Acculturation and Discrimination in the Global Market Place: The Case of Hispanics in the U.S.

Mass international migrations to countries that promise economic, social, and political prosperity has created ethnic communities that are lucrative targets for many businesses. Members of these communities are often very brand loyal, conspicuous purchasers of prestige products, and willing to pay for quality products. Acculturation theory is used to explain how businesses can effectively communicate to these groups. Unlike past studies which rely on one acculturative dimension to understand its impact on marketing programs, this study employs multiple dimensions including the dimension of discrimination which has not previously been used in past consumer behavior research. An exploratory study using Hispanics in the U.S. as a sample population suggests that Hispanics with lower incomes and lower levels of education as well as Hispanics who use Spanish in the home and have perceived some level of discrimination in the past have greater levels of purchase intent for products when they are advertised in Spanish. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed, and limitations and directions for future research are offered. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.