Proprietary research identifies six distinct Hispanic cultural cohorts, revealing why language alone no longer explains how Hispanic consumers engage with content and brands
NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Canela Media, a leading technology and innovation multicultural media company, today unveiled its Hispanic Culture Cohorts Study, proprietary research that introduces a new way for marketers and media companies to understand U.S. Hispanic audiences. Based on a survey of almost 2,000 Hispanic viewers, the study moves beyond traditional demographic segmentation to identify six distinct “Culture Cohorts” defined by how people live, express, and navigate their culture, not simply by language preference, acculturation, or generation. Full results and analysis of the study will be on August 17th in a session titled: The New Hispanic Playbook for Brands. The session is being offered for free, registration is available here.
“For decades, marketers have relied on broad demographic indicators such as Spanish- versus English-language preference or country of origin to reach Hispanic audiences,” Paula Baldwin, VP of Brand Partnerships. “Our research finds those measures no longer capture the complexity of today’s consumers. Instead, cultural identity is fluid, contextual, and deeply connected to the emotional needs people seek to fulfill through content.”
Among the study’s key findings:
- Language is contextual, not fixed. While nearly all respondents completed the survey in Spanish, 81% reported to be bilingual.
- Culture is actively lived. Hispanic audiences consistently integrate culture into their daily routines, media choices, and behaviors, making cultural identity a primary driver of content consumption.
- Free streaming leads media consumption. Sixty-one percent of respondents watch free, ad-supported streaming television, reinforcing the growing importance of AVOD platforms in reaching multicultural audiences.
- Cultural understanding builds trust. Eighty-seven percent say they trust brands more when those brands demonstrate a genuine understanding of their community, highlighting that cultural relevance, not language alone, drives loyalty.
The study identifies six Hispanic Culture Cohorts: Cultural Preservers, Cultural Navigators, Cultural Remixers, Culturally Fluid, Culturally Adjacent, and Cultural Reactor. Each representing a unique relationship with identity, media, and culture. Together, these cohorts provide marketers with a more nuanced framework for developing content, advertising, and audience engagement strategies.
“Our research shows there isn’t one Hispanic audience, there are six distinct cultural mindsets,” added Baldwin. “Understanding how people experience and express their culture is far more predictive of the content they consume and the brands they trust than traditional demographic labels.”
The findings also reveal three strategic opportunities for brands: serve deeply rooted audiences with culturally authentic content, engage bicultural consumers through shareable and expressive experiences, and reconnect audiences through nostalgia, family, and community.
The Hispanic Culture Cohorts Study reflects Canela Media’s continued investment in proprietary audience intelligence that helps brands move beyond assumptions and build more meaningful connections with multicultural consumers.
The full report is also available here for free download.
About Canela Media
Canela Media is a leading innovation and technology-driven media company that offers a portfolio of audience solutions consisting of Canela.TV, Canela Audience Solutions, Club Canela and Canela Studios providing scale and breakthrough offerings to reach U.S. Hispanic audiences through relevant content, with precision and accuracy. Canela Media’s free streaming platform, Canela.TV, provides audiences with culturally relevant and authentic content on-demand (VOD) and through its Live Channels across all verticals: Canela Music, Canela Kids, Canela Deportes, and also boasts an extensive library of Novelas and Mexican classics films. Canela Studios, Canela Media’s in-house creative and production studio, offers brands seamless creative services and branded content solutions as well as developing and producing several Canela Originals. Club Canela, Canela Media’s breakthrough first in-app streaming rewards program of its kind, provides brands with innovative and exclusive engagement opportunities while rewarding audiences for watching content on the Canela.TV app. Canela Media’s proprietary and exclusive data solution, Canela Audience Solutions, is a best-in-class OTT-first data product delivering advanced audience targeting with more scale, more accuracy, and, ultimately, more precision.
Canela Media’s extensive reach across premium OTT partners and Spanish-language sites, coupled with its proprietary data, empowers brands to reach highly engaged, customized, Hispanic audiences with precision, both within and beyond Canela Media’s ecosystem.
For more information, visit: http://www.CanelaMedia.com
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SOURCE Canela Media
