Study Shows: Growing Russian-Language Market in the US Is Likely to Receive Attention From American Companies Looking to Increase Sales.

Recent study of consumer market in the New York Tri-State Area shows that the size of the Russian-speaking population has reached 1.5 million people and is very likely to become the next target of American companies looking to increase sales.

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 9, 2004 ---According to Press Release Group, New York-based research firm, which studies Russian-American market, Russian-speaking population has reached 1.5 million people and is becoming a very promising market for American companies, which are looking for new ways to increase sales.

According to Prof. Ilya Merenzon, Director of Research of Press Release Group, average Russian-speaking consumer has a median income of $47,000, $9000 higher than that of the average New York City consumer. Currently, adds Merenzon, Russian-speaking population accounts for 6% of market of the New York Tri-State Area, but due to higher income and much lower marginal propensity to save, every 10 consumer dollars out of 100 spent in New York, are spent by Russian-speaking consumers.

Many American companies are entering the Russian-American market and find that Russian consumers are very open and loyal, partly because they lived in a relatively closed community in the US and did not have a large selection of goods and services, and also due to their history of living in a country where were only few brands available.

Christopher Connors, head of consumer department at Valley Bank says that they started offering services to the Russian-speaking consumers three years ago, and after hiring few Russian-speaking customer service representatives, adding Russian language to ATMs and communicating with the community via ethnic media, their Russian-speaking consumer base increased 230%.

Press Release Group, which recently completed a study of the demographics and consumer behavior of Russian-speaking population, has documented increase of interest in the Russian market from the American companies and believes that this trend will continue.

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About Press Release Group

Press Release Group -- the only research company currently studying the expanding Russian-American market. The company has become the official source of information on the Russian-American market and has been frequently quoted by national and local media alike, ranging from The New York Times, New York Daily News, Reuters, Izvestia", New Russian World", Russian State Television, Metro Magazine and many others.

Press Release Group conducts semi-annual studies of the Russian-language audience of mass media. The company has also developed its own Ethnic Market Population Estimator Index©, a unique instrument which allows the determination of the size of ethnic communities in the US.