More than half of U.S. Latinas who feel misrepresented by a brand have already stopped buying from it, according to a study published on June 30, 2026 by the Latino Donor Collaborative and Kantar - a finding that lands squarely on a demographic controlling the large majority of household spending decisions in their communities.

A consumer with the numbers and the patience running out

The Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit research organization and think tank, released the study on June 30, 2026, in partnership with Kantar, the market research and brand intelligence firm. The report, titled "Data Beyond Demographics: U.S. Latinas' Economic Power, Influence and Growth," was produced with client partners TelevisaUnivision, Victoria's Secret, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and We Are ALX, according to the release. The study covers 34 million U.S. Latinas, a group the report says represents one in every five American women.

The topline figures describe a consumer segment with substantial and growing financial authority. According to the study, 86% of Latinas hold primary or joint responsibility for financial decisions within their households, and 74% serve as trusted sources of advice on new brands and products among family and friends - compared with 68% of non-Latina women on that same measure. Those numbers matter beyond the individual purchase: a brand that wins over one Latina consumer, according to the report's framing, gains influence over the wider circle of people who ask her opinion before they buy.

Behind those decision-making figures sits a larger number. The study places the Latino consumer economy at 2.8 trillion dollars, and describes it as growing at double the pace of the non-Latino market. That figure is not new to industry tracking - LG Ad Solutions cited Hispanic buying power projected to surpass 2.5 trillion dollars by 2026 in a report published in August 2024, and the new LDC and Kantar figure represents a meaningful jump from that earlier projection over a period of roughly two years.

Where the frustration shows up

The study does not stop at describing spending power. It also measures how Latinas feel about the brands competing for that spending, and the results point toward friction. According to the report, 80% of Latinas say they have been treated as an afterthought by brands, compared with 60% of non-Latina women - a 20-percentage-point gap the study describes as statistically significant. The consequence of that gap is where the research becomes actionable for anyone planning a campaign: 56% of Latinas report that they have actively walked away from brands that perpetuate one-dimensional stereotypes, and 57% say they now scrutinize brands and institutions more closely than they used to.

Nearly 8 in 10 Latinas, according to the study, say stereotypes persist in advertising and media. The report frames this as a pattern that is "statistically distinct and unique to Latinas" rather than a general complaint shared evenly across women of all backgrounds. That distinction is the study's central argument: this is not simply an underserved market waiting to be reached, but an audience that has already formed opinions about how it is being addressed, and is prepared to act on those opinions by withholding its business.

Ana Valdez, President and CEO of the Latino Donor Collaborative, framed the finding as a warning to institutions that delay adapting to it. "For fifteen years, the LDC has built the evidence base showing where U.S. Latino contributions to American economic growth are being underestimated," Valdez said, according to the release. "This study makes the case for a cohort whose cultural identity is the operating system on which they are building wealth, businesses, and influence. The brands, capital allocators, and policy leaders who design for this reality today and for the next decade of American economic growth. The ones who wait will find themselves outside an ecosystem that is growing without them."

The cultural identity gap is the widest in the survey

Among the study's individual data points, one comparison stands out for its size. According to the report, 65% of Latinas say their cultural background shapes how they authentically express themselves, versus 47% of non-Latina women - an 18-percentage-point difference that the study identifies as the single widest attitudinal gap measured across the entire survey. That gap runs through nearly every other finding in the report: Latinas are not simply asking for representation in the abstract. They are describing cultural identity as a functional part of how they make decisions, spend money, and choose which brands earn their trust.

Juliana Gomez, SVP of Strategy and Insights at TelevisaUnivision, connected that cultural weight directly to commercial outcomes. "The Data Beyond Demographics study provides brands with a deeper understanding of this key consumer segment, and at TelevisaUnivision, we're committed to giving brands the knowledge and cultural intelligence they need to succeed," Gomez said, according to the release. "U.S. Latinas are the primary economic engines and decision-makers for their families and communities. Marketers that actively recognize and invest in them gain loyal, long-term customers."

Challise Nichols, AVP of Customer and Market Insights at Victoria's Secret, addressed the same finding from a category-specific angle, arguing that beauty and fashion brands in particular carry a responsibility to reflect that identity accurately. "Latinas are not asking to be included. They are redefining what power looks like and how it is expressed," Nichols said, according to the release. "This study makes clear that Latinas expect to see themselves reflected not as an afterthought, but in the full range of who they are as leaders and forces of change. For brands, especially in beauty and fashion, that means truly representing how Latinas show up in the world."

Entrepreneurship and self-taught financial habits

The report also documents an ownership mindset that distinguishes Latinas from the broader female population it compares them against. According to the study, 52% of Latinas expect to own a business during their lifetime, compared with 43% of non-Latina women, and 61% currently maintain multiple streams of income, compared with 52% of non-Latina women. Those figures sit alongside a finding about how that financial fluency was acquired: 71% of Latinas describe themselves as entirely self-taught in financial management, and 66% say they actively seek out financial planning information and enjoy learning how to manage their money - a rate the study says runs 7 percentage points above their non-Latina counterparts.

Generational wealth surfaces as the connecting thread across these findings. According to the report, 79% of Latinas say building generational wealth is a priority, a figure the study links to a long-term focus on economic mobility and family prosperity rather than short-term consumption. Jennifer Chavez Rubio, Interim President and CEO of Hispanics in Philanthropy, pointed to a related shift already visible in household income data. "In a political climate designed to make Latinas feel smaller, a large majority in this study say they are more motivated to lead and take action," Chavez Rubio said, according to the release. "Latinas are already giving, already volunteering, already building the generational wealth that will define the next era of civic participation, and they are doing it at rates that outpace their peers. Nearly half of Millennial Latinas are now primary household income earners. The capacity to give is growing. The will is already there."

What brands are being asked to change

The study closes its findings with a specific description of how Latinas want to be portrayed, rather than leaving that request open to interpretation. According to the report, Latinas want to be shown as entrepreneurs, leaders in male-dominated fields, financial decision makers, working mothers, and CEOs - depicted across the full range of skin tones, ages, and body types. The report adds that 73% of Latinas actively support brands that hire and promote Latinas, tying the representation question directly to workforce practices rather than advertising creative alone.

Eneida Roman, President and CEO of We Are ALX, framed the finding as a correction to how the market has historically been described. "Latinas are not an emerging market; they are a commanding economic force already shaping the present and the future of the U.S. economy," Roman said, according to the release. "This Kantar report makes one thing clear: the gap is no longer in Latina potential, it is in institutional recognition. Today's Latinas are building wealth, driving decisions, and holding brands accountable with precision and purpose. When you earn the trust of a Latina, you don't gain a customer, you gain a network. At We Are ALX, we see this every day - investing in Latinas is not a social imperative, it is a growth strategy for the future of this country."

The report was published using a mixed-methodology approach, according to the release, though the specific survey sample size and fielding dates were not disclosed in the announcement. The full report is available for public download through the Latino Donor Collaborative, and a companion article summarizing the study is available through Kantar.

Why this matters beyond one report

The pattern described in this study is not appearing in isolation. Spanish-language television advertising outperformed English-language advertising by 31% over the prior year, according to a report EDO published on October 8, 2024, with culturally relevant content sometimes outperforming the Spanish-language average by more than 1,000% when it featured Latin culture or Hispanic celebrities. That effectiveness gap, measured nearly two years before the LDC and Kantar release, suggests the brand-loyalty findings in the new study are not a sudden shift in sentiment so much as the continuation of a pattern that measurement companies have already been tracking on the media side.

Streaming behavior tells a similar story. According to a study LG Ad Solutions published in August 2024, 94% of Hispanic Americans have access to connected television, and while 69% of Hispanic CTV users say they prefer English-language content, 51% report paying closer attention to ads shown in Spanish. That combination - broad platform access, a language preference that does not map neatly onto a single assumption, and a documented lift in ad attention under the right conditions - describes an audience that responds to precision rather than to blanket strategies built around language alone. The new LDC and Kantar study extends that same logic from media consumption into the financial and household decision-making sphere, and its stereotype-rejection figures suggest the cost of getting that precision wrong is now measurable in walked-away customers rather than only in survey sentiment.

The commercial infrastructure serving this audience has also been expanding on the distribution side. Disney renewed and extended its programmatic advertising partnership with Magnite in October 2024, a deal that specifically added Latin American markets to the existing agreement alongside live sports and podcast monetization. That kind of infrastructure buildout does not, on its own, address the representation gap the LDC and Kantar study documents. But it does indicate that the advertising industry has already been treating Hispanic and Latino audiences as a distinct market worth building dedicated supply paths for, even before this particular study quantified the brand-loyalty stakes involved.

Timeline

  • October 8, 2024 - EDO publishes a report finding Spanish-language television advertising outperformed English-language advertising by 31% over the prior year.
  • August 29, 2024 - LG Ad Solutions publishes "The Inclusive Screen: Hispanic Americans," finding 94% of Hispanic Americans have access to connected television and projecting Hispanic buying power to surpass 2.5 trillion dollars by 2026.
  • October 23, 2024 - Disney renews its programmatic advertising partnership with Magnite for two additional years, expanding the deal into Latin American markets.
  • June 30, 2026 - The Latino Donor Collaborative and Kantar publish "Data Beyond Demographics: U.S. Latinas' Economic Power, Influence and Growth," covering 34 million U.S. Latinas.

Summary

Who: The Latino Donor Collaborative, a nonprofit research organization, and Kantar, a market research and brand intelligence firm, jointly published the study, with client partners TelevisaUnivision, Victoria's Secret, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and We Are ALX contributing named commentary.

What: A study titled "Data Beyond Demographics: U.S. Latinas' Economic Power, Influence and Growth," documenting the financial decision-making authority, entrepreneurship intentions, and brand-loyalty behavior of 34 million U.S. Latinas, including findings that 86% hold financial decision-making authority in their households and 56% have walked away from brands over stereotypical portrayals.

When: The study was published on June 30, 2026.

Where: The study covers U.S. Latinas nationally; the release was distributed through Business Wire from Los Angeles.

Why: The study documents a gap between the financial and cultural influence Latinas hold and the way brands have historically addressed them, framing that gap as a measurable commercial risk - customer defection driven by stereotyped portrayals - rather than only a representation concern.