Chinese-Americans Prefer BoA, AT&T Wireless & Costco & More.

A survey of Chinese-Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area provides a snapshot of the community’s purchasing, language and political preferences, as well as its demographics. The annual study was commissioned by KTSF-TV, San Francisco, and conducted by Interviewing Service of America (ISA). KTSF has commissioned such studies on an annual basis since 1986.

*Computers Ownership/Internet Usage: Computer ownership is high with 82% of Chinese households having a computer. HP, Compaq and Dell are the top brands. Chinese-American Internet usage rose from 66% in the 2000 study to 68%. 16% of Chinese-American households browse through Internet ads or use online coupons.

*Future Home Purchases: 12% of Chinese Americans residing in the San Francisco Bay Area are planning to purchase a home within the next 12 months.

*Banking: Bank of America has the largest share of Chinese bank customers with 41% of the market. Wells Fargo follows with 14% and Washington Mutual with 12%. United Savings and American Savings are the remaining two banks with a larger than 5% market share.

*Cellular Phones: 74% of Chinese households have at least one cell phone. Of these households 37% have 2 phones. AT&T is the dominant cell phone service provider with 47%.

*Discount Stores: At 62%, Costco is the most often frequented discount store for Chinese-American consumers.

* Auto Purchase Plans: 21% of households plan to purchase or lease a new car within the next 12 months.

*Preferred News Source: Among Chinese-Americans, the preferred news source is TV with 72%, followed by newspapers at 48%, radio at 28% and Internet with 16%. (Multiple responses were allowed.)

*Las Vegas Visiting Habits: Over a third of households (36%) visited Las Vegas in the past year. MGM Grand, Circus Circus, Hilton, and Bellagio are the most popular hotels among Chinese-Americans.

The survey found that most people interviewed preferred using their native language, even though respondents have lived in the United States for an average of 13 years. 94% chose to be interviewed in Chinese.

New questions and/or categories in this year’s survey included coupon usage, discount store patronage, athletic footwear/apparel/equipment, auto insurance, satellite TV subscription and health issues. The survey covered over 25 categories of consumer preferences and prime-time viewership ratings.

Other categories included international calls and usage of 10-10 numbers, patronage of hamburger fast food restaurants, soft drink usage, toothpaste brands, shampoo usage, grocery store patronage and willingness to shop at large chain stores if they carried more Asian food products, department stores, home furnishings, life insurance, international air travel, car ownership, cable subscription, awareness of in-language advertising, electronic purchases, and movie theater attendance.

“Over our past 16 years of conducting consumer research in the Asian market several patterns have become clear,” said Michael J. Sherman, General Manager, KTSF-TV. “This most recent study confirms that Asian consumers continue to be brand loyal and respond to messages in their own language. We also saw that, just like consumers everywhere, this group places a high value on quality, convenience and value.”

The survey randomly sampled 612 Chinese-Americans in a nine-county area between March 18 – April 9, 2002.