Consumer confidence in Hispanic community opens opportunity for boating

If you’ve been following the work of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and the Take Me Fishing/Vamos A Pescar campaign, or any of the articles we have written about reaching new markets, you know there is significant potential for the industry to grow boating through engaging Hispanic consumers. And now, a new study from the Pew Research Center suggests this is an optimal time to do so.

According to the study, Latinos have become considerably more upbeat about their personal finances and optimistic about their financial future since the Great Recession.

Four-in-ten Latinos say their personal finances are in “excellent” or “good” shape, a 17 percentage-point increase since 2008, when only 23 percent made a similarly positive assessment of their finances. By contrast, the share of all Americans who have a similarly positive view of their finances remained essentially flat during the same seven-year period – 41 percent in 2008 vs. 43 percent in 2015.

The survey also shows that Hispanics are more upbeat in their financial expectations for the upcoming year than they were in 2008. About eight-in-ten Hispanic adults (81 percent) say they expect their family’s financial situation to improve in the next year, up from 67 percent who said the same in 2008. By comparison, 61 percent of the general U.S. public say they expect their family’s financial situation to improve, up from 56 percent who said this in 2008.

While many issues that plague the general public also affect the Hispanic community – stagnant wages, unemployment still above its 2006 low – this demographic’s outlook is incredibly positive. Getting these buyers past the price point of a boat won’t be as hard fought of a battle as it may be with less confident consumers. All the industry needs to do is get them to fall in love with boating, and we all know from experience that is not a difficult task.

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