Nielsen Tracks the Asian American Consumer Journey

Asian American consumers "are part of this country today and in the future," stated Mariko Carpenter, Nielsen's Vice President of Strategic Community Alliance as she presented the findings of the latest Nielsen annual Asian American study.  Taking place during Asian Pacific American Heritage month, this is the seventh year that of the study, but was presented to the industry in New York versus Los Angeles for the first time.

Carpenter began by outlining the unique attributes of the Asian American consumer journey.  "We are, indeed, at an inflection point in our community," she stated as movies such as Crazy Rich Asians are playing to mainstream audiences, actor Sandra Oh has been awarded an array of honors for her role in Killing Eve, Andrew Yang is running as the first Asian American presidential candidate and Nestle announced that this year's Gerber baby is Asian -- a first.

The power of Asian American consumers is profound. "We are voting with our wallet, time and voice," Carpenter said.  "We are no longer 'the other.'  Brands are embracing the diversity."  The study found that today's path to purchase is no longer linear with a range of device and platform options to guide the consideration journey.

In addition to being an especially well educated, wealthy and highly employed population, Nielsen reported three major trends in the Asian American community that set them apart from other ethnic groups:

1.  Family is a key influencer.  Asian households are multi-generational with 27% living with that household composition compared to 15% of the general population.  Asian households are +17% larger than average (averaging 2.91 persons vs 2.49 for the total population).  Extended families, some just starting life in the U.S., account for some of the higher household income.  But these homes also tend to have more married couples (63% vs. 48%) and children (40% vs. 31%).  All of this contributes to purchasing patterns that are often dissimilar to other groups.  Across a variety of consumer categories, the intended user of products purchased for Asian households is often not the primary shopper (98 index), but is instead for children (134), a spouse/partner (120) or other household members (120).

2. Digital is the key to entry.  Asian consumers learn about new products from digital ads and are the most digitally connected consumer segment.  Ninety-seven percent own a smartphone, 81% own at least one device connected to SVOD and 94% have an internet connection.  They spend more time on their smartphone (84%) than viewing linear TV (70%).  Through all of this, social media plays an integral role fostered by such mega apps as WeChat from China.  Nielsen found that 30% of smartphone time is on WeChat where a range of interactions are possible from buying products, streaming music, curating photos and transferring money all in one app environment.

3. Shopping is a reimagined experience.  Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group population-wise with buying power of $1 trillion.  This is the equivalent of the 17th largest GPD in the world -- larger than Switzerland and Turkey.  "We are small in size, but we have significant buying power," Carpenter noted.  Asian Americans are shifting from offline to online transactions at a higher rate and have a higher spend than the general population.  Eighty-seven percent made an online purchase in the past twelve months.  They are also early adopters of online grocery shopping (22% in the past 12 months) and are great e-sports fans (49%).  In fact, 63% say that they are more loyal to businesses that sponsor their events.  "Asians are leaning in now," Carpenter explained.  "We are becoming significantly influential."  She added that advertisers need to understand that human story is a key to connection. "Reaching Asians on digital has to be thoughtful," she noted.

This young, growing and connected group offers marketers a long-term potential to any investment.  "We are experiencing tremendous population growth across the country," Carpenter concluded.  "We live longer (86.7 vs. 78.9), our median age is younger (35.4 vs. 38.7) and we have many more years of buying power ahead (51.3 vs. 40.2)."

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Nielsen’s Asian American Study Results Revealed

According to Nielsen, the Asian American market is an evolving mix of ages, English fluency and family composition where purchasing behavior is often technologically driven, non-linear and a family-based consideration. Mariko Carpenter, VP of Strategic Community Alliance, Nielsen, presented the results of their recent Asian American research study, focusing this year on consumer behavior.

Among the highlights of the research,

1. Technology and its use impact a range of behaviors. “Asian Americans are early adopters of technology,” Carpenter explained. “When we look at devices and platforms that are on the rise, Asian Americans over-index. Over time, the rest of the U.S. population catches up to us.” In addition to being ahead of the curve technologically, Asian Americans also “tend to move on,” from older technology. “Currently we under-index in DVRs, for example,” she noted. This group also has very high reach on a range of devices and how these devices are being used – from entertainment where they can find content that is more relevant to them and banking, travel booking, shopping and trying a new app – all at a far faster pace than the general population. Notably, this behavior transcends age.

2. Mega Apps such as WeChat, which enables users to conduct a range of tasks from content consumption to banking to shopping, are very popular in China and are being used by Asian Americans in the U.S. These mega apps are projected to further expand in use here. “Integration is key for multi-purpose apps and this generates more usage. WeChat allows for US brands to advertise in it,” Carpenter explained, giving advertisers an opportunity to reach these Chinese Americans.

3. Asian American behaviors, based on nativity, vary greatly by generation. Younger Asians tend to be U.S. born and are less connected to Asian culture while older generations tend to be foreign-born. This impacts language preference and the ability to navigate in American society. In addition, the Asian American market is not monolithic. Similar to Hispanics, there are great differences based on country of origin. “The Asian American community has the highest wealth disparity of any group,” Carpenter noted. With representation from more than two dozen countries, “subsets range from the highest levels of wealth to refugees with the lowest – close to poverty lines.”     

4. As a group, Asian American have great buying power with $1.0 trillion spent in 2018, a 68% gain over 2010 compared to 32% for the general population. Advertisers should focus on providing a satisfy purchasing experience with a choice of familiar brands, good brand alignment with values and environmental responsibility, high quality with a trusted brand and the feeling that their money is well spent.

This study, currently in its third year, is one of three ethnic annual studies by Nielsen, along with African American and Hispanic consumer groups.

This article first appeared in Cynopsis.