Table of Contents
Scope and Themes
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- What you need to know
- Definition
- Sources
- Consumer survey data
- Advertising
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Executive Summary
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- Growth of minority spending power outpaces Whites
- Lower incomes and poor credit history drive no-contract and prepaid plans
- International calling is a strong driver for less acculturated segments
- Black respondents more passionate about mobile technology
- Black and Hispanic respondents spend more on monthly wireless bills
- Black and Asian respondents keen on advanced phones and mobile internet
- T-Mobile finds greater share among Spanish-dominant Hispanics
- Spanish-language households are more price sensitive and less satisfied
- African-American advertising is both aspirational and inspirational
- Spanish-language advertising ranges from relatable to romantic
Insights and Opportunities
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- Sub-segmentation of racial and ethnic groups improves marketing impact
- African Americans
- Asian Americans
- Hispanics
- Black and Hispanic females
Inspire Insights
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- Trend: Who are the Joneses?
- What’s it about?
- What we’ve seen
- Specifics
- Implications
- Trend: No more mainstream
- What’s it about?
- What we've seen
- Specifics
- Implications
Background Factors
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- Minority purchasing power is growing faster
- African Americans
- Asian Americans
- Hispanics
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- Figure 1: Buying power, by race/Hispanic origin, 2000-14
- Younger adult generations more ethnically diverse
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- Figure 2: U.S. population age groups, by race/Hispanic origin, 2004-14
- Hispanics and Asians more likely to live in larger households
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- Figure 3: Average household size, by Hispanic origin/race of householder, 2001 and 2008
Multicultural Drivers
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- Prepaid and no-contract strategies target Blacks and Hispanics
- International calling is a strong consideration for Hispanics and Asians
- Prepaid calling cards
- International calling through the carrier
- Internet-based services
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- Figure 4: International calling on a cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Multicultural differences go beyond age correlations
- White respondents more likely to remain with current provider
- Black and Asian respondents more likely to embrace advanced mobile services
- Black respondents integrate cell phone in their lives to a greater degree
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- Figure 5: General attitudes toward cell phones, by age and race/Hispanic origin, November 2008-June 2009
Cell Phone Ownership
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- Racial/Hispanic origin differences driven by household income and culture
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- Figure 6: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2008-June 2009
- Prepaid and no-contract plans more popular among Blacks and Hispanics regardless of income
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- Figure 7: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by race/Hispanic origin and household income, November 2008-June 2009
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- Figure 8: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by race/Hispanic origin and household income, November 2008-June 2009
Wireless Carrier Brands
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- Carrier rankings reflect importance of no-contract and targeted marketing for multicultural respondents
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- Figure 9: Popularity of wireless carriers, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2008-June 2009
Cell Phone Spending and Loyalty
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- Black and Hispanic respondents show higher willingness to spend but lower carrier loyalty
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- Figure 10: Average cell phone spending and time with carrier, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2008-June 2009
Advanced Cell Phone Features
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- Blacks and Asians more likely to use advanced features
- Asians and Hispanics look for ways to call internationally
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- Figure 11: Usage of advanced cell phone features, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Higher usage by Black respondents seen among older respondents as well
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- Figure 12: Usage of advanced cell phone features, by race/Hispanic origin and age, November-December 2009
Mobile Internet Browsing
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- Asian respondents may be earlier adopters of newer features
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- Figure 13: Uses of the internet via cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Black and Hispanic respondents are more willing to pay for mobile internet
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- Figure 14: Attitudes toward internet browsing via cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Minority women more likely to check email and compare prices with their phones
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- Figure 15: Attitudes toward internet browsing via cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin and gender, November-December 2009
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- Figure 16: Uses of the internet via cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin and gender, November-December 2009
Attitudes Toward Cell Phones
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- Black and Asian respondents more likely to want bigger screens
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- Figure 17: Attitudes toward cell phones, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Black and Asian respondents more likely to cite advanced handset functions as important
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- Figure 18: Importance of cell phone characteristics, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
Attitudes Toward Wireless Carriers
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- Black and Asian respondents are more willing to switch for the right phone
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- Figure 19: Attitudes toward wireless carriers, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Black and Asian respondents more concerned with internet speed
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- Figure 20: Importance of wireless carrier characteristics, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
Spanish-language Households
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- Spanish-leaning respondents less likely to own cell phones and contract plans
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- Figure 21: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans among Hispanics, by language spoken in the home, November 2008-June 2009
- T-Mobile leads among Spanish-leaning Hispanics
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- Figure 22: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans among Hispanics, by language spoken in the home, November 2008-June 2009
- International calling with prepaid card is critical feature for Spanish-speaking respondents
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- Figure 23: Usage of advanced cell phone features, by language spoken in the home, November-December 2009
- Spanish-only respondents get worst reception at home
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- Figure 24: Attitudes toward wireless carriers, by language spoken in the home, November-December 2009
- Spanish-only respondents are least likely to be happy with their phone
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- Figure 25: Attitudes toward cell phones, by language spoken in the home, November-December 2009
Hispanic Television Advertising
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- T-Mobile leads among Spanish-dominant Hispanics despite lower advertising spending
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- Figure 26: Advertising expenditure of major wireless carriers in Hispanic media, 2008
- T-Mobile’s leading share comes from relatable marketing
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- Figure 27: T-Mobile: Hispanic Employee Comes Home (Spanish language), July 2009
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- Figure 28: T-Mobile: Preparing for Dubai (Spanish language), March 2009
- Sprint ads target different Hispanic segments with primary service and Boost prepaid
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- Figure 29: Sprint—Three Smartphones (Spanish language), November 2009
- Figure 30: Boost Mobile—No Abuse (Spanish language), August 2009
- U.S. Cellular runs inspiration ads in Spanish
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- Figure 31: U.S. Cellular—Texting in the City (Spanish language), October 2009
African-American Television Advertising
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- Black consumers targeted with music and aspirational messaging
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- Figure 32: Boost Mobile—Where You At, November 2007
- Minority spokespersons carry both broad and specific appeal
Cluster Analysis
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- Stickers
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- Discontents
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- Shoppers
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- Cluster characteristics
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- Figure 33: Multicultural mobile phones clusters, November-December 2009
- Figure 34: Attitudes towards cell phone services, by multicultural mobile phones clusters, November-December 2009
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- Figure 35: Attitudes towards cell phones, by multicultural mobile phones clusters, November-December 2009
- Figure 36: Importance of wireless carrier characteristics, by multicultural mobile phones clusters, November-December 2009
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- Figure 37: Importance of cell phone characteristics, by multicultural mobile phones clusters, November-December 2009
- Cluster demographics
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- Figure 38: Multicultural mobile phones clusters, by gender, November-December 2009
- Figure 39: Multicultural mobile phones clusters, by age, November-December 2009
- Figure 40: Multicultural mobile phones clusters, by household income, November-December 2009
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- Figure 41: Multicultural mobile phones clusters, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Cluster methodology
U.S. Multicultural Population
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- Key points
- U.S. population by race/Hispanic origin
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- Figure 42: Population, by race/Hispanic origin, 1970-2020
- Figure 43: Asian, Black, and Hispanic populations, 1970-2020
- Figure 44: Population, by race and Hispanic origin, 2004-14
- U.S. population by age and race/Hispanic origin
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- Figure 45: Total U.S. population, by age, 2004-14
- Hispanic population by age
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- Figure 46: U.S. Hispanic population, by age, 2004-14
- Black population by age
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- Figure 47: U.S., Black population, by age, 2004-14
- Asian population by age
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- Figure 48: U.S. Asian population, by age, 2004-14
- Geographic distribution
- Hispanic geographic concentration
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- Figure 49: Graph: Hispanic population, by region, 2007
- Figure 50: Hispanic population in top five states, by country of origin, 2006
- States with greatest Hispanic population growth
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- Figure 51: Hispanic population, states with greatest percentage increase, 2000-06
- African American geographic concentration
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- Figure 52: Black geographic concentration, by region, 2007
- Black population by state
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- Figure 53: States with largest Black population, 2008
- Figure 54: States with the highest share of Black residents, 2008
- Asian geographic concentration
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- Figure 55: Asian geographic concentration, by region, 2008
- Asian population by state
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- Figure 56: Top 10 states, by total Asian population and percentage of state total population, 2008
Appendix: Other Useful Consumer Tables
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- Mobile handset brands
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- Figure 57: Cell phone brands, by race/Hispanic origin, November 2008-June 2009
- Advanced cell phone features
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- Figure 58: Lack of interest in advanced cell phone features, by race/Hispanic origin, November-December 2009
- Attitudes toward wireless carriers
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- Figure 59: Attitudes toward wireless carriers, by race/Hispanic origin and gender, November-December 2009
Appendix: Trade Associations
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