Nearly 70% of Blacks Used Mobile for Shopping Research

• Tweet
• Buffer

African Americans are OK with the ad-for-free content exchange, according to a new study. Among other things, the "African-American Consumers: Still Vital, Still Growing 2012 Report" from Nielsen showed how Blacks with connected mobile devices feel about various digital ad elements such as video and location targeting.

The report suggested advertisers "promote new technology and lifestyle products to African-American Millenials and Generation Y consumers" in part because they "tend to be early adopters and pop culture influencers."

According to the report, the rate of smartphone ownership among Blacks rose from 33 percent to over 54 percent in the last year. Sixty-two percent of Blacks who owned connected mobile devices said they are "OK" with ads that enable them to access free content. The study was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Indeed, mobile devices appear to be important to Blacks when it comes to shopping and comparing prices. The study showed 68 percent researched shopping information via their phones on a search engine and 64 percent checked out a retailer's app or mobile site.

In addition, 61 percent read product reviews, 57 percent searched for price comparisons, and 38 percent looked for a coupon to download on their mobile devices.

Of those studied with connected mobile devices, 43 percent said they were more apt to look at ads if they feature an interesting video, while 37 percent said ads that provide custom information based on their location are "more useful."

Nielsen stressed the African-American market's youth-dominated appeal. Blacks are 14 percent younger than the American population in total, and 54 percent of them are under age 35.

The research firm also highlighted the high use of Twitter among Blacks, who are 30 percent more likely to visit Twitter using mobile devices than the average consumer.