African American 2010 Consumer Report February 12, 2010 Experian and the marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. No part of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, modified, or distributed in any form or manner without the prior written permission of Experian Information Solutions, Inc.
African American 2010 Consumer Report African Americans represent 11% of the U.S. adult population and, as a group, constitute the nation s largest racial minority market. African Americans are also more optimistic about their financial situation than the general population, and with good reason. According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, African American buying power reached $913 billion in 2008, up from $590 billion in 2000. By 2013, African American buying power will reach an astonishing $1.2 trillion, meaning that almost nine cents out of every dollar spent in the United States will come from African American consumers. In celebration of Black History Month, Experian Simmons examines the attitudes, behaviors and media consumption of our country s African American consumers using data from Simmons DataStreamSM, the Simmons National Consumer Study, New Media Study, Multi-Media Engagement Study and Experian MicromarketerG3 as well as findings from our friends at Experian Hitwise.
Financial outlook: African Americans more optimistic When it comes to attitudes towards personal financial outlook, African Americans are more likely than the average American adult to say that in the next 12 months they will be better off financially. As of December 28 th, 2009, 36% of African Americans said they would be better off financially in the next 12 months, compared with 31% of all adults who felt the same. 55 Better off financially next 12 months 50 45 40 African American 35 30 25 All U.S. Adults 20 15 6/16/08 7/14/08 8/11/08 9/8/08 10/6/08 11/3/08 12/1/08 12/29/08 1/26/09 2/23/09 3/23/09 4/20/09 5/18/09 6/15/09 7/13/09 8/10/09 9/7/09 10/5/09 11/2/09 11/30/09 12/28/09 Source: Experian Simmons DataStream SM 12-week moving estimate
Attitudes and opinions African Americans are trend setters Top indexing statements among African American adults compared to the total adult population. Index relative to total adult population in parentheses: Apparel Auto Food Social I m usually first among my friends to try new clothing styles (209) I like to make a unique fashion statement (197) I no longer wear clothes I wore a year ago because they ve gone out of style (170) Owning a foreign car is much more prestigious than owning an American car (149) Friends and family always ask my advice what car they should buy (132) I often go for a drive by myself for a sense of freedom (130) I prefer fast food to home cooking (138) I am usually the first among my friends to try new food products (132) I try to eat gourmet whenever I can (129) I m usually quick to try a new nutritional product (121) People often copy what I do or wear (167) I like to try new things no one else has (131) People say my enthusiasm is contagious (123) I m good at convincing others to try things (120) Source: Experian Simmons Summer 2009 National Consumer Study
Attitudes and opinions Money is no object for African Americans Top indexing statements among African American adults compared to the total adult population. Index relative to total adult population in parentheses: Finance Shopping Health Media I find advertising for financial services to be interesting (185) I ll pay any price for good financial advice (158) My friends or associates often ask for my advice in financial matters (140) I m usually first among friends to shop at a new store (189) I often go out of my way to find a new store to shop at (186) I spend a lot of money on toiletries and cosmetics for personal use (165) The most expensive medicine is usually the best (177) I gather health information from the library (145) There is not much point in taking non- Rx medicine since they don t really work (144) I enjoy reading ads in magazines (183) Advertising helps me choose products for my children (143) I find TV advertising interesting and quite often it gives me something to talk about (137) Magazines are my main source of entertainment (137) Source: Experian Simmons Summer 2009 National Consumer Study
Engaged audience Top magazines for reaching engaged African Americans House Beautiful magazine is a great publication for reaching African Americans who respond to print ads. Readers of House Beautiful, for instance, are 37% more likely to be African American and House Beautiful scores 83% higher than the average magazine among African American readers who say they are likely to buy product or services advertised in the magazine. African American Likely to buy advertised Magazine title reader index products index House Beautiful 137 183 American Baby 210 151 Sporting News 151 151 Harper s Bazaar 161 146 Health 191 143 Soap Opera Digest 205 138 Parenting 198 136 Hot Rod 134 131 Fitness 234 126 Ebony 817 123 Source: Spring 2009 Multi-Media Engagement Study
Geographic targeting A map of wealthy African American metros Where in the United States is the best place to find African American consumers with household incomes of $100,000 or more? Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Georgia is tops followed by Fresno and Stockton, California. Top Metros 1. Hinesville-Fort Stewart, GA 2. Fresno, CA 3. Stockton, CA 4. Fayetteville, NC 5. Lawton, OK 6. Bakersfield, CA 7. Clarksdale, MS 8. Merced, CA 9. Virginia Beach-Norfolk- Newport News, VA-NC 10. Fort Valley, GA Legend CBSA Micro and Metropolitan Areas 0-33 34-68 69-106 107-159 160-238 239-683 Source: National Consumer Study
New and emerging media African Americans are early adopters of new technology African American consumers are more likely than the average online adult to use a wide range of emerging technologies and media. For instance, online African American consumers are 20% more likely than average to watch movies online, 19% more likely to listen to Internet radio and 18% more likely to use social tags or bookmarks. Mobile activities last 30 days Online activities last 30 days African American Index 226 210 181 177 159 120 119 118 111 104 Watched video uploaded to phone Uploaded pics to social networking site Dow nloaded ringtones Dow nloaded music Watched streaming video Watched movies online Listened to Internet radio Used Social tags/ bookmarks Visited video sharing site Visited Social Networking site *Base: Online adults for online activities; online mobile phone users for mobile activities Source: Spring 2009 New Media Study
Online Targeting Top websites for reaching African Americans Below are the top sites ranked by the percentage of visits coming from the top African American Mosaic lifestyle segments. The list is dominated by social networking sites. Site BlackPlanet.com Bebo Urban Chat Media Take Out CorrLinks Worldstarhiphop BET.com BlackPeopleMeet.com Kaplan University Online Course AccountNow Customer Center URL www.blackplanet.com www.bebo.com www.urbanchat.com www.mediatakeout.com www.corrlinks.com www.worldstarhiphop.com www.bet.com www.blackpeoplemeet.com www.kucourses.com my.accountnow.com Source: Experian Hitwise
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