Nielsen Media Shows Effectiveness Of Hispanic Dot.coms.

Univision Online, Inc. announced the results of a Hispanic Internet Users Study conducted by Nielsen Media Research. The study concentrated on three key areas that affect advertisers’ media decisions: purchase behavior, brand awareness, and site popularity. In one of the first studies of the effectiveness of the internet as an advertising medium among Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanic households the results show that Univision.com had major wins in all three key areas: there is a strong correlation between the purchase behavior of Univision.com users to advertisements on its website; there are significant improvements in brand awareness for advertised brands; and Univision.com users claim to visit it more often than any other Web site aimed towards U.S. Hispanics.

According to the Nielsen Media Research study, when product category users were asked about their purchases over the last four weeks, Univision.com users were 27% more likely than non-internet users to purchase items in the packaged goods categories advertised on Univision.com, such as toothpaste, soda and food. Additionally, in the last six months, Univision.com users were eight times more likely than non-internet users to purchase computer products advertised on the website, the study reported.

The study also found that Univision.com helps in branding efforts by giving a significant boost to the awareness of advertised brands. Across a range of product categories, Univision.com users were, on average, 58% more aware of the brands advertised on Univision.com than non-internet users.

Finally, Univision.com came out as the top Spanish-language Web destination for U.S. Hispanic users. Spanish-speaking and bilingual internet users claimed to have visited Univision.com three times more often than Yahoo! En Español, four times more often than Terra, 30 times more often than Yupi, and 40 times more often than StarMedia.

Javier Saralegui, President of Univision Online, said: “This Nielsen Media Research study validates the power of Univision.com. In the 1990s, they were responsible for establishing the credibility of Hispanic television as an essential advertising vehicle, and this important new research brings the same credibility to the internet for Hispanics. More importantly, this study is great news for our advertisers, as it confirms the ability of Univision.com to help build their businesses not only by driving brand awareness, but by modifying our users’ purchasing behavior. We are also pleased that, by a wide margin, Spanish-speaking internet users are saying they visit Univision.com more often than other Spanish-language sites. Our culturally relevant and exclusive content is attracting new users more than ever, allowing us – and our advertisers – to reach the growing U.S. Hispanic community.”

The Hispanic Internet Users Study was conducted by Nielsen Media Research New Media Services and was commissioned by Univision Online. Persons 16 years of age or older in Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanic households who participated in Nielsen Media Research diary samples in sixteen markets were surveyed by telephone between May 31, 2001 and June 18, 2001.