Reach Out to African Americans

African Americans’ spending power in the United States is expected to climb to $1.3 trillion by 2018, states global market researcher Mintel in its July 2014 report titled “Black Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Advertising.” The growth in African Americans’ buying power continues to outpace that of whites, and the increasing purchasing power of this group further demonstrates that marketing targeted specifically to this group remains incredibly important.

While African Americans tend to be faithful purchasers of national brands, retailers should not avoid marketing store brands to this consumer group. Assuaging their concerns regarding product quality and getting involved with the African American community could help retailers build store brand sales and loyalty.

Devoted to national brands

African American consumers “love” to shop, Mintel states in its April 2014 report titled “The Shopping Experience of Black Consumers.” They desire to have a full shopping experience, including browsing the entire store, touching items, reading labels, smelling things that are scented and sampling items. And shopping is often seen as a social outing where they can spend time with their friends, family, children or a significant other.

“African American grocery trips tend to be family excursions,” says Ron Campbell, president and CEO, Campbell Communications, New York. “They’re less focused and as they shop the aisles, they’re exploring.”

As they shop, African Americans tend to be very loyal to national brands, states Tonya Roberts, multicultural analyst for Mintel, in the company’s February 2014 “Black Consumers and the Perimeter in the Grocery Store” report.

Not only are African Americans loyal to national brands, they are also devoted to specific national brands. Brenda Lee, partner, Vision Strategy and Insights, Los Angeles, gives an example of this brand loyalty in action. A few years ago, she conducted a research study that pitted two national brands of all-purpose seasoning against each other, one of which was widely used among African Americans households and perceived as validating their cooking credentials. In the taste test, the competitor outperformed the brand that many African American families had grown up with. However, not one respondent indicated that he or she would switch brands because the “other” brand did not have the credibility to be associated with the accomplished African American cook.

Perception matters

While African Americans prefer national brands, they are not necessarily unwilling to purchase store brands. According to Mintel’s “Black Consumers and the Perimeter in the Grocery Store” report, 41 percent of African Americans say that they purchase private label products. This number is higher than that for Asians (27 percent) and Hispanics (35 percent), but lower than that for whites (54 percent).

One reason African Americans might hesitate to purchase store brands is they are not convinced such products offer the same quality as national brands, Campbell states.

Trusting a brand’s quality is incredibly important to this consumer group. Nielsen’s research found that 79 percent of African American women agree that it is important to trust a brand when purchasing its products, says Courtney Jones, vice president, multicultural growth and strategy at Nielsen, New York.

“National brands spend billions in marketing efforts to build brand recognition and trust,” Jones adds. “It makes sense that in a consumer segment that prioritizes trust, these [national] brands would resonate at point of sale.”

Sampling could be one way to get this consumer group to recognize that a private brand product — even though it costs less — is not deficient in some way, Campbell says.

Another reason African Americans might hesitate to purchase store brands is they often want to demonstrate to their friends and family that they can afford “the best,” he adds.

Many African Americans view brands as an extension of themselves, Lee states. As such, they often feel that associating themselves with a well-known name brand makes a positive statement about their status.

Brand perception greatly impacts what products African Americans are willing to buy. And their perception of store brands is influenced by the packaging — with visual cues indicating the brand is superior, Roberts says. Therefore, if a retailer’s private label packaging is “plain” or “generic,” it could greatly deter African Americans from purchasing the product.

African Americans’ perception of a store brand is also influenced by the retailer itself, Roberts adds. For example, store brands from Walmart and Target Corp. are perceived to be higher in quality than dollar store brands. And if a store is dirty, African Americans are more likely to be deterred from buying the store brand because they might think the factory that manufactures the store brand is also unclean.

Advertise, get involved

Reaching out to African Americans via advertising could go a long way to encouraging them to switch or even just try store brand products. This group, in particular, is very receptive to advertising. Not only do they like advertisements, they rely on them to make purchase decisions and remember them when they’re shopping, Mintel says in “Black Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Advertising.”

Unfortunately, many marketers are cutting back or eliminating advertising budgets aimed at reaching the African American community, Roberts says, because they believe they can reach these consumers through their general market campaigns. In reality, this isn’t the case.

Mintel reveals that nearly half of African Americans say targeted ads are stereotypical or offensive. This group is looking for advertising that depicts a wide range of African Americans, that incorporates specific cultural nuances, and that demonstrates how a brand is sincerely committed to serving the African American community. Additionally, these consumers are more likely to say they’ll stop buying brands that ignore the African American community or depict their community in a negative way.

“Be a partner to the community,” Lee says, “and be visible and vocal about it. [Use] purchase promotions that raise money for local scholarships or other similar promotions to help raise the profile of store brands, and create a halo around these brands that is strongly associated with cooperation and community involvement.”

Conducting cooking demonstrations that leverage culturally relevant recipes and use store brand products could also help retailers connect with African American shoppers and encourage trial of private brands, says Reginald Osborne, senior vice president, multicultural marketing, Black and LGBT at Walton Isaacson, headquartered in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Retailers could also market to African Americans via an educational program, Osborne states. Encouraging this consumer group to read labels and compare products could improve their view of the quality of store brand products. The comparisons could include ingredients and prices in a per-unit format.

Speaking of prices, retailers could communicate to African Americans that the money they save by purchasing store brands could be used for a much larger expense such as a college tuition fund, down payment for a home, vacation and more, Campbell says.

And reaching out to African Americans via social media could also benefit retailers. Members of this group are early adopters of technology and heavy users of digital media, Jones states. In fact, 62 percent of African Americans are more likely to feel that advertising content accessed via mobile phones and devices is useful, and 81 percent of them are more likely to show support for a favorite brand or company via social media.

“It is important for brands to meet consumers where they are,” Jones adds. “This also lends itself to establishing that trust that African American consumers value so much.”