By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Well, it looks like Madison Avenue better get back to the drawing boards quickly. Buying power by minorities is growing faster than that of whites. By 2008, it will have tripled from 1990. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
A study by the University of Georgia and the Simon S. Selig Center for Economic Growth shows a substantial gain of disposable income - that's money after taxes - for African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans. And the study identifies Texas minority buying power growing faster than the national average, as reported by the Dallas Business Journal.
Texas ranks as the third largest minority market behind California and New York. For Hispanics, we're second behind California. And Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center stresses, "By 2005, Hispanic buying power will exceed that of African American buying power for the first time." That will rank Hispanics as the largest minority market. Humphreys also expects it to "widen with each passing year." This minority growth is the natural outcome of improving incomes, and birth rates growing for non-whites.
So over the last 13 years in Texas, white buying power grew by nearly 110%. Now for the minority growth: Asian buying power up over 300%, Native American increased by 250%, Hispanic up by over 220% and African-Americans climbed almost 150%.
So if they haven't already, businesses better be looking at these growing markets. The advertising world, especially, better get on the ball. A Dallas-based marketing and research firm told the Journal only 3% of advertising budgets now target Hispanics. And as Humphreys notes, minorities are just easier to target right now. Less advertising fatigue! For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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