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Consumer Behavior ofAmerican-Socialized EthnicMinoritiesMary G. Joseph aa College of Business & Public Administration ,University of North Dakota , Grand Forks, ND,58202, USAPublished online: 15 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Mary G. Joseph (1997) Consumer Behavior of American-SocializedEthnic Minorities, Journal of Customer Service in Marketing & Management, 3:1,31-37, DOI: 10.1300/J127v03n01_04

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Consumer Behavior of American-Socialized Ethnic Minorities

Mary G . Joseph

INTRODUCTION

At long last, the burgeoning minority markets in the United Starcs scern to have caught the attention of marketers. These are by no means new markets; howcvcr, so far only a few have reccivcd their just amount of attention. With the era of mass marketing gone, the strategy of the 1990's seems to be micromarketing, wherein marketing depends on a sound un- derstanding of consumer needs, which are shaped in part by culture, atti- tudes and lifestyles. The computer and information rcvolution coupled with the increased sophistication of demographic databases has made it possible to target market to specific consumer groups.

The three largest ethnic minorities in the United States are the African- Americans, the Hispanic-Americans, and the Asian-Americans. These three groups together spend over $700 billion annually for goods and services (Berkowitz et al., 1994). According to the 1990 census, the Asian- Amcrican population grew by 108 pcrccnt, followed by a 53 percent growth of the Hispanic-American group, and a 13 percent growth in the number of African-Americans between 1980 and 1990. Among the three, African-Americans have the longest history of presence in the U.S. fol- lowed by the Hispanic-American group. This in turn explains the unevcn growth in size of the three groups ovcr the last decade. The Asian-Ameri- cans have the highest median household income of any racial or ethnic group in America including white households (Dunn, 1992; Laughlin, 1993).

Mary G. Joseph is a graduate student affiliated with the Collcgc of Business & Public Administration, University of North Dakota. Grand Forks. ND 58202.

Journal of Customer Service in Marketing & Management, Vol. 3(1) 1997 O 1997 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights rcscrvcd. 31

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PURPOSE OF THE PAPER

By outlining some of the commonly suggested strategies for marketing to ethnic minorities, the paper analyzes thcir appropriateness in targeting the present and future generations of American-socialized minority con- sumers. The study, in looking at the sociological definition of a minority group, will focus on thc younger generation of ethnic minorities who are American born andlor socialized, and their level of affiliation to their parental culture. The study will also examine the influences of collectiv- ism-individualism on consumer behavior as postulated by researchers in the field of psychology, and in turn analyze the consumer behavior of the future gcnerations of ethnic minorities in the United States. After consid- ering evidence from other studies, the study proposes the following hy- pothesis:

The younger generation of ethnic minorities socialized in the Ameri- can culture will belong to hybrid cultural groups which are more similar to the dominant American culture, in terms of their attitudes and beliefs, than their parental minority cultures.

By showing how collectivism-individualism relate to social behavior, the paper will attempt to explain reasons to expect significant differences between the consumer behavior of the hybrid cultures and the consumer behavior of their respective ethnic minority today. Such a finding would be crucial in implications for segmentation of the market and in the design of strategies in the current and emerging era of micro marketing.

The statement that ethnic marketing is here to stay and not a fad is common and valid. There seems to be a general consensus among market- ers that the ethnic groups will remain closely knit and favor their native cultures into the next several generations and long after the current im- migration boom subsides (Laughlin 1993). This belief, coupled with the rapid growth in the population as well as the affluence of minority groups, has resulted in increascd curiosity among consumer product marketers in the United States. Some of the commonly mentioned strategies for market- ing to ethnic minority groups are; the use of a spokesperson and sales staff who belong to that ethnic group, use of fliers with simple and friendly messages, stock and market existing products unique to their ethnic back- ground and the like (Durn 1992). The validity of these ethnic marketing strategies today does not guarantee their effectiveness on the next genera- tion of ethnic minorities growing up in the U.S.

Rcsearch often neglects generational differences caused by assimila- tion, even though generational differences can affect consumer behavior

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Mary G. Joseph 33

(Soruco and Meyer, 1993). In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the next generation will most likely be assimilated into the American culture.

Rescarchcrs in Connecticut found that American school children view parental control as a sign of overall hostility and rejection and were upset when more rules and regulations are imposed on them. A similar study in Korea and Japan revealed a contrasting view, that the children looked upon strict discipline as a sign that parents cared a great deal for them (Brislin 1993). The researchers alluded to the differences in the expecta- tions children develop from their social settings to be the key to these contrasting findings. A survey of Korean-American adolescents about the disciplinary practices of their parents who were socialized in Korea and immigrated to the United States found that their views were similar to those of their American pcers. About half of the adolescents survcycd were born in Korea and the other half in the U.S. According to the original researchers, "Within a single generation since their parents' immigration, the Korean-American teenagers perceive their parents' behavior, not as adolescents in Korea do, nor perhaps as their parents might cxpcct thcm to" (Brislin 1993, p. 126).

The existing sociological definition of a minority group and its mem- bers might not be valid in describing the future generations of ethnic minorities, thus indicating that they cannot be viewed as being similar to their foreign-born parents in their attitudes and behavior. hchard Schaefer (1993) defines a minority group as "a subordinate group whosc members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than members of a dominant or majority group" (p. 5). A minority group according to Schaefer is one that meets the following five characteristics:

I . Members share physical or cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant group.

2. Members have a strong sense of group solidarity, making thc dis- tinction between members of their own group as the in-group and everyone else the out-group.

3. Members generally many others from the same group. 4. Members experience unequal treatment and have less power over

their lives than members of a dominant group have over theirs. 5. Membership to the group is not voluntary; people arc born into the

group.

In reviewing the above rnentioncd list of characteristics, i t becomes readily apparent that the future generations of the ethnic minorities in America may not fit well into the first three. For instance, in spite of physical differences, the successful assimilation into thc dominant culture

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by the minority gencration socialized in America has resulted in minimal noticeable differences in their cultural characteristics with that of the ma- jority group culture. The research study cited by Brislin (1993) seems to an extent, to negate the second characteristic of a minority group as listed previously. That is, rather than rejecting the dominant group as an out- group, the Korean-American teenagers seem to have become a part of that group. Although statistics were not uncovered on the trend in minority members manying out of the group, it is only reasonable to consider that this number is on the increase in the United States. These inconsistencies raise the question of the extent of the validity of the present set of criteria used by sociologists and marketers alike in their attempt to segment the future generations of ethnic minority who, unlike their parents, are social- ized in America.

The longer history of the African-American group as compared to the Hispanic and Asian-American groups explains their greater degree of cultural assimilation into the dominant culture. In other words, when dif- ferences in the socioeconomic status between African-Americans and whites are removed, there are more similarities than differences (Berko- witz et al., 1994). Hispanic-Amcrican and Asian-American groups with their shorter history are less assimilated into the dominant American cul- ture, and evidence of this can be seen in the fact that these groups still speak their ethnic languages among family members. However, with the increased degree of interaction with the dominant group, and greater levels of equality enjoyed by the minority groups today, the assimilation of these two groups into the American culture should take a considerably shorter timc.

In order to understand the manner in which culture relates to social behavior, we need to study it by determining the different dimensions of cultural variations. One such crucial dimension is individualism and col- lectivism (Triandis et al., 1988). The cultures of Asia, Latin America, and Africa have been found to be collectivistic, emphasizing conformity and

' belongingness to the in-group, when compared to that of the United States (Triandis et al., 1990). Collectivistic cultures give group goals precedence over individual goals, while individualistic cultures view individual goals as more important than group goals. Researchers have found that collec- tivism and individualism in a culture influences an individual's commu- nication with the in-group and out-group, socialization values, social sta- tus of women and elderly and the like. Thus cultural patterns of collectivism or individualism seems to be an important predictor of social as well as individual factors (Ishii-Kuntz, 1989).

Some of the aspects that are influential in the shift from collectivism to

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Mary G. Joseph 35

individualism are affluence, move toward nuclear families, exposure to the modem media, social and geographical mobility, etc. With greater amu- ence, people bccome financially secure and independent from thcir in- groups. Affluence is often associated with having small families thus allowing parents to raise their children in an individualistic manner. In other words, moving away from extended families with authoritative fa- thers and grandfathers into nuclear families encourages individualism (Triandis et al., 1990; Ishii-Kuntz, 1989).

The exposure to the modem mass media is said to influence the shift from collectivism to individualism, as most television programs are pro- duced in individualistic cultures. Social and geographic mobility consti- tute breaking away from the in-group and thus contributes to individual- ism (Triandis el al., 1990).

It is not unusual that all the aspects contributing to greater levels of individualism mentioned above characterize the way of life in the United States. Afler all, the U.S. has one of the most individualistic of cultures among all nations. The socialization in a society with all the aspects contributing to the shift to individualistic thinking is likely to result in a hybrid culture among ethnic minorities which is closer in similarities to the individualistic culture in the U.S. as compared to the more collectivist Asian, Hispanic and African cultures.

According to Gudykunst (1992), an individualistic culture places a lower distinction between in-group and out-group as comparcd to a collec- tivist culture. Therefore, as future generations of ethnic minorities in America shift toward becoming more individualistic, and as they perceive a lower degree of distinction between in-group and out-group members, we should see a situation that is conducivc to rapid assimilation into the dominant culture.

In a collectivistic society, behavior is largely influcnccd by group norms, whereas in individualistic cultures the members' behavior is in- fluenced by individual likes and dislikes and cost-benefit analysis. Thus, norms are more important determinants of social behavior in collectivistic cultures and attitudes are important in individualistic cultures (Triandis, 1990). Therefore, as ethnic minorities are assimilated into the dominant individualistic culturc, the in-group homogeneity of their parents' collec- tivist culture is at least in part replaced by independent thinking and individual priorities. This will warrant marketing strategies that are differ- ent from those considercd effective in targeting the previous generation. The evidcnce presented so far warrants an empirical investigation into the similarities of hybrid cultures of ethnic minorities with the American culture itself on onc hand, and their parental culture on the other. It is

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reasonable to expect the study to show greater similarities between the hybrid cultures and the American culture, and hence the hybrid cultures should be much more individualistic than their parental cultures. The increased degree of individualism of the hybrid cultures will in turn have a considerable impact on their behavior as consumers.

Failure to incorporate the cultural assimilation aspect in researching the consumer behavior of ethnic minorities in the United States would lead to erroneous conclusions, or result in an inappropriate understanding of the important aspects of their buying behavior. For instance, the Mexican culture has a very low threshold when it comes to dealing with uncertain and ambiguous situations, which in turn slows downthe rate at which new products are adopted by the society. On the other hand, the U.S. and Canadian cultures rank highest in the ease with which they can handle uncertainty. Therefore, increased assimilation of Mexican immigrants to the American culture should lower the group's resistance to innovative products. Also, research on the purchase behavior of ethnic minorities reveals that stereotypes are often misleading and marketers should be careful not to follow baseless predispositions about any minority group.

Cultural assimilation should not be viewed as a process at the end of which ethnic minorities almost totally adapt to the dominant cultural val- ues and tastes. In other words even a fully assimilated ethnic minority would show some divided allegiance to their ancestral culture and the U.S. culture, and thus remain a hybrid culture. This is illustrated by the African- American group, which in spite of decades of assimilation still responds more to products such as apparel and cosmetics and advertising that appeal to their African-American pride and heritage (Berkowitz et al., 1994). However the hybrids should be closer in similarities to the U.S. rather than their ancestral culture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berkowitz, E. et al. (1994). Marketing, Founh Edition. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin. Brislin, R . (1993). Undersranding Culture's Influence on Behavior: Orlando, FL:

Harcoun Brace Jovanovich. Dunn, W. (1992). The Move Toward Ethnic Marketing. Nation's Butiness, (July),

39-4 1 . Gudykunst, W. et al. (1992). The Influence of Individualism-Collectivism,

Self-Monitoring, and Predicted-Outcome Value on Communication in lngroup and Outgroup Relationships. Journal of Cross-Cultural psycho lo^, 23:2, (June). 196-2 13.

Ishii-Kuntz, M. (1989). Collectivism or Individualism? Changing Patterns of Japanese Attitudes. SSR, 73:4. (July), 174-1 79.

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Laughlin, C. (1993). Speaking in Tongues: Foreign Language Publishers Target Rapidly Growing Ethnic Populations. Link, (October), 12-17.

Schaefer, R. (1993). Racial and Ethnic Groups, Fifth Edition. New York. NY: HarperCollins.

Soruco, G., and Meyer, T. (1993). Thc Mobile Hispanic Market: New Challenges in the 90's. Market Research. 5:I. (Winter), 6-1 1.

Triandis. H. et al. (1988). Individualism and Collectivism: Cross-Cultural Per- spectives on Self-lngroup Relationships. Journal of Personalip and Social Psychology, 54:2,323-338.

Triandis. H . ct al. (1990). Multimethod Probes o f lndividualism and Collectivism. JoumaI ojPersonality and Social Psychologv. 595, 1006- 1020.

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