In a day where many African-Americans are often considered a politically and socially apathetic group, a new study suggests otherwise.

GlobalHue, the nation's largest multiracial advertising agency,recently released findings from their newest survey revealing that African-Americans -- primarily from the Civil Rights era -- are the most optimistic and engaged minority group.

The findings may have confirmed what we've known for quite some time -- that non-whites will be the major target audience for brands in the future, yet GlobalHue also discovered that although minority groups share a commonality of race, their views on life and level of engagement vary greatly.

Conducted between June 22 and July 15, 2009, the study consisted of 8,309 online and telephone interviews. Participants were asked to answer questionnaires comprised of 287 questions that covered an array of categories ranging from demographic information, lifestyle habits and attitudes, media consumption and usage, technology reliance and usage and shopping and entertainment habits.

Black Voices recently spoke with the president of GlobalHue, Carl Izzi and GlobalHue's Executive Strategy Officer Rocio Fernandez about what lead them to conduct the study, the significance of the latest findings and what this means for ethnic targeted marketing in the future. GlobalHue was recognized as the "Multicultural Advertising Agency of the Decade" by Adweek in 2009.

Why did you feel the need to conduct this study?

Carl Izzi: Very rarely in our industry have we been able to see a comprehensive well weighted study that has compared and contrasted all minority groups. As marketers, we seem to be wrestling today with two opposing forces; one that tends to erase the cultural differences and one that tends to highlight them. It's very typical to see one ethnicity taken apart in detail or studied in detail and we really wanted to take it beyond that.

Can you explain how older African-Americans managed to be the most engaged and optimistic group among minorities?

Rocio Fernandez: The older generation of African-Americans was part of the Civil Rights movement, which was an era of high expectations, goals and achievements. It only makes sense that they would naturally have more hope about the future considering what they experienced and overcame. They have a higher sense of involvement in their communities than the younger demographic of African-Americans.

Does that mean younger African-Americans are disengaged and more pessimistic?

Rocio Fernandez: Most of the younger generations of African-Americans are in a macro segment called the 'strivers.' These are the people who are working hard, relying on education and hard work to move forward but they don't necessarily share the optimistic or positive outlook of the older demographic. They are so busy trying to juggle their hectic lives so their personal and socioeconomic situation doesn't allow them to demonstrate as much optimism. This group is still likely to be interested in engaging and participating in social causes and politics, however, they are looking for alternative and unconventional mediums like the internet and social media.

Other than marketers, who else can benefit from these findings?

Carl Izzi: African Americans truly defy the rules and are by far the most engaged group of any of the ethnicities and I think even outside the marketing realm, if you're in politics, you'd be wise to recognize that.

What do you want marketers to walk away with after reading these findings?

Carl Izzi: African-Americans are not a monolithic group, if they ever were considered that by marketers, now's the time to stop thinking that. There are some market differentiations between the segments and it's very easy to see that there are groups within African-Americans that may not be the focal point of a lot of brands efforts, particularly older African Americans, but they certainly represent a very healthy percentage of people. This is a group who has disposable income and a positive attitude on life and the future which makes them, in our perspective, very ideal targets for many brands.