In a follow up to their 2011 "State of the African-American Consumer" report, a landmark survey, which projected that black buying power will reach $1.1 trillion by the year 2015, Nielsen and NNPA explored the factors responsible for driving that cash. Despite what the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says about the unemployment rate among blacks, and the U.S. Census' report on how the median income has dropped, market-research firm Nielsen and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) contend that African Americans still have plenty worth taking to the bank.
In short: "Dynamic influencing factors -- such as technology, social media and online connectivity -- enable the Black consumer segment to leverage its collective power and influence," the report says. That means that as a group, African Americans have a set of spending habits and brand loyalty that advertisers love.
But the jury's still out on who really benefits in the end. (credit: Huff Post Black Voices)
Producers vs. Consumers
Black America was once one of the largest groups of producers in the United States. When the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, to aid in the production, development and growth of America, creating things like potato chips, light bulbs, steam engine lubricator, a machine that revolutionized sugar processing, and traffic signal...to name a few. In 2015, here we are 396 years later and the descendants of African slaves are now considered one of the largest consumer groups in this country, with a buying power of $1.1 trillion dollars. It has been quoted that if Black America were a country, it would be the 15th wealthiest nation in the world! Simply put, of the 41.7 million black people willing to be counted...we have $26,378.90 to spend as a consumer each year! We also have $26,378.90 to spend as investors!
Now just imagine if Black America invested just 50% of that money into producing the things we consume! Focusing our investments on the areas that we spend the largest amounts of money annually such as:
- Housing and Related Expenses ($166.3 billion)
- Education ($71 billion)
- Food ($65.3 billion)
- Cars/Trucks ($31.5 billion)
- Clothing/Apparel ($26.9 billion)
- Healthcare ($23.9 billion)
- Insurance ($19.1 billion)
- Telephone Services ($17.2 billion)
- Household Furnishing ($12.9 billion)
- Cash Contributions ($11.0 billion)
to name just a few items we're spending our money on! Black people make up roughly 13% of the U.S. population, while wielding an estimated $1.1 trillion in purchasing power! You're probably wondering what a trillion dollars can buy? Well...
- Over 41 million new cars
- 5.6 million single family homes (median price $177,000)
- A year's salary for 18 million teachers
- Congress for the next 10,742 years (lawmakers only, does not include staff)
- 140 billion hours of minimum wage labor
- Put 8.33 million people through 4 years of college
So you see we have the power to change lives and lifestyles by redirecting our spending and become investors! Imagine...we create a system where we invest in the construction of homes, the production of food, cars, clothes, and furniture. Our possibilities are limitless! Don't you think its time we leverage our collective power and influence and create the things we wish existed and keep these funds in our communities?
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