Hispanics Driven to Auto Sites
This online segment now represents roughly one-third of the total U.S. Hispanic population, and they are bringing heavy traffic to car manufacturers.
The U.S. Hispanic online population is muy grande, according to figures from comScore. In January 2003, the U.S. Hispanic online population – which comprises approximately one third of the total U.S. Hispanic population – was measured at 11 percent larger than the total online population of Spain, and 4 percent larger than the total online population of Mexico, Argentina and Colombia combined.
| Active Internet Users Among Major Spanish-Speaking Populations Home, Work and University Locations, January 2003 |
|
|---|---|
| Unique Users | |
| Total U.S. Hispanic | 12,394,000 |
| Spain | 11,146,000 |
| Mexico | 7,169,000 |
| Argentina | 3,216,000 |
| Colombia | 1,576,000 |
| Source: comScore Media Metrix | |
Further analysis of this powerful demographic reveals that more than 1.2 million Hispanics – fully 10 percent of the online Hispanic population – visited at least one automotive manufacturer Web site in February 2003, with Ford Motor Company absorbing most of the traffic.
| Unique Visitors to Automotive Manufacturer Web Sites Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations, February 2003 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hispanic Internet Users | All Internet Users | ||
| Unique Visitors |
Unique Visitors |
||
| Total Internet | 12,301,000 | Total Internet | 144,884,000 |
| Automotive Manufacturers | 1,229,000 | Automotive Manufacturers | 15,964,000 |
| Ford Motor Company | 355,000 | General Motors | 5,667,000 |
| General Motors | 353,000 | Ford Motor Company | 4,246,000 |
| Daimler Chrysler | 255,000 | Daimler Chrysler | 3,193,000 |
| Honda | 186,000 | Honda | 2,170,000 |
| Toyota.com | 155,000 | Toyota.com | 1,134,000 |
| Nissan | 73,000 | BMW | 967,000 |
| BMW | 68,000 | Nissan | 965,000 |
| Volkswagen | 61,000 | Volkswagen | 691,000 |
| Yamaha-Motor.com | 47,000 | Harley-Davidson.com | 502,000 |
| Hyundai Motors Inc. | 46,000 | Hyundai Motors Inc. | 453,000 |
| Source: comScore Media Metrix | |||
Ford was also the most popular auto site among Hispanics who prefer to speak Spanish at home, which comScore estimates at 21 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic population. According to the data, more than one-quarter (27 percent) speak English and Spanish equally, and the majority (51 percent) preferred speaking English at home.
| Unique Visitors to Automotive Manufacturer Web Sites, Hispanic Internet Users – Spanish-preferred Total U.S. – Home, Work and |
|
|---|---|
| Unique Visitors |
|
| Total Internet | 2,564,000 |
| Automotive Manufacturers | 272,000 |
| Ford Motor Company | 89,000 |
| Daimler Chrysler | 68,000 |
| General Motors | 62,000 |
| Source: comScore Media Metrix | |
“The automotive industry has long known that the Internet is a critical element in the buying process for the majority of new car shoppers,” noted Richard L. Israel, comScore Networks vice president of Hispanic Marketing Solutions.
The proliferation of auto ads is evidenced by findings from Nielsen//NetRatings that places General Motors Corporation among the top online advertisers for the week ending March 30, 2003. The auto company’s 692 unique creative banners and buttons was ranked eighth on a list of ten, with Amazon.com, AOL Time Warner, and Microsoft grabbing the top three spots.
The comScore data also revealed that in February 2003, 3.7 million U.S. Hispanic Internet users visited third party online automotive resources, and Nielsen//NetRatings tracked the total U.S. Internet traffic to the top ten.
| Traffic to Auto-Related Sites, (U.S., At-Home) Week ending March 23, 2003 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank By Unique Audience |
Last Week’s Rank |
Brand or Channel | Unique Audience |
| 1 | 1 | eBay Motors | 2,453,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Kelley Blue Book | 690,000 |
| 3 | 7 | AOL Auto | 479,000 |
| 4 | 4 | AutoTrader.com | 471,000 |
| 5 | 2 | MSN Autos | 396,000 |
| 6 | 9 | Autoweb.Com | 344,000 |
| 7 | 5 | Yahoo Autos | 301,000 |
| 8 | 8 | Edmunds.com | 284,000 |
| 9 | N/A | Cars.com | 270,000 |
| 10 | 6 | Cartopia.com | 236,000 |
| Source: Nielsen//NetRatings | |||
Deeper analysis by comScore revealed that 60 percent of the Hispanic online population is 34 years of age or younger – compared to 50 percent for the total online population – and 39 percent of U.S. Hispanic online households contain five or more persons, as opposed to 18 percent for all online households.
Furthermore, only 2 percent of U.S. Hispanic surfers were in single-member households, versus 10 percent for the total online population. U.S. Hispanic online users tend to have a lower household income than general U.S. users, but compared to the total U.S. Hispanic population, Hispanic Internet users tend to live in higher income households.
| Percent Composition of Hispanic Population by Household Income, January 2003 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Household Income |
Total U.S. Hispanic Population |
Total U.S. Hispanic Internet Population |
| $0-14,999 | 14% | 9% |
| $15,000-23,999 | 16% | 11% |
| $25,000-39,999 | 22% | 22% |
| $40,000-59,999 | 20% | 26% |
| $60,000-74,999 | 10% | 13% |
| $75,000+ | 17% | 21% |
| Source: comScore Media Metrix, U.S. Census Bureau | ||
