Who Is: The New Generation of Arizona Latino Millennials
By: Cindy G. Castillo
The millennial generation of Arizona Latinos is made up of those born between 1982 and 2000. They range in age from 18 to 33, and are without a doubt creating their own rules and views.
According to the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 19th Annual “DATOS: State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market,” Hispanic Millennials make up the second largest Hispanic cohort living in the U.S. In 2013, Hispanic Millennials accounted for 25 percent of all Hispanics.
But the traits that define millennials are unique. Here’s a breakdown of their most distinctive characteristics:
Think About Family Differently
Nowadays, millennials are thinking about family life differently, and putting off getting married. The main reasons result as more and more Hispanic students pursue a higher education. In 2013, 30 percent of Hispanics in Phoenix had earned some college credit to a graduate degree, compared to their non-white counterparts.
When asked what the “American Dream” meant for Hispanic Millennials, only 31 percent defined it as having children and 29 percent said being married.
Online Driven
Never mind the fact that millennials follow social media 24/7, but they also turn to the Internet for most of their everyday chores. Whether it’s paying bills, shopping, or getting up to date on breaking news, millennials will always choose to go online first.
Millennials choose their smartphones over everything else. Whether it’s social media, sending a text, a quick email, watching TV or listening to music, millennials will always turn to smartphones first instead of a laptop or desktop.
The Generation of Sharing
Social media has driven millennials to become a generation obsessed with sharing. Sharing pictures, “selfies,” links, stories, events and anything interesting has become the norm, and a way for millennials to feel connected with the outside world.
Group of people social networking on a cell phone — c-asoc.com
But Hispanics are ahead of the rest when it comes to being social. Turns out, 90 percent of Hispanic adults 18 and up are social media users, compared to 86 percent of Non-Hispanics.
See Entertainment Differently
Millennials see entertainment completely different than what it used to be a decade ago. Watching TV is different now, with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu taking over as the preferred way for audiences to catch their favorite shows.
More and more families – especially those on a budget – are choosing to pay for these services, rather than getting into a contract with big cable companies. Streaming services are winning when it comes to convenience, letting viewers catch thousands of their favorite shows and movies at any time, on any device. Last year, Netflix surpassed the competition, becoming the most mentioned online movie platform between Latinos, with 97 percent of the conversation.
The music industry is also seeing a takeover from streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora and even Tidal. For a small monthly fee, fans can stream their favorite music from any device, anywhere. So no need any more to carry around that leather case filled with CD’s in your car.
Dine Out More
As you might’ve already figured out, millennials live for convenience; and when it comes to food – that’s no exception. Millennials are more adventurous with their food choices and choose to dine out more instead of cooking at home. Rather than staying for a home cooked meal, millennials will choose to gather friends or family and spend on a nice dinner out, plus drinks afterward. In the year 2014 alone, Phoenix Hispanics spent 1.7 billion dollars on “food away from home.”
aeb.org
Fashion Savvy
With Pinterest and Instagram at the palm of their hands, millennials are diving in full-on into the world of fashion. Fashion bloggers are flooding social media channels, sparking the interest of followers and drawing their attention to specific brands.
The fashion industry is of course taking notice, and investing in fashion bloggers to spread the word about high-end brands and products.
The statistics provided in this article are all provided by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 19th Annual “DATOS: State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market.”
Follow Us
