U.S. Market for Multicultural Women: How African-American, Latina and Asian-American Women Are Driving Change in the American Consumer Economy, The, 2nd Edition

Additional Information

Market Insights: A Selection From The Report

Multiple Ethnic and National Segments Create Complicated Landscape for Marketers

Marketers interested in tapping into the buying power of multicultural women face a complex demographic landscape. The Census Bureau provides detailed demographic data on 13 national and ethnic groups within the Asian-American population and 18 national segments within the Hispanic population. While most African-American women are the descendants of Africans who were forcibly transported to America as slaves many generations ago, Packaged Facts estimates that around 9% of the black population now living in America have far more recent origins in countries such as Haiti, Jamaica and the English-speaking islands of the Eastern Caribbean. Moreover, there are nearly a million females of all ages from Puerto Rico and Caribbean Basin countries such as the Dominican Republic who self-identify as black Hispanics, or “Afro-Latinas.”

Cultural Cross-Currents in Multicultural Women’s Market Test Marketers’ Savvy

In addition to the challenges created by multiple national and ethnic segments, marketers need to make efforts to understand the interplay between language and acculturation in the multicultural women’s market. More than half of the population of adult Latinas and four in five Asian-American women are immigrants. Moreover, although 76% of all Hispanics and 84% of all Asian-Americans above the age of four can be classified as English-speakers, English-language usage is less common among adults. Around one-third of those speaking Spanish and one-fifth of those speaking an Asian language at home speak English less than “very well.” Thus, addressing Hispanic and Asian-American women in terms relevant to their original culture and, for Latinas especially, in the language of their heritage remains a requirement for marketers. [Tables 2-5 and 2-6]

At the same time, generational change will gradually have an impact on the multicultural women’s market as it will the Asian-American and Hispanic markets as a whole. The vast majority of Hispanic (90%) and Asian-American (77%) females under the age of 18 were born in America. More than 90% of all those under the age of 18 who speak Spanish or an Asian language at home speak English very well. Thus, increasingly acculturated consumers are the wave of the future in the multicultural women’s market.

Multicultural Women to Take Leading Role in U.S. Economy

New York, August 13, 2009 — Propelled by the prominence of First Lady Michelle Obama and newly minted Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 2009 has become the year of “multicultural” women.  The U.S. is on the verge of experiencing the multicultural women’s century, according to The U.S. Market for Multicultural Women: How African-American, Latina and Asian-American Women Are Driving Change in the American Consumer Economy, 2nd Edition, by leading market research publisher Packaged Facts.

Already accounting for nearly a third of the women’s population, multicultural women (defined as women who do not identify themselves as non-Hispanic white) will be in the majority in a little more than 30 years.  Barely 20 years from now, multicultural women will predominate among 25- to 44-year-old women. And by 2050, multicultural women will represent 51% of the female U.S. population.

Such population strength is leading to economic might. “Black, Latina, Asian-American and other multicultural women already wield buying power in excess of $1 trillion and are the primary decision-makers in the vast majority of their homes,” said Tatjana Meerman, Publisher of Packaged Facts. “Multicultural women represent more than one-quarter of the buying power of all U.S. women.”

Beyond their pocketbook power, multicultural women represent a significant opportunity for marketers. Using data from Experian Simmons Winter 2009 National Consumer Study, the report found that multicultural women are relatively optimistic about their own financial situation and the economy as a whole. Multicultural women make up 43% of women who expect the American economy to be somewhat or significantly better off 12 months from now.

The U.S. Market for Multicultural Womenstrong>, 2nd Editionprovides an overview of market trends and opportunities and the buying power of multicultural women, offering a look at demographic trends affecting the market. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the consumer behavior of multicultural women, including the use of leisure time, money management and shopping patterns. Also discussed are the three main segments’ media usage patterns and receptivity to advertising.

About Packaged Facts - Packaged Facts, a division of Market Research Group, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer goods and retailing, foods and beverages, demographics, pet products and services, and financial products.  Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.