BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — A new Florida Atlantic University Business and Economic Polling Initiative survey (FAU BEPI) found that 40 percent of Hispanics will be spending less on their holiday shopping compared to last year compared to 29 percent who said they will be spending more money and 31 percent who said they will spend the same as last year.

To be more specific, 55 percent of Hispanics with income less than $25,000 reported they will spend less this holiday season compared to last year, while only
13 percent of Hispanics with income over $75,000 said they will spend less than last year.

"This means Hispanics with more discretionary income will be the driving consumer force this Holiday shopping season," said Monica Escaleras, director of the FAU BEPI.

The majority of Hispanics, or 71 percent, plans on spending less than $500, while 8 percent plan to spend more than $1,000. Cash is still king for Hispanics as the majority, or 59 percent, indicated they will pay for their gifts in cash and 41 percent will utilize credit or some other form of financing.

Hispanics also said they prefer brick-and-mortar shopping as opposed to online by a 2 to 1 ratio (67 percent to 33 percent). Online shopping will still be utilized by Hispanics with 30 percent saying they will do most or all their shopping online and 16 percent saying they will do half their shopping
online. However, 33 percent said they will not shop online.

"Income mobility and age might be driving online shopping with 49 percent of respondents earning over $75,000 saying they plan to do the majority of shopping online, while 45 percent of respondents over 55 said they will do no online shopping," Escaleras said.

The poll also found that one-quarter of Hispanics have already started their holiday shopping and over half of Hispanics are somewhat/very likely to shop Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday (56 percent and 52 percent respectively).

The polling sample consisted of 500 Hispanics with a margin of error of +/- 4.33 percent, and a 95 percent confidence level. The poll ran from Nov. 1-15.

For more information about this survey and the initiative, visit www.business.fau.edu/bepi, or contact Monica Escaleras at 561-297-1312 or BEPI@fau.edu.