Ch 14: Subcultures and Consumer Identity

Acculturation Agents:

People and institutions that teach the ways of a culture.

Movement:

Refers to the factors motivating people to physically uproot themselves from one location to another.

Acculturation:

Refers to the process of movement and adaptation to one country's cultural environment by a person from another country.

De-ethnicization

Refers to the process whereby a product formerly associated with a specific ethnic group is detached from its roots and marketed to other subcultures

Ethnography:

The study of immigrants as they adapt to life in a new country.

Assimilation:

When immigrants adopt products, habits, and values that are identified with the mainstream culture.

The Rise of Spirituality:

Explosion of religion in popular culture

Hispanic Americans:

"Hispanic" describes people of many backgrounds 16.3 percent of the U.S. population (2010 Census) 60 percent of Hispanic Americans are Mexican Puerto Ricans are the next biggest group at 10%

African Americans:

12.3 percent of the U.S. population (2000 Census) Differences between blacks and whites in consumption are very subtle

Ethnic Subculture:

A self-perpetuating group of consumers who are held together by common cultural or genetic ties, and is identified both by its members and by others as being a distinguishable category.

The "Big Three" American Subcultures

African Americans Hispanic Americans Asian Americans

Ethnic Pluralism:

Argues that ethnic groups differ from the mainstream in varying degrees, and that adaptation to the larger society occurs selectively. One can be acculturated to mainstream society, but still identify with a subculture or "original" ethnic group

Progressive Learning Model:

Assumes that people gradually learn a new culture as they increasingly come in contact with it.

Translation:

Attempting to master a set of rules for operating in the new environment.

Adaptation:

Cultural learning that leads to new consumption patterns

Asian Americans:

Fastest growing minority group in the U.S. (up 43.3% since 2000) 4.8 percent of the U.S. population (2010 Census) The most affluent, best educated, and most likely to hold technology jobs of any ethnic subculture

Subcultures

Group memberships within society at large

Ethnicity and Marketing Strategies

Minorities find advertising spokespeople from their own group more trustworthy Compared to Caucasians, many minority cultures are high context in that they perceive more nuance in advertising beyond the advertisement copy

The Impact of Religion on Consumption:

Not studied extensively in marketing (too "taboo") Religious affiliation has the potential to be a valuable predictor of consumer behavior Certain practices involving special diets or dress

Culture of Immigration

introduce new culture

Culture of Origin

keep connections with origins

Maintenance

keeping one's cultural traditions alive

Host Culture

new culture one is living in

Resistance

refusal to lose original identity