ETAPAS

The chapter outlined the background of the study and the structure of the thesis. The research question and the research objectives are defined. Chapter Two will discuss the literature review and present the research concept.

Chapter Two - Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a critical review of extant research related to immigrants’ consumer behaviour. This chapter provides an introduction and an overview of the literature regarding concepts of ethnic marketing with an emphasis on the concept of culture as it relates to the context of this study (Research Objective 1). The acculturation and consumer acculturation literature is critically reviewed to model a conceptual framework for Immigrants’ consumer acculturation (Research Objective 1).

The literature on consumer acculturation phenomena (dimensions, domains, ethnic identity, friends, media usage, values) and the impact on consumer behaviour (food and entertainment) is discussed to highlight the significance of life domain concepts when describing Immigrants’ consumer acculturation (Research Objective 2). Although various factors, demographics, length of stay and religion are identified as influencers of Immigrants’ consumer acculturation, these factors are outside the scope of this study.

The host cultural context may differ from one subculture to another and therefore result in different consumer behaviour related acculturation outcomes. The review will focus on development of ethnic marketing knowledge and consumer acculturation. The bidimensional approach of acculturation (e.g. home and host² culture) and the underlying variables identified in consumer research literature with the interface of media usage on the consumer’s behaviour will be detailed. To approach ethnic consumer behaviour and therefore ethnic³ consumers, given the importance and implications for consumer behaviour, acculturation processes of immigrants⁴ in any subcultural group is necessary (Kacen and Lee, 2002; Jamal, 2003; Kwon and Kau, 2004; Belk et al., 2005; Barbosa and Villarreal, 2008; Luedicke, 2011).

The literature will outline acculturation and its impact on immigrants’ consumer behaviour will be discussed in detail. Immigrants form a growing group of consumers within host countries and have become a major interest for marketers. Due to immigration, many countries are becoming more and more diverse. As emerging ethnic markets continue to become more mainstream in Western Europe, their marketing importance also grows.

2 The home and host are defined as the Turkish country of origin and culture and the country of immigration and culture.

3 The literature uses the terms ethnic, immigrants and subcultures interchangeably in the context of this thesis.

4 Immigrants are individuals who migrated to another country for permanent residence.

Non-western immigrants are a growing segment in European societies and represent huge potential to marketers.

From a marketing perspective, understanding the Immigrants’ consumer acculturation is important as they grow in size and purchasing power. Marketers use subcultural segmentation and targeted marketing to reach these consumers (Geng, 2002; Ogden, 2005). This is necessary information for targeting these audiences well and also in particular for developing products/services that fit their needs and values. Given the visibility and economic power of these consumer groups, this points to a particular area where greater understanding can be achieved. This has both theoretical and practical value. Immigrants’ consumer behaviour and their acculturation trends have increasing importance for marketers.

This chapter consists of five sections as indicated in Figure 2. It begins with the introduction (section 2.1) followed by discussions on the concept of ethnic marketing and consumer acculturation (Peñaloza, 1994; Oswald, 1999; Ogden, 2005; Van de Vijver, 2007; Laroche et al., 2009; Craig and Douglas, 2006). The main framework starts with a general discussion of ethnic marketing (section 2.2). As emerging ethnic markets continue to become more mainstream in Western Europe, their marketing importance also grows. Immigrants are a growing interest for marketers. As they increase in size (i.e.

also in generations) and purchasing power, marketers use subcultural segmentation and targeted marketing to reach these consumers (Geng, 2002; Ogden, 2005). This has given a rise to the concept of ethnic marketing (Badot and Cova, 1995; Pires, Stanton and Cheek, 2003). Ethnic subcultures, like immigrants, need recognition and require a separate approach and marketing strategy (Chatarraman, Rudd and Lennon, 2009).

Consumer research has identified culture as the biggest and most powerful influence (Cleveland and Laroche, 2007).

The second part of the literature review is a detailed discussion on acculturation and consumer acculturation theory and the significance for immigrants’ consumer behaviour is discussed (section 2.3). Consumer acculturation focuses on the cultural adaptation prominent in the market to describe the engagement in consumer behaviour in one culture by members of another culture (Peñaloza, 1994), thus measuring the extent to which an individual adapts to a new culture and the influence on behaviour (Ward and Arzu 1999). The process of acculturation starts when people migrate to another country (Berry, 1980), thus culture can change due to the process of acculturation (Berry, 2002).

The understanding of ethnic marketing and ethnic consumers has increased with the phenomenon of acculturation i.e. the degree an immigrant prefers to hold on to the

cultural heritage or adapt to the host culture and change as a result of their attempts to live together in multicultural societies⁵ (Berry, 1980). Acculturation measures not only the culture influence of the home and host⁶ but can also indicate the dynamics of a possible change of culture. The phenomenon of acculturation is therefore valuable in ethnic consumer research. It is essential to analyse the process of acculturation influencing subcultural consumer behaviour. Consumer research has emphasised how immigration, ethnicity and culture explain consumption (Askegaard et al., 2005;

Despande et al., 1986, Peñaloza, 1994). The view of consumers being a homogeneous market segment becomes disputable (Firat and Schulz, 1997; Firat and Venkatesh, 1993, 1995; Usunier, 1996; Manrai & Manrai, 1996; Oswald, 1999). Immigrants within a geographic location might be a unique homogeneous sub-group.

The fourth section attempts to focus on variables derived from literature (i.e. public and private life domain, ethnic identity, cultural values) (section 2.4) (Peñaloza, 1994, Jamal, 2003, Van de Vijver, 2004; Xu, Shim, Lotz and Almeida, 2004; Askegaard et al., 2005;

Schwartz, 2006). According to Douglas and Craig (1997) immigration is causing a change in consumer behaviour and immigrants change the culture itself when they acculturate. The identified gap in literature will be discussed in section 2.5 and finally the detailed hypotheses of this study will be presented in section 2.6.

Figure 2. Overview and Structure of Chapter Two

5 Society: the community of people living in a particular country having shared customs, laws, and organisations.

6 Home and Host: in this study the home represents the country of origin and the host represents the country immigrants moved to.

Introduction

Ethnic Marketing Consumer Acculturation Immigrants’ Consumer Behaviour

Gap in Theory

Immigrants’ Consumer Acculturation Literature Review

Conceptual Framework

Research Hypotheses

The literature uses several terminologies to define a cultural group of individuals.

Academic and practitioner consumer literature accepts several definitions of the terms to indicate a culturally distinct group of individuals within a society.Some of the terms have distinct meanings on the basis of cultural heritage or cultural background. This study uses the term “subculture” as a group of individuals within a mainstream host culture that differentiates itself from the larger culture to which it belongs. An ethnic group is a

“socially defined category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). An ethnic group can be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin, history, home country, language, and religion. Members of an ethnic group share cultural traditions and history that distinguish them from other groups (James and Garrick, 2010). Immigrants are individuals who migrated to another country for permanent residence. The literature uses the terms ethnic, immigrants and subcultures sometimes interchangeably in the context of this thesis. These terms imply a theoretical relationship of the individuals to a home culture, in which their culture is not equal to the culture of the mainstream. The mainstream culture-group is defined as the dominant “host” culture (e.g. Turkish-Dutch immigrants and the “home” Turkish culture, the Dutch individuals as the mainstream and the “host” Dutch culture). These terms are conceptually consistent with prior research.

The term “mainstream” refers to the numeric and social majority within a society, and the term “ethnic” refers to an ethnic minority group. Throughout this thesis, the immigrant group, Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands, are referred to as Turkish-Dutch.