Consider, for example, Asian Americans, many of whom are professionals living in urban or metro areas. “When I sit with clients who are not engaged in marketing to the Asian American community, I use the Selig report to give them a sense of the extent to which these consumers can be important to their businesses,” said Gitlin. “It’s true that the national Asian American population is one-third the size of the Latino population, but the Asian American market commands more than 50 percent of annual Latino buying power.”

Gitlin said that it’s important for his company, one of the nation’s leading multi-cultural marketing and communications agencies, to have verification from a highly regarded third party—especially one that is a leading research center.

The Selig report estimates minority buying power by applying economic modeling and forecasting techniques to data obtained from various U.S. government sources. The Selig Center’s main model, which it developed, integrates statistical methods used in economic forecasting with those of marketing research.

“I never make a pitch without a slide from the Selig report,” concluded Gitlin.