According to a study commissioned by Google and conducted by independent market research firm Ipsos OTX MediaCT, more African-Americans own smartphones than those in the representative group (53 percent vs. 45 percent). More telling, African-Americans are more likely than members of the representative group to click on smartphone ads and visit the website of the advertisers (31 percent vs. 21 percent) and had higher rates of smartphone ad recall than others surveyed (40 percent vs. 31 percent).
“The big issue here is that there isn’t a lot of research and detailed information on the digital behaviors and online media consumption habits of the multi-cultural community,” said Torrence Boone, managing director, agency business development at Google.
Additionally, the study showed that African-Americans are more engaged in video and are more thorough in their pre-purchase research. After reaching a video site, they spend more time per visit (52 minutes vs. 42 minutes for the representative group) and they are more likely to search online for something they saw in a TV ad (82 percent vs. 78 percent for the general market).
“I think mobile is a new channel that we’re still very much figuring out and there’s obviously lots of opportunity there,” said Torrence Boone, managing director, agency business development at Google.
Source: AdWeek
