Latinas Drive Hispanic Purchasing Power In The U.S. : Code Switch : NPR: Meet Pamela Maria Wright — the "contemporary Latina consumer." She has two kids — Nico and Rita — whom she hopes will be bilingual, as she is. She's a tech-savvy working professional with a master's degree, but she's also very traditional and family-oriented. (While I was visiting her home, her father showed up for a surprise visit. "How much more Latino can you get?" Wright asked.)
Wright not only consumes her media in English and Spanish, she also buys groceries biculturally. She'll hit up Whole Foods for organic milk, Greek yogurt and kale, and the Mexican family-owned grocery chain Northgate González for stuff like queso quesadilla and queso fresco — items, as she puts it, "that you can't find in an American store."
Latinas are the primary decision-makers on spending in their households, from the market research firm Nielsen. As the report notes, this makes them "pivotal to the Hispanic market's $1.2 trillion in annual buying power." But companies hoping to market to the contemporary Latina consumer face a real challenge.
