×

Client Requests

REQUEST SENT

Your custom request has been sent. We’ll contact you if we have any additional questions.

* Indicates a required field.

  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Ad Agency Buyer's Guide $

Hot Topics

Are You Overlooking an Extremely Valuable Consumer Base This Holiday Season?

November 13, 2014

According to a recent Holiday sales forecast, the minority consumer will take the lead in Holiday 2014 spending. With the economy on the road to recovery, minority consumers will increase their holiday purchases more than the general population this year, and will be the key to enhanced seasonal spending.

While most of the population says it will spend about 10% more on holidays gifts this year compared to last year, African Americans say they plan to spend 17% more, and both Asian Americans and Hispanics say they plan to spend 13% more, based on a national study of 25,000 demographically representative households conducted in September. Middle-income consumers with household incomes under $50,000 say they will spend an average of 12% more than last year on holiday items vs. 8% more for consumers with household incomes exceeding $50,000.

For retailers and marketers, this information is priceless. Shoppers are expected to spend $616.9 billion over the holidays, according to recent projections, which is up 4.1% from 2013.

  • Marketers must make it a priority to learn what multicultural consumers want and then focus their awareness on how clients go to market.
  • While these key consumers expect to spend considerably more this holiday, they will wait longer to spend. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the general population say they plan to wait until later in the season to do the majority of their holiday shopping; that number jumps to an average of 70% among minorities. Not only are they going to spend more, but they’re going to wait longer, which makes the timing of the advertising message crucial.
  • Minorities also are leading the way in smartphone usage. While 68% of the general population said they carried smartphones, that number increased to 78% among African Americans, 79% among Hispanics, and 82% among Asian Americans.

The marketplace is being driven by multicultural consumer behavior; the more advertisers increase their multicultural awareness, the greater their chances of making the most of this upcoming holiday season.

11-13-14

-Nicole Somerville, Sales Research Consultant

Sources: USA Today, Nielsen

Comments