Marketing to African American  Consumers

Recent studies indicate that the African American demographic has been shifting, with a growing middle class. 

In Chicago, 36.7 % of the population is African American, more than 1 in 3 persons, and significantly higher than the 13% nationwide numbers!

Research has shown that the middle and upper income segments of the African American community have grown enormously in the past ten years.

As of March 1999 census numbers, nationwide, 25.2% of all African American married couple families had incomes from $50,000 to $74,999, and 22.6% of these married couples had income levels of over $75,000. 

African American Buying Power - a 287% gain  The Selig Center’s estimates and projections of buying power for 1990-2013 show that African American buying power increased from $318.1 billion in 1990 to $913.1 billion in 2008.  In March of 2006, Packaged Facts, released a study estimating that African American buying power would be at $981 billion by 2010.  According to the Selig Center, their revised projections for 2013 indicate numbers at 1.2 trillion, accounting for almost nine cents of every dollar spent.  The African-American middle and upper middle class are increasingly affluent, educated and professional.

Results of a study completed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on African-American progress in the professions indicates gains up to 470% from 1972 to 1991 in areas such as accounting, engineering, computer programming, law, medicine, journalism and management. The 2002 Survey of Business Owners released by the Census Bureau (2006) indicated that the number of black owned birms increased by 45% from 1997 to 2002.  This is aout 1.5 times faster than the 10% increase of most U.S. businesses. 

Rising levels of educational attainment is also attributed to the increase in African American buying power.  The African American population also tends to grow faster than the general population.

African Americans  the Internet

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the African American Internet audience in the U.S. has grown to more than 10 million surfers.  In 2003, when the study was released, nearly one-third or 32% had acess to the Internet via Broadband. This was prior to the increase in WiFi access and lower Broadband costs which made high speed connections more accessible for all Internet users. 

African American Internet users skew younger, wealthier, and more educated than their counterparts who are still  offline.  The average income of online African Americans is $58,300 and 18% have incomes of $75,000 or more. 

According to Nielsen Net Ratings, as of September 2001, African Americans accounted for over 8% of the online population. 

Please see the page on African American Internet Usage for current information, which vis-a-vis the information provided from earlier studies noted on this page, indicate a rapid change in technology adoption.