What We Know About The Terms Hispanic, Latino/a, and Latinx

Hispanics are the largest minority group in the U.S. and far from a monolith. Hailing from over 20 countries of origin, U.S. Hispanics represent a rich tapestry of culture and diversity, not to mention over a trillion dollars in purchasing power. As the population of U.S. born Hispanics continues to grow, we see a shift in how they choose to identify. Latino, Latina, Hispanic, and other demonyms representing Spanish-speaking countries from Argentina to Mexico, including the Caribbean and Spain, all point to a thriving population committed to preserving its culture amid varying levels of acculturation.

For many marketers, this presents a challenge. For too long, Hispanic marketing was relegated to Spanish translations of English-only ads. Then came the rise of transcreation, which took into account cultural context to personalize the messaging to the targeted demographic.

But now, there’s a pressing need to understand and respect how people see themselves. Most Hispanics are bilingual and bicultural, and as a population, they are relatively young (median age of 28). New terminology has emerged, like Latinx. It challenges traditional norms like Latino or Latina, even Hispanic, a broad umbrella term descendants from Spanish-speaking countries commonly use.

Let’s take a look at how these terms originated. Then we’ll discuss best practices for creating messaging for Hispanic/Latino/a/x audiences.

Why Hispanic?

The term Hispanic first appeared in the 1970s during Richard Nixon’s administration. Federal institutions, specifically the Census Bureau, used it to identify any Spanish-speaking person living in the U.S.

Although it received intense backlash from civil rights organizations who declared the term artificial and culturally unrepresentative, media giants like Univision and Telemundo have cultivated a robust Hispanic audience over the years.

Nowadays, federal institutions use Hispanic interchangeably with Latino/a, as do companies and brands.

Why Latino/a?

After the controversy surrounding Hispanic, Mexican activist, Frank del Olmo, pushed the term Latino to include immigrants or descendants from Latin American countries, including Brazil.

With Latino/a, the focus shifted from language to geography and culture.

Now Latinx?

If Hispanic focuses on language, Latino/a on demographics, then Latinx focuses on raising awareness of nonbinary gender identity. This term did not originate from immigration, language, or federal institutions. Rather on college campuses across the nation and amplified on social media.

The term began trending in 2016, though search volume paled in comparison to more commonly known terms, and still does.

A year later, the GENIAL Summit published Is it Hispanic, Chicano/Chicana, Latino/Latina, or Latinx? providing perhaps one of the most straightforward definitions for the term Latinx:

The “x” replaces the male and female endings “o” and “a” that are part of the Spanish grammar conventions. This term comes from American-born Latinos/Latinas who want to be more inclusive and gender-neutral, which is more akin to the English language.

So it comes as no surprise that the term is adopted more readily by bilingual third-generation Hispanics who advocate for diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

What Can Be Said About Demonyms?

Our discussion thus far has been mainly about ethnonyms. However, we mentioned a fourth alternative earlier – people identifying by their country of origin (demonym).

More than half of the respondents in Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Identity Survey identified as “Cubano,” “Dominicana,” “Ecuatoriano,” or “Salvadoreña.”

This trend is even more predominant with immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for five years or less.

So, brands targeting immigrants, for example, should consider using demonyms in their content strategy to demonstrate their commitment to being culturally relevant.

Best Practices for Using Ethnonyms in Marketing

If you’re targeting Hispanic/Latino/a/x groups, understanding their cultural complexity is key to developing cultural competency. Consider the following best practices:

Hire a Diverse Employee Base

Hiring from diverse cultural backgrounds puts the voice of your consumer at the table where decisions are made. Doing so can prevent data misinterpretation, false assumptions, and conscious or unconscious bias.

Include All Relevant Ethnonyms in Your Brand’s Style Guide

The ethnonyms should be directly correlated to your brand’s target audience.

For instance, including Latinx in a language style guide for content targeting first- or second-generation Hispanic/Latinos wouldn’t be wise.

But if they live in multigenerational households where other relatives might advocate for this ethnonym, excluding it may be perceived as marginalizing this group.

Additionally, García (2020) recommends using ethnonyms interchangeably when the message intends to capture as many groups as possible.

Complement Messages With Accurate Imagery

Like text, images tell a story. A brand can get the text right but falter on the imagery, sending conflicting messages that can harm the brand. Connecting with consumers emotionally and psychologically is vital to earning their trust and future sale. Essential to doing that is creating messages and imagery that complement one another.

For instance, ads targeting younger generations who identify as Latinx will be motivated by images of pop culture influencers like Becky G or Bad Bunny. Tapping into the collective ethos more predominant in foreign-born Latinos by portraying scenes such as family dinners would be more attractive to older generations.

This is where research pays off. Custom research equips brands with consumer insights needed to make informed decisions before campaign launch.

Don’t Ignore Location, Age Group, Party Registration, and Political Ideology

Finally, consider politics. A 2021 study conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies suggests party affiliation and political ideology influence the adoption of Latinx, the more liberal, the greater the adoption.

While the study concludes that “Latino” and “Hispanic” enjoy overwhelming popularity in California over Latinx, if you cut the data by age, it tells a different story. Gen Z is three times more likely to adopt Latinx than Baby Boomers.

Language and Identity

Finally, there’s language and identity. Think with Google’s research on language preference in search results piqued marketers’ interest in linguistic relevancy.  The majority of Hispanic/Latino/a/x prefer to search in English rather than in Spanish. But even if marketers develop content to meet the language preferences of each group, using the wrong ethnonyms is a distraction.

Ethnonyms and demonyms carry huge emotional loads, connecting individuals with elements representing their history. Many of these aspects impact Hispanic/Latino/a/x consumers’ purchasing behavior, and brands who get the message right or wrong will be remembered.

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Content written in partnership with The Translation Team