The Largest Minority Group -- The Disabled

Abstract

The disabilities market consists of about 54 million people and will probably double in size within 15 years; it has an aggregate income of over $1 trillion dollars. Many firms treat this market as they would a charity case, or worse, totally ignore it, when it is in reality a very significant market. The authors discuss the role of corporate diversity in marketing to the disabled and note that disabled employees in the workforce can be the engine for generating and developing new product ideas for this significant multicultural group.

Keywords: Disabilities, multicultural marketing, hiring practices, innovation

JEL Classification: A13, B11, D63, J7, J78, K00, K40, M5, M14, N00, N01