Marketing to Minorities: Expansion and Development (1950s-1990s)

"Diversity is business. You can't ignore any population." -Douglas Alligood, advertising executive

The relationship between advertising, market research, and race in America has been far from static. In fact, advertising agencies have played a large role in shaping the way we see and conceptualize both consumer behavior and racial, ethnic, and gender identity. Advertising agencies have adjusted their research to changing ethnic and racial compositions of America; however, development of advertisements that adequately meet the needs of different groups has been a slow process, hindered by prejudice against minorities in the United States and doubts about the viability of different consumer markets. Importantly, “official” measures of minority populations and other statistics have also historically been misleading. According to Minority Marketing,1 the U.S. Census has systematically undercounted minority populations, owing to differences in family composition (such as having multiple generations in one household) and citizenship status. This has led to chronic underrepresentation and underexposure that have hindered accurate quantification of the buying power of minority groups.

Through continuous experimentation and exposure to major political and cultural moments, industry researchers have stumbled upon or discovered new markets for their businesses. This dynamic generation of ideas has led to more in-depth and nuanced research about different consumer groups. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, market researchers reflect changing desires of the American consumer through intersectionality and increasing segmentation of the population. Simultaneously, market research serves to create and affect our perception of racial groups. Without advertisements meticulously tested on focus groups, the way we perceive the role of minorities today would be completely different.

As the consumer market in America continues to change, there is little doubt that advertising will react and reinvent its products through market research.

1. Minority Marketing. Chicago: Crain Books 1980. Print.