The pandemic has not affected all consumers equally, and some Black Millennials endured significant financial and emotional losses in 2020. Recovery will be more prolonged for these consumers than their peers. In the meantime, they will seek brands that can help them stick to tighter budgets and demonstrate support for the Black community.

• The impact of COVID-19 on Black Millennials’ consumer behavior

• Black Millennials’ attitudes toward corporate responsibility

• Use and perceptions of social media platforms among Black Millennials

• Strategies for reaching Black Millennials with advertising

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

Black Millennials are defined as the generation born between 1980 and 1996 who self-identify as Black. In 2021, Millennials are between the ages of 25 and 41. Where applicable, data in this Report is compared to all US Millennials as well as to other generations within the Black population.

In reference to US Census and Simmons data, Mintel has used the available age groups that best reflect the Millennial generation for the years of data collection.

This Report builds on analysis presented in Mintel’s Marketing to Black Millennials: Incl Impact of COVID-19 – US, 2020, as well as the 2019 and 2018 Reports of the same title. Readers of this Report may also be interested in Marketing to Millennials – US, 2021, and Marketing to Hispanic Millennials – US, 2021 as well as other Reports from Mintel’s Multicultural, Lifestyles, and Culture and Identity libraries.

Consumer research for this Report was fielded April 14-May 22, 2021 and written June 30-July 17, 2021. Thus, this Report represents behaviors and attitudes as people are reemerging from a pandemic environment.

Mintel’s economic assumptions are based on forecasts released by the CBO on July 1, 2021. The CBO expects US real GDP to increase 6.7% for the year vs the 3.5% negative annual growth for 2020. The CBO projects the unemployment rate to average 5.5% for the year, down from earlier projections of 8.4% and in contrast to the 8.1% average rate for 2020.

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. It was declared a global health pandemic and national emergency in early March 2020. Across the US, various stay-at-home orders were put in place in Spring 2020, and nonessential businesses and school districts closed or shifted to remote operations. The remainder of 2020 saw rolling orders, as states and local governments relaxed and reinforced guidelines according to the spread of the virus in each region.

Vaccine rollout began in December 2020 and has continued throughout 2021. Mintel anticipates business operations in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as vaccines are administered and social distancing restrictions and capacity limitations are relaxed. The rapid spread of the Delta variant may result in increased restrictions in some areas of the country.