Study: Hispanics Pay Attention to Spanish Ads

New York -- Hispanic viewers are much more apt to watch commercials at length and likely to act upon the information they’ve witnessed when viewing the spots in Spanish.

Some 36% of Hispanics watch Spanish-language TV commercials in their entirety, versus 17% of Hispanics watching English-language TV. This also compares favorably with 10% of non-Hispanics watching general-market TV who watch commercials at length.

These findings were among the quantitative data culled from a Nielsen Media Research study presented by Univision Communications Inc. at a press gathering here Wednesday.

Additionally, the research indicated that 52% of Hispanic viewers said they frequently receive information about purchase decisions from commercials running on Spanish-language TV, while only 17% of survey respondents said they often get purchase-decision data from spots on English-language shows.

Further, only 7% of non-Hispanic viewers said they often get such information from mainstream TV.

The study, entitled "Who, Why & How of Spanish-Language TV Viewing," also pointed to Univision’s strong programming connection among its viewers overall and relative to the ads they see on the network.

Asked to respond to characterizations about spots on the broadcast service, 76% of those surveyed said they were "more informative" than commercials on other channels, while a like percentage agreed that the commercials "can be trusted more."

Moreover, 78% said they were "more meaningful," while 94% believed they spoke "directly to Hispanics."

The Nielsen research centered on 617 Hispanics aged 14-65 who watched 10 or more hours of Univision weekly, as well as 668 non-Hispanic viewers aged 14-65.

Univision officials said they planned to show clients and agencies this data as they make presentations over the next two months in advance of the upfront advertising season.