Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1958)

SPONSOR'S SEVENTH ANNUAL NEGRO ISSUE THE NEGRO MARKET is getting bigger in two directions ^ Non-white population has increased 20% since 1 950, half again faster than the rate for the white population ^ With his spending power tripled since before the war, the Negro now has $16 billion to buy the goods he wants By Alfred J. Jaffe, Special Projects Editor ■ i has often been said that there is no such thing as a Negro market but only a series of markets — say, like children under 12 — of which Negroes are a part. After all (so the argument goes), if you advertise to children under 12. or families who make less than $5,000 a > ear, or people who live in New Eng land, you don't look at skin color. The argument has a logical ring and the additional merit of wrapping itself in laudable sociological tones. Facts have a way of brusquely pushing logical niceties aside, however, and the facts that support the existence of a Negro market are tough to ignore. They include: (1) the Negro is group conscious, (2) he can be reached by specialized media, (3) he can be found concentrated in certain areas, (4) his economic opportunities are (still) limited, (5) he does have certain likes and dislikes not shared by others. Finally, marketing facts about the Negro are becoming outdated at a faster rate than among whites. Most important: the Negro market is expanding in two directions. Negro population and households are growing at a speedier clip than the rest of the country. So is Negro per capita income. While the white population went up 12.67f from 1950 to 1957, non-white persons (of practically all of whom are Growing Negro I Below, George Hudsor W N]R. \euarh-\en York , 1 39 .5 n:n