Latino consumers are deeply connected, mobile-first and increasingly comfortable moving between platforms, content and commerce. According to NielsenIQ, Latino consumers are 1.5 times more likely to shop online than the general population.

But the opportunity goes beyond simply shifting media dollars toward digital.

The technology shift… and why it isn’t enough

AI and personalization are creating new possibilities for reaching consumers with the right message, in the right context, at the right moment. As Google’s Yvette Baez explains, AI can interpret signals such as behaviors, preferences and interests to help marketers deliver culturally relevant messages—even without relying solely on ethnicity or race as a targeting mechanism. And that distinction is important.

• Cultural relevance is not the same thing as demographic targeting.
  A consumer’s culture can influence how they respond to a brand, what stories resonate with them, who they trust and how they make decisions. Technology can help marketers identify those signals—but only if marketers understand what those signals mean.
• Culture makes personalization meaningful.
  For years, personalization has largely been framed as a technology challenge: collect enough data, identify the audience, and deliver a more relevant message. But that’s not enough.

Technology may allow brands to personalize at unprecedented scale, but cultural understanding determines whether that personalization actually feels relevant.

The takeaway for marketers: Don’t use technology to flatten cultural complexity. Use it to understand and serve that complexity better.

Values influence the purchase decision

While Latino consumers place a strong emphasis on values including family, honesty, freedom, ambition, hard work and self-esteem, ThinkNow research also reinforces the importance of collectivism – and that means Latino consumers are more likely to incorporate the opinions of family and friends into purchasing decisions.

And there is an especially compelling signal for marketers: 75% of Latino consumers say they are confident their economic situation will improve over the next 12 months, compared with 60% of the total U.S. population.

That optimism matters.

It suggests an audience that isn’t defined solely by economic constraints or price sensitivity. Latino consumers are also thinking about progress, opportunity, family stability and what comes next. Brands that speak only to today’s transaction may miss the larger opportunity, and those that understand the aspirations behind the transaction can build something much more valuable.

There is a deep connection between cultural relevance and purchase behavior: 63% of Hispanics are more likely to buy from brands that reflect their culture, according to Nielsen’s 2023 Hispanic Sentiment Study. That doesn’t mean adding a Spanish-language execution, Latin music or culturally recognizable imagery to an existing campaign. It means understanding the culture well enough to create work that feels like it belongs.

And increasingly, consumers can tell the difference.

The strongest brands don’t treat culture as an advertising layer applied at the end of the process. They build cultural understanding into audience strategy, creative development, media choices, partnerships and the consumer experience itself.

So while technology can help brands reach people, culture helps brands connect with them, and values help give consumers a reason to choose them.

For marketers, that creates three imperatives:

1. Follow the consumer, not the old media plan.
   Latino consumers are increasingly digital-first. Brands need to understand where they spend their time, how they discover products and how digital behavior moves them toward purchase.
2. Make personalization culturally intelligent.
   Data and AI can improve relevance, but technology should amplify cultural understanding—not replace it.
3. Build around aspirations, not assumptions.
   Family, authenticity, ambition, optimism and community are powerful drivers. Understanding the values behind consumer behavior can lead to stronger creative, more meaningful experiences and deeper brand relationships.

The Hispanic market isn’t waiting for marketers to figure out digital. Latino consumers are already there—shopping, creating, sharing, influencing and shaping what comes next. The brands that win will be the ones that recognize that the opportunity isn’t simply to reach Latino consumers in digital spaces. Rather, it is to understand why they are there, what matters to them, and what they want their future to look like.

And that is where marketing becomes meaningful.