For National Hispanic Heritage Month, The Nielsen Company released data regarding the the shopping behavior of Hispanic consumers, whose collective buying power totals nearly US$ 1 trillion, it said (via MarketingCharts).

As Hispanics become more acculturated (as measured by language preference), there is less evidence of brand loyalty, according to Nielsen Homescan research across multiple product categories. For example:

• In the case of select brand/flavors of carbonated soft drinks, 33 percent of English-only/preferred Hispanics met their needs with a particular cola.
• Nearly 70 percent of Spanish-preferred homes fulfilled their carbonated beverage requirements with the identical brand.
• Similar trends were noted for other categories, such as laundry detergent, cereal, toothpaste and beer.

"When it comes to brand loyalty and the Hispanic consumer, the key learning for marketers is understanding the importance of building a brand relationship during the initial stages of acculturation and maintaining this connection as Hispanics' integration to American life increases," said Tim Kregor, president, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services.

MarketingCharts offers some other insights imparted by Nielsen's research.