The Power of the Afro-Latina Market
Posted March 24, 2008

As an Afro Latina, Puerto Rican to be exact, I have always struggled to find my place in the world of Latinos and in the world of African Americans. Neither group has ever fully embraced my Afro-Boricua roots and desire to move freely from the world of salsa, mofongo and pasteles to the world of jazz, collard greens and sweet potato pie.

Hispanics are always shocked when I speak Spanish without an obvious accent (“Where did you learn to speak Spanish so well?”) and are puzzled to learn both of my parents were born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. (“So one of your parents must be Black?”).

African Americans cannot fathom the idea of a Black Hispanic. There is no awareness of the fact that 95 percent of all slaves who came to the Western Hemisphere during the Middle Passage were enslaved in Latin America, the Caribbean and Mexico. Only 5 percent were sent to the United States, and this was 100 years after the slave trade to Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries began.

My response to my African American colleagues is often, “Haven’t you ever heard of Celia Cruz or read Piri Thomas’ classic book, ‘Down These Mean Streets?’” But they look at me with blank stares or just shake their heads no.

In the spirit of building awareness of the importance of Afro-Latina women, I offer the following points:

·         Afro Latinas represent approximately 11.2 million in the U.S. population. (Globally, there are over 150 million people of Afro-Latino descent). This number is based on U.S. Census data of individuals who claim mixed or Black ancestry under Hispanic origin and those who identify as Hispanic under the Black race.

·         Afro Latinas will grow approximately 13 percent by the year 2010 to almost 12.7 million. For perspective, this is as large as the current Asian-American population.

·         The economic buying power of Afro-Latina women was estimated at $160 billion in 2005.

·         Afro-Latina women will control an estimated $215 billion in economic buying power by the year 2010—a 34 percent increase over 2005 levels.

·         If Afro-Latinas were a country, their economic buying power would rank them  number 31 on the World Economic GDP Rank, and ahead of countries like: 

o    Argentina                                      $214 billion
o    Finland                                          $209 billion
o    Thailand                                        $206 billion
o    Portugal                                         $193 billion
o    Hong Kong, China                      $190 billion
o    Venezuela                                     $182 billion
and more

Consider these additional compelling facts about this overlooked consumer. Afro-Latina women:

q  Are heavy users of beauty and personal care products. The unique physiological needs of Afro-Latina women, who are often mixed with African, Indian and European blood, result in hair that ranges from kinky, curly or wavy, to straight, and in skin tones that range from very dark to very light. This very wide range of appearance drives a constant search for the perfect product to style, maintain and care for one’s hair and skin. Once the perfect product is found, our loyalty to this product is unmoving.

q  Use more and begin using beauty products at an earlier age than Caucasian women. Our heritage as Latina women reinforces beauty as a central tenant of femininity. It is not uncommon for week-old infants to have their ears pierced, to use jewelry (“un azabache”), and for girls at the age of 15 (not 16 as in the general market) to make their debut into the world (“La Quinceneara”). Afro-Latina women (as with African American and Hispanic women) have a longer usage cycle in the beauty, fragrance and fashion industry than Caucasian women, making them attractive from a sales and profit perspective.

q  Are subject to many of the diseases that are racially based given their African heritage (e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes). Importantly, the medical community and health care practitioners must use a matrix approach weaving culture and ethnicity into treatment services and clinical testing to best service these patients and not make generalized assumptions when providing care.

q  Desire to see their image in Hispanic media and advertising. Hispanic novelas, commercials and programming have historically not shown many images of Latinas of African descent. Growing up, watching novelas with my mother, I was always struck by the observation that the Black women were always maids and that they spoke Spanish in a poor, uneducated way. These are not the images that are aspirational and uplifting to Afro-Latinas or Afro-Latinos. As with any consumer group, we want to see our images in the media reflected in a positive way.

q  Are bilingual, speaking Spanish with the same degree of fluency and acculturation as Hispanics overall. In the absence of a segmentation model that addresses ethnicity, language and acculturation, the writer would argue that Afro Latinas pose the same degree of complexity as Latinos overall in communication goals. One should not assume that Afro-Latinas only speak English because of the color of their skin or their outward appearance. This poses a unique opportunity for companies in the beauty products industry to promote products targeting African-American women using Spanish as the means of communication.

With over $160 billion in buying power, expected to grow to over $214 billion by 2010, Afro-Latina women are an economically vibrant consumer audience, with unique communication and product needs.

Miriam Muléy is the CEO of The 85% Niche, a marketing consultancy. For more information on Afro-Latina women and women of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, contact Miriam at 313.885.5220 or visit www.85percentniche.com.