And so simply translating standard messages into Spanish doesn’t always work – especially because second-, third- and fourth-generation Hispanics and Latinos may speak only English, Tagliani said.
In Puerto Rico’s health department, Antonio Cases and his staff over the years have sometimes choose not to use the ads from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because the messages and people in the ads didn’t fit the island’s population.
But the Spanish-language materials provided in recent years to promote the CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers include Hispanics and Latinos, and the Spanish-language messages are well done, said Cases, director of the department’s tobacco control and oral health division.
“In terms promoting the harm cigarettes do, as well as the promotion of the quit line, it’s very important that they are adapted to our [Puerto Rican] population,” he said.
In general, a successful campaign targeted to Hispanic and Latino adults taps into their deep-rooted sense of family, said Carla Eboli, chief reputation officer for Dieste, a Dallas-based agency that concentrates on Hispanic and Latino consumers.
Hispanic and Latino smokers have said in focus groups that love and support of family has motivated them to quit, Eboli said.
“The family aspect of health care is very, very important for the Hispanic community,” Eboli said.
Hispanics and Latinos represent about 17 percent of the U.S. population, according to U.S. Census data. But not all are looking for Spanish-language information.
