Although Asian Americans comprise only six percent of the U.S. population, with their
general affluence – their median income is 34 percent higher than the U.S. average – they
are a potentially profitable segment for businesses that know how to reach them.
At 17 million, this audience represents a growing opportunity. Asian American buying
power reached more than $700 billion in 2013 and is expected to approach $1 trillion by
2018.2 As marketers define their total market strategies, reaching the Asian American
audience is vital to success.
Marketers should never consider Asian Americans to be a monolithic group. In fact, they
are as diverse as a segment can be. Three-quarters of Asian American adults are
immigrants, and 90 percent of all Asian Americans come from six nationality groups,
each with their own cultural and linguistic traditions.
You wouldn’t want to use the same strategies to influence someone from a Korean
background as you would with someone from India. Or Vietnam. Or China. Or the
Philippines. We know this, because New American Dimensions has conducted extensive
research into the nuances of attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and consumer behaviors of
people from all of these nationalities, and more.
The Asian American segment is a convenient shorthand for marketers, but it doesn’t fully
encompass the diversity of language, culture and experience of Americans who claim an
Asian ethnicity. Marketers who don’t get this – or don’t have the time or resources to get
it – may have some success in marketing to this segment. But they could do better, much
better. Understanding this segment requires subtlety, nuance and knowledge.
With extensive experience research Asian Americans, as well as the multiplicity of
viewpoints, ideologies and motivations that can be found in this population, New
American Dimensions has a finger on the pulse of the U.S. Asian American communities.