Minorities Spend More on Phone Calls than Rest of Population

press release

Quick Links

Report Excerpt

Market Segmentation

Table of Contents

Pricing Information

Order This Report

BOONTON, NJ. January 14, 1999:

Related Reports

This country's leading ethnic groups are spending more of their income on local and long distance phone calls than other groups, according to a new report by The Insight Research Corporation. With the ethnic population in the US on the rise, minority consumers' telecom spending will only continue to increase dramatically.

Hispanics, Asians, and African-Americans represent 25 percent of the US population, but they are responsible for 29 percent of long distance revenue and 37 percent of local telephone service revenue according to Insight's Telecom Marketing Opportunities to Ethnic Groups report. Strong family ties and the importance of social relationships contribute to this phone phenomenon. 

"In many urban markets, ethnic groups already account for more than 50 percent of telecommunications revenues," says Robert Rosenberg, president of Insight. "While each culture observes its own holidays and social events, their unique habits are also reflected in more practical daily rituals like using the telephone."

Rosenberg cites the following reasons for increased calling by ethnic groups:

• Expanding neighborhood walk-in bill payment centers, phone stores, and service centers staffed by bilingual representatives who interact with the customers. Customers also interact among themselves, making the business transaction a time of socialization, fostering community relationships.

• Availability of special language pre-paid calling cards. Users dial an 800 number to access a specific platform in the targeted language. Many cards carry a picture of the callers' homeland, providing a strong aesthetic appeal to recent immigrants.

• Savvy multi-cultural marketing. Telephone companies are increasingly focusing on improving the "customer experience."

In order for telcos to best serve the ethnic consumer Rosenberg suggests, "All contact and communication with the ethnic customer should be available in-language, in-culture, and in tune with their social values. Ethnic customers are very quality conscious and are often willing to trade-off price for cultural respect."

More cultural nuances and data regarding ethnic groups' telecom spending patterns are found at www.insight-corp.com/ethnic.asp.

US Hispanic Use of Telecom Services 2002-2007

Telecom and Ethnic Groups: Uses of Local, Long Distance, and Wireless Services in Ethnic Communities

Small Business Telecom: Opportunities in the Women- and Minority-Owned Small Business Marketplace

Donna Savino

at Insight Research

973-541-9600