title: Segmentation of Mexican-Heritage Immigrants: Acculturation Typology and Language Preference in Health Information Seeking.
abstract: With the fast growing number of Mexican immigrants in the United States, more attention is needed to understand the relationship between acculturation and language preference in health information seeking. Latent class analysis provides one useful approach to understanding the diversity in sample of Mexican immigrants (N = 238). Based on 13 linguistic, psychological and behavioral indicators for acculturation, four discrete subgroups were characterized: (1) Less acculturated, (2) Moderately acculturated, (3) Highly acculturated, (4) Selectively bicultural. A Chi-square test revealed that three sub-groups were significantly different in language preference when seeking health information. Less acculturated and moderately acculturated groups sought health information in Spanish, whereas the highly acculturated group preferred English for health information. Selectively bicultural group preferred bilingual health information. Implications for health campaign strategies using audience segmentation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, 425 University Blvd., Cavanaugh Hall 309, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA. younshin@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: YoungJu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maupome
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000379:methods*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acculturation; Audience segmentation; Health information seeking; Latent class analysis; Mexican immigrants