A Closer Look At Chinese-Americans in San Francisco A survey of Chinese-Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area provides a snapshot of the community's purchasing, language and political preferences, as well as its demographics. The annual study was commissioned by KTSF-TV, San Francisco, and conducted by Interviewing Service of America (ISA). KTSF has commissioned such studies on an annual basis since 1987. The survey randomly sampled 500 Chinese-Americans in a ten-county area between July 10 - August 6, 2000, showing that: Voting Patterns: Since 2000 was a presidential election year, the survey included several political questions and found that 46% were registered voters and that 84% of registered voters planned to vote in the election. Al Gore was the widely preferred presidential candidate, with 35% of respondents saying they intended to vote for Gore. Computers Ownership/Internet Usage: Computer ownership is high with 78 percent of Chinese households having a computer. IBM, Compaq, HP, Dell and Apple are the top brands. Chinese-American Internet usage rose from 58 percent in the 1999 study to 66 percent. AOL has the dominant share of Chinese Internet users with a 25 percent share. Yahoo is the favorite Web site. Dial up 56K modem is the most prevalent Internet connection. 43 percent of Chinese-American households have purchased items online, mostly from Amazon.com and Yahoo. About one-third browse through Internet ads. Online Brokerage Houses: 28 percent of Chinese households trade stocks/mutual funds online with Charles Schwab at 33 percent of the market and E-Trade at 23 percent. The number of households trading online increased by 6 percent from 1999 - 2000. Future Home Purchases: One out of ten Chinese households (11 percent) are planning to purchase a home within the next 12 months. Furniture Store Patronage: A quarter of Chinese households (24 percent) purchased furniture in the past 12 months. Levitz, IKEA and Macy's were the most popular stores. Banking: Bank of America has the largest share of Chinese bank customers with 40 percent of the market. Wells Fargo, American Savings and Washington Mutual are the only banks with a larger than 5 percent market share. Telecommunications: 67 percent of households make international calls monthly, placing an average of 4.1 calls. A third use 10-10 numbers. AT&T has a dominant share of the Chinese residential market. Las Vegas Visiting Habits: Almost half of households (44 percent) visited Las Vegas in the past year. MGM Grand, Hilton, Circus Circus and Bellagio are the most popular hotels among Chinese-Americans. The survey found that most people interviewed preferred using their native language, even though respondents have lived in the United States for an average of 14 years. 91 percent chose to be interviewed in Chinese, up 6 percent from last year. New categories in this year's survey included cosmetics, furniture store patronage, laundry detergent, future home purchase, cell phones, type of Internet connection, preferred news sources and political issues. The survey covered over 25 categories of consumer preferences. Other categories included patronage of hamburger fast food restaurants, awareness of hamburger fast food restaurants, toothpaste brands, headache remedy/pain reliever usage, soft drink usage, shampoo usage, cosmetic use among women, grocery store patronage, laundry detergent use, department stores, life insurance, healthcare providers/health insurance companies, car ownership/purchase plans, international air travel, Reno visiting habits and electronic purchases. "This year's survey again shows that Chinese-American consumers are looking for what all consumers want - service, value and convenience," said Michael J. Sherman, General Manager, KTSF-TV. "The survey demonstrates that those companies who tapped this market early have ended up with its largest share. It also shows that companies in product categories that have not yet reached the Chinese audience have an immediate opportunity to gain a share of the market." KTSF-TV is the nation's oldest Asian-language broadcast station, offering news and entertainment programs in 15 languages since 1976. The KTSF broadcast signal, supplemented by area cable systems, reaches more than 2.75 million diverse households in Northern California. The station maintains its leadership position through community involvement, innovative programming, pioneering audience and consumer research and assisting advertisers in their efforts to reach new markets. Interview Service of America (ISA) is one of the most recognized multilingual marketing research firms in the nation and the world. Located in Los Angeles, ISA collects quantitative research in 61 different languages 24 hours a day. Qualitative Insights, an ISA company, handles all focus groups, qualitative research and outside field functions.