Breaking Down the Demographics: Who Makes Up the US Multicultural Market

 This study addresses the ongoing debate in marketing about the merits of directing programs to the common denominators across cultures or having specialized efforts directed to individual cultural groups. The issue is very much like the globalization vs. localization controversy. Should one take precedence, or should both coexist? Clearly, consumers of different cultural groups in the United States experience similar influences just by living in a 

larger common cultural context. However, these consumers still come from different perspectives and worldviews that should impact the way in which they behave in the US marketplace. In analyzing media exposure, there are more commonalities than differences. The number of hours spent on the different media per week differs little across cultural 

groups. Most of the relatively small differences seem to be attributable to the language of the medium. In terms of sheer exposure, consumers of these different cultural groups share a lot in common given that their patterns of media consumption are very similar. What is surprising is that Hispanics and Asians do not spend more of their media time with outlets in languages 

Other than English That may 

be due to the fact that online consumers are generally younger, more English preferred and sophisticated consumers. It may also be due to the greater availability of content in English than in the language of their families. Further, increasingly there are more offerings that emphasize “in-culture” content than “in-language” programming. The example of the emerging trend represented by SìTV is a case in point. It is a television network directed to Hispanics 

but it is mostly in English. Although the differences in sheer exposure to the media are small or non-existent, this does not necessarily mean that the content these different groups of consumers choose is the same. Indeed, it is very likely that there are specific cultural patterns in the content these different consumers choose. However, the exploration of usage by content categories was not in the scope of this study. New media usage is a much stronger 

differentiator of cultural groups. The categories of new media included in the study are: cell phone usage, CDs and MP3 exposure and electronic games. The number of hours consumers spend per week is radically different by cultural group. AA and H spend almost twic the amount of time per week on the cell phone than NHW and A. The cultural tendency of African Americans and Hispanics to be connected and their affinity to strong ties may 

Explain these differences

Clearly, this trend has major implications for the development of wireless consumer telephony, and for advertising and marketing over this new medium.Similarly, it is AA and H who spend much more time listening to CDs per week than their counterparts. The role of music as a cultural expression for each of these groups makes music on demand via CDs an important 

medium. The use of this medium not only predicts differential equipment and music sales, but also helps explain lifestyle variability across cultural groups in the sense of representing a predilection for the enjoyment of music on opportunities that differentiate the ways in which cultural groups enjoy their lives. Time spent with MP3 players or similar devices is greater for 

H and A than for NHW and AA. Perhaps the cost of MP3 and similar technologies accounts for some of the differential usage. Also, a preference for listening privacy could explain these differences. MP3 players afford a less visible way of enjoying music because the devices are small and the headphones are unobtrusive. Youth may also account for the differences as A and H are younger in the population studied than NHW and AA. In contrast to the previous 

Types of new media playing

electronic games does not differentiate these cultural groups. This is surprising because age differences are statistically significant among all of the groups, and electronic games are usually considered to be the preference of younger players. In this population, H are the youngest, followed by A, followed by AA, and finally followed by NHW. This contradicts more commonly held assumptions that electronic games tend to be associated with youth. In this 

set of new media questions, an item regarding amount of time spent on outdoor activities was included for lifestyle contrast. H and NHW spend more time on outdoor activities than others, although the differences are not very large. In general, the amount of time spent on outdoor activities appears to be low, in the magnitude of 5 to 6 hours per week. This raises concerns about passivity and a national tendency for weight gain for all of these consumers. Generally, 

emerging minorities exhibit a stronger proclivity for modern media which makes them important marketing targets for these categories. Regarding advertising and brand attitudes there are common patterns and striking differences in the way in which these various segments participate in the consumer economy. AA and H are much more positive towards 

Conclusion

indicates that communicating with these AA and H consumers via commercial messages is more likely to be well received. However, this is a pattern of thinking that advertising and marketing professionals should not take for granted. In-culture networking and word-of-mouth about products and commercial messages is much higher for AA than for anyone else. 

Hispanics are lowest in this attitude scale. What this means is that AA are more likely to spread influence in homogenous AA networks, while H are more likely to get their influence from others outside their network. This is a finding that has important implications for grass roots campaigns and the stimulation of word-of-mouth. AA are more interested than anyone else in having marketers do good for their communities and they are willing to pay more for 

that. Hispanics share in this preference for brand orientation to their community as well. Marketers who get involved in helping AA and H communities are likely to gain their favor. In contrast to their community orientation, AA are also higher than any of the other groups on their preference for individually setting up their paths. AA also hold a stronger belief than the other groups that discrimination is still a problem in our society. A and H are more positive