Research

The Nielsen Company began the public beta testing of Hey! Nielsen, an online social network site for a diverse range of pop culture enthusiasts who are eager to make their voices heard to Nielsen clients and other decision-makers in the entertainment
industry.

The Nielsen Company will be expanding its on-going outreach to the Hispanic community in television markets throughout the United States. With new, electronic Local People Meter (LPM) Technology deployed in the top 13 media markets, Nielsen is engaging Latino communities to explain who Nielsen is, and how the TV ratings service assures the most accurate measure of TV viewing behavior so that “every view counts.”

Culture is a baggage that human groups carry with themselves over history, according to Korzenny & Korzenny, authors of Hispanic Marketing Communication; A Cultural Perspective. Culture is indeed what unites Hispanics in the United States. Family values, language and shared social issues tend to be among the most pressing concerns for Hispanics, no matter where they go. But, as the authors stated, because most people share basic needs and values, many marketers tend to minimize cultural differences. Even though Hispanics from the Caribbean, North, Central and South America share a common religion, the Spanish language, a deep passion for their individual heritage and most importantly, their family values, they do have cultural differences.

The U.S. Census Bureau released annual data on key social, economic and housing characteristics for the nation, states, and geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more. Covering topics ranging from language to education, from family size to work commute, the American Community Survey (ACS) provides annual data that help decision makers and planners better respond to change.

One may ask why it is important to understand culture. There are many answers but in marketing, the importance of understanding culture is because “marketing is the science of making others fall in love with your products, services and ideas”

As planned vehicle purchasers hit a 5 year low, radio continues to be one of the best ways to reach those adults who are still in the auto purchase market. These are the findings from The Media Audit’s telephone study of 118,211 randomly selected adults in 88 markets.

When it comes to consumer interest in non-traditional advertising media, Billboards—which date to the 1800’s—and the newer phenomenon of product placement in television top the list, according to the latest research data from Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI).

A surprisingly high percentage of Young Adults and middle-income Hispanics identify themselves as loyalty program participants. At over 40% participation for each segment, these groups are aware of the loyalty game and have their antennae up looking for value. Upside growth of activity in both segments is predicted, as retailers, e-commerce web sites and telecom programs drive participation

Madison Avenue often homogenizes ethnic markets under tidy categories such as African American, Hispanic and Asian Americans. However, BIGresearch’s latest Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 10) of 15,439 consumers indicates that the categorization into generic groups leaves marketers with an inaccurate picture of ethnic groups. This is particularly true with Hispanics as many of whom report being from multiple racial ethnic descents. In SIMM 10, Hispanics identified themselves racially as: as Caucasian (44.2%), Other Race / Heritage (34.6%) and Multi-Racial (16%).

A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies projects how different levels of immigration would impact the future size of America’s population. The findings, carefully modeled on earlier projections by the Census Bureau, show that the current level of immigration will add 105 million to the population by 2060, while having a small effect on the aging of society.

Hispanics and Asians remain the fastest-growing national segments of the population, with television households increasing by 4.4 percent among Hispanics and 3.9 percent among Asians over last year, according to The Nielsen Company. In local markets, Nielsen estimates that Los Angeles continues to remain the number one Hispanic market, followed by New York, Miami, Houston and Chicago. Los Angeles also has the country’s largest Asian community, followed by New York, San Francisco, Honolulu and Chicago. New York is the largest African-American TV market, followed by Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

Real median household income in the United States climbed between 2005 and 2006, reaching $48,200, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the second consecutive year that income has risen.

Meanwhile, the nation’s official poverty rate declined for the first time this decade, from 12.6 percent in 2005 to 12.3 percent in 2006. There were 36.5 million people in poverty in 2006, not statistically different from 2005. The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 44.8 million (15.3 percent) in 2005 to 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006.

The Nielsen Company announced that beginning today it will produce all national Hispanic ratings through its National People Meter (NPM) panel, the same sample that is used to produce ratings for non-Hispanic networks. This will put national Spanish-language television on a level playing field with English-language television, providing a common ratings number for all national networks.

The Nielsen Company estimates that the total number of television households within the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) will be 112.8 million by January 1, 2008, an increase of 1.3 percent since last year. Nielsen also estimates that the number of viewers aged 2 plus increased by 1 percent to 286 million. These estimates, along with breakdowns by age and demographics, are effective August 27, 2007 and will be used for the entire 2007-2008 television season.

A new IBM online survey of consumer digital media and entertainment habits shows audiences are more in control than ever and increasingly savvy about filtering marketing messages.

The global findings overwhelmingly suggest personal Internet time rivals TV time. Among consumer respondents, 19 percent stated spending six hours or more per day on personal Internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing. 66 percent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal Internet usage.

A new nationally-representative study of 2,800 consumers from Javelin Strategy & Research dispels myths about the banking attitudes and behaviors of Generation Y (consumers ages 18 to 29). Despite the popular belief that Gen Y is primarily focused on alternative channels and technologies, Javelin found that this generation is actually more likely to choose providers and manage their finances through a mixture of traditional and new methods.

Foreign-born Latino workers made notable progress between 1995 and 2005 when ranked by hourly wage. The proportion of foreign-born Latino workers in the lowest quintile of the wage distribution decreased to 36% from 42% while many workers moved into the middle quintiles, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Executives in boardrooms across America are talking about “the gay and lesbian market.” But after decades of social and political progress, who is the typical gay or lesbian consumer in the United States today? What are his/her prime motivators, regular activities or perceptions on any number of issues?