• A Lattimer Communciations study found that 86% of black females believe advertisers need to do a better job understanding and marketing to them.

• The vast majority of African-American consumer spending is done by females. Some marketers estimate black female buying power at upwards of $565 billion in 2009 alone.

• The buying power of America’s 40 million African-Americans, some 13% of the U.S. population, was $910 billion in 2009, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. This is greater than the gross domestic product of Russia or India.

• African-American females – who comprise 55% of the black population, compared to 52% of females in the overall U.S. population – are much more influential than the general female population in consumer transactions. In fact, black females make the lion’s share of buying decisions among African-Americans.

• According to Mirial Muléy, CEO of 85% Niche, a marketing consulting firm that focuses on women and women of color as key consumers, Black women make 85% of the brand purchasing decisions of Black consumers. The general population of females make 62% of brand-buying decisions, according to other researchers.

• RL Polk and Yankelovich studies point out that black women account for 58% of all new cars and trucks purchased by African Americans, compared to 44% of women in the general population; that black women spend $57 billion on food items per year, and that black females spend 30% more than the general market on personal/beauty products.

Source: The Atlanta Post, June 2010