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Introduction
Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in the USA, with an estimated population of 41.3 million. They are expected to continue to grow by 44 percent from 2000 to 2020 and by 62 percent from 2020 to 2050 ([63] US Census Bureau, 2005). Moreover, Hispanic purchasing power surged to $653 billion in 2003 ([39] Mann, 2004) and is projected to reach as much as $992 billion in 2009 ([27] HispanicTrends.com, 2005a). A report by [27] HispanicTrends.com (2005a) suggests that despite a lower than national average median income, Hispanics tend to spend more of their disposable income on goods and services than non-Hispanics - 95.2 versus 85.9 percent for non-Hispanics, partly because Hispanic households are composed of larger families with young children - 3.3 persons per household versus 2.4 for non-Hispanics. Given the Hispanic consumers' significant population growth and their purchasing power, capturing the Hispanic market and capitalizing on the estimated hundreds of billion dollars annual sales potential might be a focal point for retailers in order to be successful in today's competitive retail environment. Marketers, therefore, have been increasingly turning their attention to this market. Many big US retailers are spending more money to target Hispanics and conducting research in order to identify and develop stores that will appeal to Hispanic consumers ([62] US Hispanic Business Latino Business Market, 2005). In fact, JCPenny's Hispanic-Designated Stores, working with Hispanic agency Dieste Harmel and Partners, had a sales growth of 11.2 percent from February to September 2004, compared to a 6.6 percent growth for all JCPenny stores, according to [62] US Hispanic Business Latino Business Market (2005). As the importance of efficiently reaching Hispanic consumers continues to grow, research on the Hispanic consumers' buying behaviors has been conducted and is emerging in marketing literature.
A report by [28] HispanicTrends.com (2005b) shows that in 2004, Hispanic households spent a greater share of their income on groceries, footwear, men's and children's apparel, gasoline and motor oil, and household textiles than other goods. The report, in particular, shows that Hispanic households spent on average, $2,097 for purchasing apparel items in 2004, which account for 6 percent of their annual expenditure based on an annual income of $35k. DRI McGraw-Hill study ([18] Euro RSCG Magnet, 2002) also shows that Hispanics...