Globalization

ЎDime Con Quien Andas, Y Te Dirй Quien Eres!

A profile of evolving e-commerce trends, patterns, and practices, and their likely impact on Hispanic markets.

By Henry T. Ingle, Ph.D.

Professor of Communication Technology & Associate Vice-President

Technology Planning and Distance Learning

University of Texas at El Paso

This article identifies trends, patterns, and practices evident in the adoption and use of Internet-based electronic business practices--that is, e-commerce--and the likely ways in which these technological developments in communications will play out in the growing Hispanic marketplace, both in the United States and abroad. The points of view herein presented consist of four major trends and issues: (1) the quantum leap in the number and diversity of individuals worldwide connected to the Internet and the World Wide Web; (2) the dramatic demographic shift in the population of the United States, positioning individuals of Hispanic ancestry for across-the-board involvement in the socioeconomic development of the country; (3) the extent to which business and educational groups in their day-to-day practices are adopting Internet, web-based commerce, and electronic business platforms; and (4) the consequences and effects one might expect from adopting or not adopting these evolving telecommunications and e-commerce strategies. The article covers the following topics:

* Definition and meaning of e-commerce in a global marketplace

* Use of the digital electronic media and the Internet as a business growth and development strategy

* Barriers and challenges associated with doing business on the WWW and the Internet

* Likely effects and impact segmented markets can expect from doing business online

Introduction and Overview

There is a classic Spanish adage frequently invoked by our elders: "ÐŽDIME CON QUIEN ANDAS, Y TE DIRE QUIEN ERES!" The adage loosely translates as "Tell me about your colleagues and associates, and I will tell you who you are!" In the context of this article, the adage might appropriately summarize the status of those groups and individuals that are either connected or not connected to the Internet and effectively using this relatively new electronic delivery system for a variety of transactions tied to communication, education, and business.

In the Hispanic community in the United States, use of the Internet is soaring. According to New York-based Nielsen/Net Ratings (Allison Fass, The New York Times, 7/17/2002), the use of the World Wide Web is growing faster among U. S. Hispanics than any other U.S. ethnic group. The online Hispanic population has grown 13 percent to nearly 7.6 million this year, as contrasted with an overall Web population growth of 3 percent to almost 105 million (much of this increase, reflects a "catching up" phenomenon with other mainstream groups on the Internet). Recently reported data on the concept of the "digital divide" questions the research evidence showing that minorities are increasingly using computers and the Internet. Elsa Macias, of the Tomбs Rivera Policy Institute at the Claremont Colleges (2002), reports that Hispanics have made great strides in their Internet presence (40 percent of Hispanic households now have some type of computer access and about 32 percent of Hispanics are online today, compared to 12.6 percent in 1998), but they still have not achieved the level of parity one would expect with the overall use of computers in the population. The data need to be viewed in context and compared with those for white non-Hispanic households, of which nearly 62 percent have computers and 55.4 percent have access to the Internet from home. The Tomбs Rivera Policy Institute report concludes that there is still significant room for improvement for Hispanics when compared with the overall use of computers in the mainstream population sectors.

Nonetheless, media analysts and economists agree that the growth of the Hispanic population on the Internet is not a fad, but rather a trend that is here to stay and grow as Hispanics and other ethnic minority groups in the United States become better informed about the Internet, as the cost of computer equipment for connectivity continues to decline, and as reliable, fast, secure IP service providers proliferate. The pattern of Internet growth among U.S. Hispanics owes its genesis to the fact that the Hispanic population has spread out across the country faster and farther than any other previous wave of immigrants. This pattern has been observed by Roberto Suro, co-author of a 2002 study on the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States and director of The Pew Hispanic Center, which worked on the study in tandem with the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.

Tabulating data from the 2000 U.S. Census, the Department of Commerce reports that about 32 percent of Hispanics are now using the Internet, compared with about 40 percent of African Americans and 62 percent of Caucasians and Asian Americans. Accordingly, Hispanics now account for slightly over 11 percent of the total U.S. online population. The July/August 2002 issue of Hispanic Business magazine reports that the proportion of Hispanic Internet users purchasing goods or services online is 41 percent, compared with 40 percent for African Americans and just under fifty percent for Anglos.

Profiling some corollary perspectives on the purchasing power of Hispanics online are the 2002 spring survey results from the Roslow Research Group, which conducted 600 telephone interviews with Hispanic households in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and San Antonio. The study concluded, to quote Hispanic Business magazine (July/August 2002, p.12): "Hispanics love their Internet ... and are spending significantly more time online than their general-market counterparts. Seventy-one percent of those polled reported logging on to the Web at least once a day from home. The study further indicates that 50 percent of U.S. Hispanics age 16 or older regularly use the Internet. The average U.S. Hispanic Internet user is approximately 30 years old; roughly half of the users are bilingual, and 74 percent have computers at home. Finally, the percentage of Hispanic men and women online is nearly equal, at 53 and 47 percent, respectively."

The Roslow Group telephone interviews