*African-Americans are squashing old stereotypes with strides made in a various areas, according to a new Nielsen study.
The study, titled “Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African-American Consumers – the Untold Story,” examines the actions of affluent Black consumers who possess a household income of $75,000 and higher while highlighting the group’s evolution within a changing and growing population. Findings from the report put a dent in outdated stereotypes about African-Americans that range from education and income to media consumption and social engagement.
According to the study, the nation’s Black population, which stands at 45.7 million, saw increased 17.7% from 2000 to 2014 with it surging 35% faster than the total population and doubling the 8.2% growth rate of the White population. A press release on the study points out that the growth of the Black population partly stems from a diverse mix of people from the Caribbean, Africa and some European countries. As a result, the number of foreign-born Blacks in the U.S. has quadrupled since 1980, with it comprising 3.8 million of the nation’s Black population.
The presence of foreign-born Blacks has benefited the African-American community with supplying increased income from having 30% more in their median household incomes than U.S.-born Blacks.
“The size and influence of affluent African-Americans is growing faster than that of non-Hispanic Whites across all income segments, and the impact is being felt across industries,” Cheryl Pearson-McNeil, Senior Vice President, U.S. Strategic Community Alliances and Consumer Engagement, Nielsen, said in the release. “These larger incomes are attributed to a number of factors including youthfulness, immigration, historic educational attainment and constant, relevant dialogue across various social media channels that have an impact on African-Americans’ decisions as brand loyalists and ambassadors. Savvy marketers are taking notice.”
Released at a press conference during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., “Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African-American Consumers – the Untold Story” is the fifth installment in Neilsen’s Diverse Intelligence Series.
Other highlights from the study include Black households topping various fields with devoting income on items such as personal insurance and pensions (14.7%), retirement, pensions, social security (13.8%), house furnishings and equipment (12.5%) and cash gifts (7.6%).
As far as spare time, the study finds that compared to all Americans, African-American adults spend 42% more time watching TV each week, 13% more time on a PC and 15% more time on a smartphone than any other demographic.
Progress in education was also noted with the rate of Black high school graduates exceeding the rate of all high-school graduates in the nation with enrolled in college with a 70.9% surge in college enrollment in 2014. Adding to this is 23% of African-Americans with annual household incomes of more than $100,000 searching for jobs online (compared to 14% of Whites) and 11% of African-Americans with annual household incomes of more than $100,000 take college courses online (compared to 5% of Whites).
The study goes on to report that income growth rates from African-Americans outpaced those of non-Hispanic Whites at every annual household income level above $60,000.
This year has seen a noticeable impact on television, music and social media from Blacks as well as the influence of Black Twitter, which provided a suitable outlet for folks to express themselves while driving trending conversation and topics on social issues with popular hashtags like #BLACKLIVESMATTER (4,756,536 followers), #SANDRABLAND (3,642,898), #FERGUSON (2,421,801), #FREDDIEGRAY (2,087,080) and #ASKRACHEL (994,065)
When it comes to the purchasing power of Blacks, the group stands alone with surpassing other groups with convenience stores accounting for a good number of dollars spent 123%. Toy stores follow with 40% of their customers comprised of blacks. Rounding out the top five purchasing spots among black consumers are bookstores, who draw in 32% of black consumers, automotive stores with 15% and department stores whose black consumer market is composed of 14%
Rounding out the study are stats regarding the impact of immigrants on US soil. The study finds that out of every six Blacks in the country will be immigrants by 2060. The shift will be most present in metropolitan areas with a large Black population. As it stands now, Miami’s Black population stands at 34%. New York comes in with a 28% population of Blacks. Washington D.C. comes in third with 15% of its residents being Black.
For more on “Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African-American Consumers – the Untold Story,” click HERE.
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