The Arbitron Black Consumer Study, © 2002 Arbitron Inc. 1
Tapping Blacks’ Spending Clout:
The Arbitron Black Consumer Study
An Arbitron Inc. Research Study
Executive Summary
The Arbitron Black Consumer Study draws on data from Arbitron’s Spring 2000 survey. Data for
analyses such as overnight listening and listening location were computed using Arbitron’s radio
respondent-level software application, Maximi$er®/Media ProfessionalSM.
The study provides advertisers, agencies, media planners and buyers, and Urban-formatted
radio stations with a wealth of information about black consumers and how to reach them. In a
single document available free of charge on Arbitron’s Web site, The Arbitron Black Consumer
Study provides:
• Background information about black radio
• A qualitative profile of black consumers
• The volume of home ownership in the Top 50 black markets
• Facts that dispel lingering myths about black consumers
• Appendices that indicate how different markets rank in terms of black radio
• Suggestions to buyers of radio time on how to connect with this valuable consumer segment
Bottom Line: Many advertisers have been ignoring valuable Urban-formatted stations and
other formats that draw black listeners, because these advertisers have misconceptions
about black consumers’ level of education, volume of home ownership, spending power
and spending choices.
Telling Statistics That May Surprise
When advertisers read the study, many are likely to be surprised, for example, that 48.9 percent of
black Americans own their homes. Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to work in a whitecollar
job as they are to work in a blue-collar job, and 64.3 percent of black Americans have
Internet access.
How to Eliminate Traditional Roadblocks and Get to Black Consumers
Drawing on suggestions from Clarence Smith, president of Essence Communications, the study
advises how advertisers, agencies, media planners and buyers, and radio stations can change the
future and avoid two types of traditional roadblocks that have resulted from erroneous myths about
black consumers. One of these obstacles has been the “no Urban dictate” that has prevented
many advertisers from placing commercials on Urban-formatted radio stations. The other longtime
hurdle has been the “minority discounting” practices that have resulted in lower costs per point or
unit rates on minority-formatted stations simply because they are minority-formatted stations.
The Arbitron Black Consumer Study, © 2002 Arbitron Inc. 2
Smith’s suggestions for advertisers, for example, are that:
• They should require multicultural advertisement submissions.
• Their CEOs should “incentivize” the company’s workforce.
• Their sales demand should be driven by population density.
• Their predictions should be based on category consumption and psychographic disposition.
• They should hire black-owned ad agencies and provide aggressive budgets.
To visit Arbitron’s Web site and download the study for free, go to
http://www.arbitron.com/downloads/black_consumer_study_02.pdf.
For more details, e-mail Julian Davis, Arbitron’s director of Urban Radio Marketing Services, at
julian.davis@arbitron.com or call him at (770) 668-5409.
Maximi$er® and Media ProfessionalSM are marks of Arbitron Inc.
02-RSS-446 2/02 |
|
