Study shows Hispanic men care about appearance
NEW YORK — The personal care ritual for Hispanic men goes beyond the basics, as they believe that looking good is a way to get ahead in life and at work, according to a new study commissioned and released by Univision Communications, a media company serving the U.S. Hispanic community.
"The findings of Univision's study prove that as marketers, we have to shed the misperception of Hispanic men as 'macho' and start to look at them as 'vanidosos' who take extra care of their appearance," stated Ruth Gaviria, SVP corporate marketing for Univision Communications.
"Latinos derive a significant amount of self-esteem from smelling, looking and feeling their best, and now routinely engage in more refined personal care, such as nail care, lotions and neat trimming, with more frequency than non-Hispanics," Gaviria added. "This makes Latinos part of an extremely strong and vibrant growth opportunity for male personal care brands."
The findings of the "Why Latinos Look So Good" study were revealed on Tuesday as part of a panel discussion in New York. The panel featured Gaviria; Univision's Giselle Blondet; actor Cristian de la Fuenta; David Salazar, multicultural manager for Target guest insights; celebrity stylist Samy; and Daniel Villarroel, AVP for experiential and diversity marketing for Maybelline New York-Garnier.
The study revealed Hispanic men celebrate "vanidad" over "machismo." For Hispanic men, "vanidoso" is just another way to say, "I take care of myself." While the use of grooming products to feel attractive to the opposite sex is important (66%), it came in second to the workplace (76%).
Hispanics are on par with non-Hispanics on the number of times per week they use such basic grooming products as body wash and shampoo/conditioner; however, they use such "non-basics" as hair styling products (3.4% vs. 1.7%), moisturizer (3.7% vs. 2%) and fragrance (4.2% vs. 2.9%) more often per week.
Given this, they spend $8 more per month than non-Hispanics on personal care products, according to the study. They also are more likely to engage in grooming behaviors previously considered only for women — manicures, pedicures and eyebrow grooming.
Among all categories of grooming products, scent was a major purchasing factor with Hispanic men, as some 64% surveyed said yes to the statement: "I am a scent seeker" (vs. 31% for non-Hispanics).
Furthermore, survey respondents expressed a deeper cultural connection with ads in Spanish and described them as more relevant and relatable. For Hispanics, ads need to be more educational (35%) than for non-Hispanics (17%), according to the study. Hispanic men enjoy trying new products they see on television (29%) more than non-Hispanics (15%). Spanish-language TV and radio ads ranked directly behind in-store demos, the No. 1 factor, as leading factors driving brand purchases.