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New
national study by New American Dimensions and the U.S. African Chamber
of Commerce identifies important characteristics about the estimated $50
Billion African Immigrant Consumer Market in the United States.
Los
Angeles, California May 7, 2009 – U.S. African Chamber of Commerce
Released First African Consumer Segment Study with 50 Billion Dollar
Purchasing Power. African immigrants are a separate and unique group
that is growing in number in the U.S.
These
consumers maintain connections to their friends and family in their
native countries as well as maintain ties to native traditions,
including food, music, and entertainment. These insights come from an
exciting new comprehensive study by Los Angeles-based multicultural
research firm New American Dimensions in conjunction with The African
Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Bruce Corrie, The Minneapolis Foundation and
Aguilar Productions.
From
multiple focus groups in Los Angeles, New York City and Minneapolis to a
four-market quantitative survey of 393 African immigrant adults in
California, Minnesota, Washington D.C. and New York, this study captures
unique insights into the daily lives and thoughts of this highly
educated and successful group. The study is supplemented by a video
snapshot of Africans to personify the findings from the research and
bring them to life.
Highlights of the study, which are available at
www.newamericandimensions.com
and
www.usafricanchamber.org
include:
• The African immigrant consumer market in the U.S. is a unique cultural
market segment which is largely untapped. Within this market, there is
a unique Islamic market segment which is also untapped. Marketers have
an opportunity to deliver culturally appropriate products to this
sub-segment such as in the food and beverage category.
• African immigrants prove to be sensible shoppers, shopping around for
the right price and the right product. Younger shoppers are more prone
to shopping for products recommended by family and friends.
Supermarkets lead the list of stores patronized by African immigrants.
Discount stores and low-end department stores are the top shopping
venues for clothes and accessories.
• Most African immigrants have their own checking and savings accounts
and about two-thirds have credit cards. They also tend to have auto and
medical insurance and a few have long-term care insurance.
• Email and international calls are heavily used for keeping in touch.
Younger Africans are also the heaviest visitors to internet social
groups.
• African immigrants spend more hours watching English language media
than African language media, most probably due to availability of
in-language options. Overall, CNN tops the list of favorite
English-language TV channels followed by ABC, Fox and NBC. Yahoo and
Facebook top the list of favorite websites.
• Most African immigrants own a personal computer and a DVD player.
Younger immigrants are high consumers of English-language movies.
Almost all Africans interviewed own cell phones.
• Success is often described in meaningful, far-reaching terms.
African respondents emphasized the need to give back to their community.
Most send money to relatives back home on a regular basis, but when
talking about success, they mean giving on a larger scale, more often in
terms of the community-at-large.
"There are
over 1.4 million Africans living in the U.S. and these consumers possess
very high educational attainment and incomes. Additionally, this is a
segment with a powerful sense of identity and pride in being African”,
said David Morse, President and CEO of New American Dimensions, a firm
which provides customized multicultural consumer research.
“USACC is the leading advocate organization for African businesses and
entrepreneurs. This is a growing consumer segment within the
multicultural market – one that cannot be overlooked”, said Martin
Mohammed, President of the U.S. African Chamber of Commerce.
This study was commissioned by Martin Mohammed of the African Chamber of
Commerce and led by David Morse and his team at New American Dimensions
of Los Angeles and Dr. Bruce Corrie, Dean of the College of Business and
Organizational Leadership at Concordia University, Saint Paul,
Minnesota. The Minneapolis Foundation was the major funder of the
study. Minneapolis-based Aguilar Productions is the major promoter of
the study.
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