GASTOS

Recognition of ethnic subgroups by marketers has become relatively well established in the last two decades, with much of the earlier academic work providing substantial focus on identity and, to a lesser extent, social transformation (Burton, 2002). Pre-millennium, assumptions made in marketing practice were arguably crude and simplistic, although acknowledgment had been made to the potential value of ethnic groups, and as such, the necessity to appreciate culture as a means to develop appropriate and effective communication was understood (Holland and Gentry, 1999), given the development of the communities assessed and the complexity of their self-perception relative to their host populations.

Research has shown that factors such as heritage culture have an impact on ethnic consumption (Peñaloza, 1994; Askegaard et al., 2005). The cultural value system is affected by the social and cultural groups the consumer is involved in (Luna and Gupta, 2001). It is assumed that individuals guided by their values priorities are partly the product of shared culture (De Mooij, 2004), and not the product of only one of the cultures. Important patterns of the national culture are preserved within a “micro-culture”

as well as developing their own unique patterns of dispositions and behaviour (Steenkamp, 2001). National boundaries do not encompass homogeneous societies with a shared culture (Erdem and Schmidt, 2008). The effects on an individual’s culture are not only the product of the home country. Likely the culture is also influenced by the host country over the course of time (Askegaard et al., 2005). Subcultures are defined by influences of the heritage culture as well as influences of the host culture (De Mooij and Hofstede, 2011). Culture is not a characteristic of individuals. It encompasses a number of “people who were conditioned by the same education and life experience” (Hofstede, 1991, p.5). Cultural values define the identity and personality of consumers (De Mooij, 2010). Forney (1981) defined an ethnic minority group as a subcultural group within a dominant culture that has a distinct cultural background and is differentiated from the dominant culture through externally visible characteristics, which may be physical or cultural. Subcultures therefore are distinguished by their own beliefs, values, norms, attitudes and behaviour, and are influenced by the home as well as the host culture.

The role of the construct of national culture is acknowledged in marketing research and cross-cultural consumer behaviour (Triandis, 2000; Craig and Douglas, 2006; Engelen and Brettel, 2011). It has gained importance and has increased cultural-related research in marketing (Usunier, 1996; Ger and Belk, 1996; Manrai and Manrai, 1996; Mesdag, 2000). However, the impact of culture should go beyond the national cultural influences (Jung and Kau, 2004; Craig and Douglas, 2011; Engelen and Brettel, 2011). Some cultural differences prevail and may even get more pronounced, affecting consumer behaviour of these immigrant groups (Levitt, 2009). Traditional consumer theories may not be valid for making effective marketing decisions since immigrants are changing due to the formation of culture over time (Sivakumar and Nakata, 2001). This is aligned to the potential benefits of the proposed objectives; immigrants’ consumption patterns and their interface with media. The acculturation process in consumer research can provide more insight into immigrants’ cultural development and the influence on consumer behaviour (Jamal, 2003; Ogden et al., 2004), because cultural values serve as guiding principles in people’s lives, i.e. as criteria they use to select and justify actions and to evaluate people and events (Bilsky and Schwartz, 1987). Studying values and changes in values due to immigration and exposure to the host culture (Luna and Gupta, 2001) will be useful in order to understand a possible change in culture.

When targeting the increasing immigrant population, marketers should not rely only on existing marketing tools. To target ethnic groups with specific behavioural and consumption patterns, adapted target marketing is needed (Burton, 2000). Traditional consumer theories may not be valid for making effective marketing decisions since immigrants’ households are changing over time (CBS, 2010). This increases the need to develop Immigrants’ consumer acculturation theory models and to conceptualise the determinants to fulfil this need. Research suggests conceptualisation instead of employing traditional consumer behaviour theories when analysing Immigrants’

consumer acculturation (Oswald, 1999). The concept of the impact of culture with either the home or the host, creates boundaries (Fletcher and Fang, 2006). Askegaard et al.

(2005) identified that the nature of culture swapping (Oswald, 1999) is not a clear distinction between the home and host cultures. Immigrant consumers are influenced by both cultures (Thompson and Tambyah, 1999; Askegaard et al., 2005), thus implying a coexistence in which culture is not traditionally defined.

Culture can be perceived as a set of standards shared by members of a society, which produce behaviour that the members consider as acceptable. Reviewing literature from different disciplines, McCort and Malhotra (1993) stated that “culture impacts virtually every construct of concern to marketers” (p.120). Culture is therefore an important factor to address in immigrants’ consumer behaviour research and is the focus of consumer acculturation (Peñaloza, 1989). Steenkamp et al. (1999), for example, has shown that a person’s innovativeness reflects his level of attachment to or rejection of a system of values. Vincent & Selvarani (2013) have shown that individual values have significant influences on consumer behaviour. To understand the ethnic consumers in the process of acculturation, values provide knowledge in the dynamics of the culture change.

Specifically in ethnic consumption the value priorities of the home are expected to be significant. Therefore, consumer preferences are a direct consequence of the attitudes and behaviours of others and therefore the inclusion of host and home culture is necessary.

The study of consumer cultures and consumer behaviour has implications for designing marketing strategies with the intent of cross-cultural or cross-border investments. Ethnic cultural studies have gained the interest of many consumer researchers. Whilst first generation immigrants may identify more with their home culture and are best approached with products similar to that home culture, later generations may be more similar to their host country’s culture in the products and brands that they use. Despite the complexity that underpins market segmentation and associated understanding, there is recognition that the benefits derived from a product or service by an individual

sub-group of consumers is a key characteristic (Aaker and Fournier, 1995). Taking the example of food consumption, religion can play a significant role in consumer choice and product uptake (Sheikh and Thomas, 1994; Berkman, Lindqust and Sirgy, 1997), as well as shaping practices relating to broader social behaviour (Delener, 1994). The dual role of host and home identity, the latter being played out in both private and communal contexts, is particularly pertinent to consumption in this arena (Jamal, 2003), with longstanding differences in consumption between host consumers and their counterparts from the ethnic subgroups being particularly evident (Valencia, 1989; Williams and Qualls 1989).

The understanding of ethnic marketing and ethnic consumers has increased with the phenomenon of acculturation; the degree an immigrant prefers to hold to the cultural heritage or adapt to the host culture and change as a result of their attempts to live together in culturally multiple societies (Berry, 1980). It is helpful to design appropriate marketing strategies to target the selected market. Acculturation measures not only the culture influence of the home and host but can also indicate the change and direction of culture. It is essential to analyse the process of acculturation when examining culture’s influence on subcultural consumer behaviour. Acculturation may explain the expected change of values and influencing consumption patterns. Culture changes itself via media influences, different cultural influences by different age groups, changes in economic circumstance and changes in social attitude via the acculturation process (Fletcher and Fang, 2006), and exhibit differences in preference from one product to another.

The next section will analyse the different definitions and conceptualisations for culture and ethnic groups, followed by a review of culture in consumer research. This highlights the importance of ethnic consumer research and indicates that there are differences in the behaviour of immigrants dependent on differences in culture.