Realizing marketplace opportunity: How research on the black consumer market influenced mainstream marketers, 1920-1970

Purpose – The influence of research on decisions concerning black consumers by mainstream marketers between 1920 and 1970 is to be examined. Market opportunity analysis provides a theoretical foundation. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on examination of rare books, archival and proprietary documents housed at the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising and Marketing History at Duke University; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library; the Museum of Public Relations and relevant literature concerning research on black consumers. Findings – Mainstream companies were motivated to pursue black consumers on the basis of attractive consumption habits, demographic and psychographic characteristics revealed by informal and formal research available as early as the 1920s. During and after the Second World War, research on black consumers became widely available to corporate executives through the trade press, trade associations, academic literature and internal corporate efforts. White and black scholars, entrepreneurs and marketing professionals were instrumental in collecting, disseminating and interpreting information regarding African-American consumers. Research not only prompted corporate interest in the black consumer market by appealing to profit motives, but also encouraged ground-breaking change in the way that blacks were addressed and portrayed in marketing materials. Originality/value – This examination expands the literature by introducing information from materials not previously analysed which explains interest in black consumers from marketers' perspectives. Analysis indicates that economic self-interest, more so than social pressures driven by civil rights efforts, prompted mainstream marketers' interest in black consumers. At the same time, socioeconomic gains associated with civil rights advancements transformed African-Americans into an attractive consumer segment widely recognized by mainstream marketers.