The new unit is offering clients a planning tool called the Multicultural Marketing Opportunity Model, intended to analyze the return on investment of initiatives aimed at ethnic consumers.
As a sign of upward mobility among ethnic consumers, the study showed, spending has been shifting from public transportation to purchasing vehicles and from rental housing to homeowning.
NFO InDepth Interactive in Greenwich, Conn., and Community Connect in New York are forming an alliance to offer marketers data on ethnic consumers that will include purchasing habits and brand preferences.
The WPP Group in London and New York, has acquired a 49percentt stake in the Uniworld Group in New York and Los Angeles, an agency that specializes in advertising and marketing aimed at African-Americans and other ethnic consumers.
Companies that sell everything from banking services to apparel view such marketing as a way to build credibility and broaden their appeal to ethnic consumers, who have a rapidly accelerating amount of purchasing power.
The narrowing differences between the lists of top-rated shows in black and white households is "very important for advertisers," Ms. Koerner said, because it means "they can also reach ethnic consumers with some of their general-market campaigns" as well as through ads aimed specifically at African-Americans.
McDonald's executives say the Dollar Menu has driven enormous additional traffic into the stores, primarily young men and women aged 18 to 24. "The Dollar Menu appeals to lower-income, ethnic consumers," said Steve Levigne, vice president for United States business research at McDonald's.
It could mean catering for ethnic consumers in the western markets, mainstream consumers in the regional markets and/or both?
The issue of ethnicity is made more complex by the fact that there is a wide variety of skin tones and hair types among ethnic consumers.
The number of ethnic consumers is increasing fast in the western countries due to migration and a greater inflow of tourism.
