The study, which was carried out by market researcher Univision, highlights the fact that Latino consumers report using the same percentage of basic grooming products, but claim to use more non-basics such as hair styling products and fragrances than other ethnic groups in the US.
Entitled ‘Why Latinos Look So Good’, the findings of the study were revealed as part of a panel discussion held in New York, that included Daniell Villarroel, AVP of marketing for Maybelline NY/Garnier, together with Univision SVP, David Salazar.
The study, which was handled by CBB Bilingual Qualitative, highlighted that as well as using more elaborate grooming products, Latin men are cluing into issues of vanity rather than being machismo, while also looking for products that ‘speak my language and culture’.
Focusing in on Latinos as image conscious individuals
“The findings of Univision’s study prove that as marketers we have to shed the misconception of Hispanic men as ‘machos’ and start to look at them as ‘vanidosos’ (image conscious individuals) who take extra care of their appearance,” said Ruth Gaviria, SVP of corporate marketing at Univision.
Gaviria also pointed out the fact that, because Latinos derive a considerable amount of self-esteem from looking and smelling good, this means that Hispanic males are more likely to go for more refined personal care products such as nail care, lotion and trimming products, compared to non-Hispanic consumers.
“This makes Latinos part of an extremely strong and vibrant growth opportunity for male personal care brands,” said Gaviria.
Survey findings reveal higher weekly usage
The survey results found that Latinos use every day grooming products such as shampoo and body wash with the same frequency as non-Latinos, but found that the number of times per week that hair styling products, moisturizers and fragrances were used by Latinos was often double that of other groups.
Specifically the usage per week of hair styling products was 3.4 times per week for Latinos against 1.7 for all other groups, while moisturizer was 3.7, compared to 2.0 and fragrance was 4.2 compared to 2.9.
The researchers also found that this higher use of non-basic men’s grooming products translated into an average additional spend per month of $8 for Latinos, compared to other groups.
Hispanic men account for 20 of the male population in the US aged 18 – 34 and 1 in 5 men between the ages of 18 and 49 identify themselves as Hispanic in the country, according to the report.