African-Americans Prove Particularly Receptive to Advertising

March 5, 2014

Experian-African-American-Attitudes-to-Advertising-Mar2014African-American consumers are more likely than the average American to consider a range of advertising types as purchase influencers, while being less likely to rely on word-of-mouth, finds Experian Marketing Services in a new study. Advertising’s influence spans online and offline channels: for example, African-Americans are 39% more likely to purchase products they see advertised on their cell phones, while also being more likely to refer to various in-store tactics, such as advertising on the floor. In fact, 11.5% of African-American consumers say they always refer to advertising on the floor, making them 52% more likely to than the average consumer to do so.

Aside from mobile ads – which they’re 86% more likely to be interested in receiving – African-Americans are 28% more likely to purchase products advertised on a social media site. And while they may not be as influenced by their acquaintances, they do over-index in their use of social media as a vehicle for sharing information about companies and products they like.

As for African-Americans’ shopping attitudes, the study shows that African-Americans are willing to experiment with new retailers, but also will remain committed to preferred ones. That is, they’re 77% more likely than average to go out of their way to find new stores to shop at, but they’re also 46% more likely to be willing to travel up to an hour or more to shop at their favorite stores.

Overall, African-American households account for an estimated $156.9 billion in discretionary spending. That equates to about 8.7% of the nationwide total, a relatively smaller figure then their population share (12% according to this study, 14% according to the Census Bureau). (By comparison, Experian estimates that Hispanics total roughly $193 billion in discretionary spend, or about 10.9% share of nationwide spend, while they make up about 17% of the population.)

Across the country, 1.4% of households are African-Americans with annual household incomes of at least $100,000. The top DMAs for these households are Washington, DC., New York, NY, and Atlanta, GA. Clearly – given other research on the topic – DC attracts a wealthy crowd.

Despite African-Americans’ sizable numbers and favorable response to advertising, just 3% of major media ad spending is targeted to them, according to a recent study from Nielsen.

About the Data: The data found in the Experian report is based on the Spring 2013 Simmons Connect study, a comprehensive survey of 24,374 U.S. adults, including 2,101 African Americans.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This