To answer this question, the simple answer is yes and it affects everyone in the Hispanic community.
This anti-immigration sentiment and raids have made the Hispanic consumer a bit cautious about their spending and avoiding altogether places and situations where they may be subjected to raids or being perceived as an undocumented immigrant.
Will this Anti- Immigrant Sentiment Affect the Hispanic Consumer?
After Trump’s victory in 2016 and his campaign promise of curbing illegal immigration, the large majority in the Latino community has scaled back in discretionary spending and is saving their income due to fear and anxiety about their future in the US.
So, to answer the question “Will this Anti- Immigrant Sentiment Affect the Hispanic Consumer? The simple answer is yes and it affects everyone in the Hispanic community; documented or non-documented and Hispanic and non-Hispanic owned businesses alike.
This anti-immigration sentiment and raids have made the Hispanic consumer a bit more cautious about their spending habits in fear that they might be the subjects of deportation; they keep a low profile and refrain from spending or even going on job searches.
They purposely avoid places that can be subjected to raids or where they are perceived as an an undocumented immigrant, such as local restaurants, bars and other local businesses, in turn creating a great economic strain on the local businesses where the Hispanic community once thrived.
This decline in spending has not only affected the small Hispanic communities in border towns, but Hispanic marketing as a whole.
Given the importance of family in Hispanic culture, and that a large number of families have 2 or more members in the household, the 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics, which are US born and part of the demographic that marketers love because it is a young growing demographic, social media savvy, have a big disposable income, and are eager to spend.
However, they themselves are ultimately affected and linked in one way or another, to a family member or someone’s family member that might be undocumented and need satisfy the needs of a person and the result is also to cut back back on spending. Ultimately for them, in these times the family oriented consumer stick to what is important: relatives and family. Its mistrust in the system, particularly with immigration, clusters them together as a whole.
By mid-2017, the retailers began to see decline in sales in certain products mostly purchased by the Hispanic consumer.
Industries most affected by the Hispanic consumer spending
- Sportswear
- Apparel
- Footwear
- Financial Services
- Auto Sales
Companies that have seen sizable decrease in Hispanic spending.
- Target
- Walmart
On the flip side of things, Amazon has seen a large number of sales from this demographic and although the slow foot traffic to main stores like Target have been a factor, Amazon as a whole are taking steps to attract this group. For example they have opened up Prime subscriptions in Mexico and have the Amazon interface in both Spanish and English.
Yet, although not mentioning the Trump administration per se and the immigration crackdown, Target CEO has seen a decrease in sales from the Hispanic consumer. Target is a variety store model and although they are not a food seller, nor a home goods store but 20% of it sales does go to food sales and most importantly the Latino consumer. It also finds it hard to compete with Amazon and Walmart two of their main competitors in the home delivery. With the acquisition of Whole Foods and Walmart’s delivery, Target was poised to have a disadvantage, however, with their diverse model, not exactly a retailer, a food retailer nor a electronics department store (although they do carry all brands), they are poised to be the one stop for all.
