Black Americans and the Internet

Author Pepper Miller recently presented the results of a Radio One/Yankelovich survey to Target Market News' ninth annual African-American Research and Advertising Summit.

Among the findings of the study were that Black Americans have caught up with white Americans when it comes to using the Internet. Pepper commented that one reason studies have shown Black Americans lagging so far behind their white peers is that surveyors have asked about computer use vs. online use. "Access tells a bigger story about who does what, when, and where online. Radio One and Yankelovich asked the better question and got it right."

Pepper is one of the outstanding Black American researchers today who knows what the right questions are and how to ask them to gain insight into the market.

You can access more from the study and her comments about it in this Ad Age article, by clicking here.

Pepper Miller on Black consumer value

Despite worrying statistics about the state of Black Americans, co-author Pepper Miller (What's Black About It?) says that there are other trends that are hopeful signs for the Black community. In an article in the Nov. 16 issue of Advertising Age, she cites three positive developments:

• A growing Black consciousness movement that is quiet but persistent led by Black mega churches and internet organizations such as colorofchange.org.
• The growing economic power of Black females.
• The emergence of "Thrivals," identified by Nat Irvin, "who are dictating a new future for themselves free from the history of victimization and oppression."

Miller is working on a new book about African Americans in the U.S., which I'm sure will contain further insights based on the market research of her firm, The Hunter Miller Group.