DALLAS, Mar 14, 2006 / --- Was it a prescience of fashion designers, or just a coincidence? New York-based designer Zang Toi for his Spring 2006 collection (now available in stores) starred several African American models for his ‘Homage To Africa’ collection, and in Paris during the Fall 2006 prêt-a-porter season, Vivienne Westwood and Issey Miyake by Naoki Takizawa also placed black models front and center.

And, one of the biggest surprises was Riccardo Tischi of Givenchy who opened his show with six black models.

Because these collections were designed and created long before the Packaged Facts research, ‘The U.S. African American Market’ was released, it can easily be concluded that these designers were not jumping on any bandwagon to tap this booming market.

Released Feb 28, 2006, the research said, ‘Buoyed by advances in education and employment, the African American market now commands a buying power of $762 billion.’

From the same report, ‘The U.S. African American Market,’ this figure is expected to reach $981 billion in 2010, making this market segment the latest untapped market in the U.S. demographics.

Though businesses have been tapping into the African American market for some time now, as proven by the existence of lifestyle magazines like Essence and Ebony that is geared directly towards African Americans, an industry-wide lack of targeted marketing and advertising remains obstacles to growth in several sectors that are largely untapped.

"Having roughly the same purchasing power as Hispanics, African Americans tend to be left behind when it comes to marketing and advertising because Hispanics are expected to have more rapid population growth," said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts.

According to the report, which for the first time examined the black population from a regional perspective, African Americans in the West and Northeast have higher average incomes than those in the Midwest and the South, and consequently account for a disproportionate share of the aggregate income of African Americans.

Blacks living in the Northeast are much more likely to want to get to the very top in their career- viewing their work as a career, not just a job. For this reason, African Americans in the Northeast are far more likely than African Americans as a whole to feel secure financially and to be happy with their standard of living.

"Marketers would be wise, however, to tap into the African American segments that outpace their Hispanic counterparts, such as those with incomes greater than $50,000; owner-occupied households; married-couple families; and African American women-all sectors which offer huge potential in the consumer goods markets," Montuori added.

Now in its 6th edition, The U.S. African American Market provides a comprehensive profile of consumer expenditure patterns, shopping behavior, and attitudes towards food, health, entertainment, leisure, and technology.

Strategies and opportunities for marketing to the African American community are also covered. Priced at $3,500, this report can be purchased from Packaged Facts by clicking: www.packagedfacts.com/pub/1090871.html

It is also available at MarketResearch.com.