicultural consumers, even as satisfaction of portrayals fell by an average of 8 percentage points.

Multicultural American support brands that support them

One thing is for certain: the increase in multicultural consciousness that arose in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns and George Floyd’s murder has not reverted to norm. Cultural Fluency is emerging as a new mandate for marketing as a whole, and can no longer be understood as a sideshow to the main act of mainstream marketing. Cultural Fluency demands that brands use culture to connect effectively and authentically within and across segments.

How CultureRate:Ad Reveals Powerful New Insights

To address these issues, we launched CultureRate in 2018, a brand and creative evaluation methodology that is now providing our members with powerful new insights into brand and ad performance across cultural groups.

CultureRate is different from any anything on the market today, in four distinct ways:

    • Culture is Intrinsic to the Entire Approach: CultureRate positions culture as the primary lens through which to understand diverse segments.
    • CultureRate is Grounded in Science of Group Emotion and Rationality: Our approach is based on long-ignored research into the psychology of group emotion and emerging insights from evolutionary psychology into the role of rationality as a mechanism for signaling group affiliation. CultureRate breaks new ground by fully recognizing that consumers not only make decisions to buy products on a path toward optimization of personal net benefits and self-actualization, but also make decisions as a member of group. We have learned nothing since 2016, if not the importance of this phenomenon and the degree to which it completely reframes our understanding of human behavior.
    • Rigorously Validated Metrics: We undertook an exhaustive process to identify metrics that matter, identifying the six most critical component metrics for CultureRate:Brand through an exhaustive review of 20 candidate metrics to derive the critical six that optimally reflected cultural dimensions while predicting brand favorability.
    • Linkage to Cultural Traits of Consumers: methodology is integrated within Collage Group’s Cultural Traits system, a rigorously proven method for measuring cultural variation, that enables marketing professions to link how using cultural insights into specific segments improve ad and brand effectiveness. Explore how Cultural Trait analysis works when applied to Black consumers. 

Unrivaled Rigor and Database Depth

The methodology introduces two important new metrics: the Brand Cultural Fluency Quotient (B-CFQ) and the Ad Cultural Fluency Quotient (A-CFQ), composed of six and four subcomponent metrics respectively, both of which were designed to optimally predict favorability and purchase intent. A-CFQ is also complemented by Backlash, which takes conventional brand favorability a step further by quantifying the degree to which an ad can “flip” perception from positive to negative or vice versa. Combining A-CFQ and Backlash metrics for target segments reveal the dynamics that make ads successful.

Top Lessons for More Inclusive Marketing

For this research we filtered our database to derive a high-quality sample of around 250,000 consumer responses to over 300 brands and 100 ads for the population of 18-41 year old Americans we dub the “New Wave.”  We focus on this younger segment because it is the first in American history to grow up in a culturally and intrinsically diverse environment and thereby redefining the future of values and respect for diversity that will make or break brands in the next years. Our research into brand performance revealed that:
    • Brands need to appreciate the different reasons multicultural Americans love brands.
    • Multicultural consumers are much more likely to appreciate brands when they specifically see that the brand is for “people like me.” Gain an edge: go to extremes to show how your brand is for multicultural Americans. 
    • Trust is a game changer for Black Americans. Lean into opportunities to show how your brand has supported the segment, how your brand embodies values core to the segment, and/or connects to the Black Group Trait of Perseverance.
    • Hispanic Americans’ uniquely express their affiliation for a brand through their willingness to advocate for the brand to others. Leverage Hispanic Group Traits of Warmth and being Tuned-In to prime them to be a trend-setter on your behalf. Give Hispanic consumers a reason to talk about your brand and they will reward you with mentions, word of mouth and other opportunities to drive earned media attention.

Our research into ad performance revealed that:

    • Halo effects are much more common than you think, even as targeted ads remain important, especially for Black and Hispanic consumers
2021 Top 20 Ads: Black Halo Effects
    • Brands can drive inclusivity by showing how consumers are part of a spectrum of shared experience. Associate Black or Hispanic agency with the Passion Points of other groups.
    • Cross-generational familial bonds provide immense power for storytelling: The extended family relationships of younger consumers are your unsung opportunity.
    • Black consumers will punish you for poor representational choices, especially on themes that are universal. Ensure any “vignette” approach to a universal experience includes Black people.
    • Culturally-specific humor may not halo well. Increase the reliability of halo effects by appealing to universal themes of Connection (family, friends, and community).
    • Social justice messages that address multicultural issues work well when the consumers see the direct benefit of an investment in opportunity for real people.
    • The preferences of White consumers may be a poor guide for the general market appeal.

Collage Group members receive one free evaluation of a brand and of an ad of your choice. Members frequently combine CultureRate:Brand and CultureRate:Ad analyses to track how changes in advertising performance impact brand performance over time. Contact us at the form below to learn more.

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David Evans
Chief Product Officer

David serves as the Chief Product Officer responsible for content, data products, and innovation. He is passionate about creating amazing products and building great places to work.

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Holidays and Occasions: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s

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Holidays and Occasions: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s

Learn how American consumers across racial and ethnic segments prepare for and celebrate the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s.

The beginning of winter brings a multitude of holidays for Americans to celebrate. While revelers will still have to cope with COVID-19 protocols during the 2021 festivities, vaccines and experience may better equip Americans to celebrate more openly this year than last. With an eye toward shifts in consumer behavior we bring you our updated findings from the 2021 Holidays & Occasions study to help your brand understand consumers’ changing expectations and how they plan to celebrate during this holiday season.

Fill out the form to view a sample from our research presentation,  Multicultural Holidays & Occasions.

Christmas is one of the most beloved and widely celebrated holidays in America. Over three-quarters of each racial and ethnic segment celebrate it, with its highest popularity among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Americans. Consumers from many backgrounds celebrate the holiday by enjoying seasonal food, listening to Christmas music, and putting up festive decorations.

However, multicultural consumers say that their Christmas celebrations often differ from typical depictions. Cultural nuance at Christmas is key information for brands producing traditional Christmas marketing content as it may land as unrelatable to some Americans consumers. often Over a quarter of Hispanic and Asian consumers agreed that their versions of Christmas celebrations split from a standard “American Christmas.” This is often the case because of the inclusion of cultural celebrations.

Christmas celebration traditions

Hispanics often celebrate Christmas through several holidays such as Noche Buena (Christmas Eve), Three Kings Day (January 6th), Las Posadas (the 9 nights leading up to Christmas), and Tamaladas (a Christmastime tamale-making party). Highlighting these holidays activities during the winter months is a great way to connect with Hispanic consumers.

Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day holiday observed on the 25th day of Kislev (typically in December). Also known as the festival of lights, this holiday is celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers, and fried foods. Though fewer than one in ten Americans celebrate the holiday, over a third of all consumers actively welcome brands to celebrate it through advertising and marketing efforts.

American retailer Target was able to successfully do this in their most recent holiday ad campaign “The Holidays Are Meant To Be Shared” which features a family celebrating Hanukkah by lighting the menorah, among several other different holiday activities.

Kwanzaa, a seven-night holiday observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, is a holiday to honor African American and Pan-African culture and traditions and celebrates African American unity. Though not widely popular with the total population, the holiday holds great importance for many Black Americans. According to our study, 18% of Black Americans celebrate Kwanzaa. This is also a holiday for brands to consider celebrating. About 30% of Black consumers agreed that all brands should celebrate Kwanzaa in their advertising. This provides the opportunity for brands to highlight Kwanzaa and its traditions to educate Americans unfamiliar with the holiday and connect with Black consumers.

Finally, New Year’s also provides brands an opportunity to be the life of the party. New Year’s is celebrated by most Americans across all ethnic groups, though Hispanics are particularly likely to enjoy the festivities. Although sparkling wine is typically a toasting drink to usher in the new year, other alcoholic beverages play a prominent role in the celebration. Hispanic consumers are most likely to drink beer and hard cider during their celebrations, while Black consumers are most likely to drink liquor/spirits.

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