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

Welcome to the Marketing to Minorities exhibit! This exhibit aims to educate and inform people about the evolution of marketing research targeted toward people of color in the United States. The progression of industry research is marked by three distinct, yet interrelated, phases: recognition of African-Americans as a viable consumer market, expansion to other minority populations, and identification of the intersectionality of race and other factors. These three phases are covered in more detail by the tabs on the right. This is a featured digital exhibit for the Race and Ethnicity in Advertising website using materials from the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History.

Navigating the Timeline:

The purpose of this timeline is to illustrate the phases of advertising research on minorities in the United States. Each grey arrow on the timeline corresponds to a marketing report, print advertisement, or related item located within the Hartman Center’s collections. Clicking on a grey arrow or an image will provide more information about that specific item in a pop-up box. To zoom out and see the entire timeline on the screen, click the green minus (-) sign in  the upper right corner. To zoom in, click on the plus (+) sign. You can also click the left and right arrows in the upper right corner to move forward or backward along the timeline, or scroll up or down to change the scale.

GREEN subject lines correspond to the thematic tab “Minorities in America’s Consciousness.” TURQUOISE subject lines correspond to the thematic tab “Expansion to Other People of Color.”  BLUE subject lines correspond to the thematic tab “Market Segmentation to Minorities.”

 -Jessica Chen

Duke University, Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2020