According to the study, the African American market can be broken into six socio-behavioral segments:
1. Emulators (11% of African Americans) - are generally students, with a median age of 17, who identify with the young urban trendsetters within the African American culture, but see themselves as unique and independent. They are trendsetters whose purchases reflect a need to be unconventional. But they also have a need for social and emotional reassurance of brands that most reflect status or achievement.
2. Seekers (19% of African Americans) - Share some characteristics with emulators, but are older and more disillusioned about life. They work part-time or are temporarily unemployed. They seek image and status brands that are popular among the culture. They are a median age of 40 and have a median income of $18,000.
3. Reachers (24% of African Americans) are strivers who are working toward the American dream, but are not on the fast track. Often single parents who care for children and/or an elderly parent, they are stressed out, they want products and services that give them the biggest bang for the buck. They are a median age of 40 and have a median income of $28,000.
4. Attainers (27% of African Americans) - Have a more defined sense of self and a solid plan for the future. They seek and appreciate appropriate marketing and advertising that gives them gives them useful ideas and information about how to make their lives easier and better. They have a median income of $55,000 and are a median age of 40 years old.
5. Elites (5% of African Americans) - Upwardly mobile African Americans who live and work in a more mainstream environment, but retain their cultural identity and allegiances. Marketers must appeal to them through a broader range of campaigns and executions generally reserved for non-Hispanic whites, but can be personalized for them. They are a median age of 46 and have a median income of $113,000.
6. Conservers (14% of African Americans) - An older segment with a median age of 67 and income of $38,000. This group is set in its ways and is slow to adapt to the dynamism of the African American culture. Mostly retired, their beliefs and values are deeply grounded in experience and wisdom that helped shapes their lives. Marketers must approach them in a straightforward manner.
| Businesswire has this press release, "Market Research Study Finds Race Matters When African Americans Shop," which notes that "(a)ccording to the study, 68 percent of African Americans, compared to 46 percent of non-Hispanic whites, say how a store treats customers based on race is extremely important in deciding where to shop. A full 56 percent of African Americans compared to 17 percent of Non-Hispanic white consumers agreed that, "In the past I have felt a security guard/store clerk was watching me more closely than other shoppers."
Previously on Negrophile: "It is counterintuitive to believe that ethnic consumers want less marketing"
posted in articles on July 8, 2005 3:01 AM | t (0)
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