According to a 2019 Nielsen Media Research study, Black consumers expect to spend at an annual rate of 1.54 trillion in 2022. Dr. Sabrina Kizzie, an award-winning doctoral lecturer within the Department of Communication Studies at CUNY Baruch College in NYC, conducted a groundbreaking study of 158 Black/African-American Millennials in the United States, aged 21 to 40 years old, born between 1981-2000, per the Census Bureau in 2020.
Early adopters of technology and heavy users of mobile devices were the focus of her dissertation on Black millennials’ perceptions of mobile advertising and their spending behaviors. Black consumers lead the way with the highest average time spent on cell phones (2.47 hours/minutes) over all other ethnic groups in smartphone usage (Asian-Americans – 2.23 hours/minutes and Hispanic Americans – 2.20 hours/minutes) and spend nearly half an hour more per day than the total U.S. population (Nielson, 2019). The research also reveals the following findings: Black millennials’ acceptance of mobile advertising, consumer spending, and spending on services; and overlooked by advertisers.
New study explores Black millennial spending powerDr. Sabrina Kizzie researched the social media and spending habits of Black millennials.
Out of 75 million American millennials, 14% identify as Black. For her dissertation, Kizzie surveyed 158 of them last year. While their wealth falls behind their white peers, the Black millennial trend to spend cannot be denied. “They want to be entertained in terms of their mobile ads,” Kizzie said. “But in terms of products, Black millennials are very much interested in messaging that really outlines the consumer benefits of that product.”
As a full-time faculty member, she teaches digital media courses. Sabrina received an MPA and B.S. in Marketing from Long Island University Post Campus. Sabrina has been featured in publications, including WCBS-TV, Crain’s New York Business, The Mann Report, THE CITY, and blackenterprise.com. With over two decades of marketing experience, Sabrina has utilized her social media skills within various industries. Dr. Kizzie is a global speaker who spoke at the Google NYC Office and other universities about Digital & Diversity.
Highlights from Dr. Sabrina Kizzie’s Research: Black Millennials Mobile and Consumer Power
• Early adopters of technology
• Heavy users of mobile devices
• Millennials will only wait 8.6 seconds for mobile advertising to respond and will not accept ads that fail to function quickly and without difficulty (Smith, 2019)
• Black consumers lead the way with the highest average time spent on cell phones (2.47 hours/minutes) over all other ethnic groups in smartphone usage (Asian-Americans – 2.23 hours/minutes and Hispanic-Americans – 2.20 hours/minutes) and spend nearly half an hour more per day than the total U.S. population (Nielson, 2019)
• Marketers and advertisers benefit from knowledge about the relationship between advertising antecedents and perceptions of MAV. Highly educated, high-spending consumer groups such as Black/African American millennials offer an opportunity; however, they are marginalized and often overlooked
• Research was conducted as part of a dissertation while completing doctoral studies at California Southern University
• Kizzie’s dissertation extends a study done in South Africa with college students investigating their acceptance of web advertising• Dr. Kizzie’s study is different in that it focuses on Black millennials, mobile advertising acceptance and examines the impact of mobile advertising impact on millennials buying products and services
• Five factors examined – entertainment, Credibility, irritation, informativeness, and consumer benefits and their impact on mobile advertising
• There is a statistically significant relationship between Black millennials’ perceptions of the advertising antecedent entertainment on their spending for services.
• There is a statistically significant relationship between Black millennials’ perceptions of the advertising antecedents of entertainment and consumer benefits on their spending for products.
About the Author New York Trend is a weekly news publication that focuses on issues and lifestyles of the African & Caribbean American communities throughout the New York metropolitan area and Nassau and Suffolk Counties of Long Island. It is a respected and well recognized news publication that has been in existence since 1989. Owner, Publisher and Executive Director, Dr. Teresa Taylor Williams has been at the helm of this award-winning publication since its inception. New York Trend continues to be the only black woman-owned, metropolitan newspaper in New York and Long island. New York Trend is the largest black-owned newspaper throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. |