The size and lifetime value of the budding Hispanic millennial market has seized the attention of any brand or new media venture paying close enough attention to see the benefit of acquiring the allegiance of the misunderstood, widely sought-after consumer segment. With 25 percent of Hispanics being millennials and 21 percent of millennials identifying as Hispanics, it's important that this large group expresses its opinion on this nation's most pressing issues, such as health care.

ThinkNow Research, a market research firm, and Sensis, a cross-cultural advertising agency, collaborated to create a joint research study entitled "The Hispanic Millennial Project."

The first wave of the research, "Wave 1: Introducing Hispanic Millennials," examined the mindset of Hispanic millennials and their insights on success, the American Dream, their contributions to the household and the direction of the U.S. The second wave of the research, "Wave 2: Hispanic Millennials and Healthcare," focuses solely on health care and related behaviors and attitudes.

Traditional ideas, which are inherited from older Hispanics, are at the root of Hispanic millennials' cultural views on health. However, conventional thoughts about health and wellness are reinvented in the hands of Hispanic millennials, whose attitudes and behaviors regarding health, diet, and exercise, as well as health-related technology, insurance and the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) differ from their elders. The dichotomy between traditional and technology shows that the segment straddles two worlds when it comes to health and attitudes about health, though most are aligning with mainstream attitudes.

The "young and healthy" Hispanic millennial segment experienced great difficulty during the initial rollout of the Affordable Care Act. And the three key challenges that contributed to that difficulty were lack of trust, lack of awareness and the need for one-on-one education to better inform users about the marketplace and the plans being offered.

Latino enrollment eventually increased with Covered California's last of month of enrollment during 2013's fall enrollment period, where 252,000 signed up, largely due to face-to-face interactions, Spanish-language support and expanded community partnerships. Despite rough beginnings, Hispanic millennials are now more in favor of the ACA than non-Hispanic millennials, according to the research.

The research also revealed that Hispanics rate their overall health more positively than non-Hispanics, defining health to mean good diet, feeling good and exercise. Also, they reported lower levels of stress. That said, Hispanic millennial participants did disclose that diabetes was the illness they were most concerned about developing in the future.

While Hispanic millennials tend to consult their doctor and the Internet when seeking information or advice, they are more likely to resist seeing a doctor than non-Hispanic millennials. That is unless it is absolutely necessary, then they are more likely to get a second opinion.

Also, there are strong differences within the Hispanic millennial segment as well. Foreign-born Hispanic millennials likely define health as "having no physical problems," while U.S. born Hispanic millennials define it as "feeling good" or "being fit." Foreign-born Hispanic millennials opt for traditional home remedies over medicine, as they tend to view doctors as an "authoritative voice".

When it comes to gender, male Hispanic millennials are more optimistic about their health than female Hispanic millennials, particularly as it concerns important points of tension that affect attitudes on health and wellness. Those points of tension are concentrated on inner well-being versus outside appearance, trust and frequency of doctor visits and the trustworthiness of health information available online. Hispanic millennial males are more likely to take preventative measures to avoid health problems.

Additional important findings featured in the report: Only 2 percent of Hispanic millennials correlate "looking good" with being "healthy," 80 percent are likely to exercise to avoid health problems for the future (compared to 69 percent of non-Hispanic millennials.), 57 percent exercise four times or more during the week (compared to 47 percent of non-Hispanic millennials), 50 percent search online for organic products before shopping (compared to 40 percent of non-Hispanic millennials), 25 percent play a team sport (compared to 14 of non-Hispanic millennials), and 28 percent use mobile apps for health related purposes. Perhaps most interesting, many Hispanic millennials feel that they are "culturally tied to maintaining their health for the sake of physical appearance."

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