Essence Mag. WOW II Study Results

TMS Online Entertainment Marketing News

ESSENCE magazine recently announced results of its Window on Our
Women II: How African-American Women Define Success (WOW II).
The study was intended to serve as a tool to educate advertising,
marketing and media decision makers, as well as researchers and
educators, on African-American women. The results also illustrate the
need to target and service these women differently than their general
market counterparts.

Among the study's significant findings:

+ African-American women are multi-dimensional consumers, who are
distinct from general market and respond deeply with targeted media.

+ African-American women are also active consumers with an emphasis
on individual style, who are willing to experiment and pay more for
what they want.

+ The results showed that 50% of African-American women want to
start their own business, while only 29% of Caucasian women surveyed
indicated the same.

+ In that same vein, 52% of African-American women are significantly
more likely to view entrepreneurship as a way to build wealth,
compared to 28% of general market women.

+ African-American women are more likely to see financial investing as
an element of success (43% Black women vs. 33% White women) and
feel that they must leave a good inheritance in order to be successful
(28% African-American women vs. 16% Caucasian women).

+ When surveyed about career and education decisions, 52% of
African-American women believe that they must do work they enjoy in
order to be successful as compared to 43% of general market women;
and 27% of African-American women consider "having it all" is also a
must-do in terms of their career and family life as opposed to 18% of
Caucasian women.

+ Self-reliance is important to African-American women; 48% deem
they must manage their responsibilities with peace-of-mind in order to
be successful as compared to 36% of general market women.

+ Lastly, compared to White women, Black women were five times
more likely to see cultural heritage as a benchmark for success. Thus,
21% of African-American women feel they must stay true to their
cultural heritage in order to be successful as compared to 4% of general
market women.