Marketing to the South Asian Population Assignment

Marketing to the South Asian Population - Assignment Example Moreover, the increase of ethnic diversity has become a trend that will increase, which means that UK population will be even more heterogeneous in future. (Halsey, 2000) The number of immigrants from South Asia will rise, which means greater social weight for this group - currently, the largest of all ethnic minorities in the UK. Adding to social weight also means adding to economic value of South Asian population in Britain. Previously perceived as lacking the purchasing power (Sivanandan, 1989) ethnic minorities now present a significant segment "as consumers, workers, and investors in Europe new immigrant groups are beginning to impact the economic, social and political scene" (Palumbo and Teich, 2004). On the one hand, the significance of ethnic minorities increases, and on the other one, practitioners lack the information on how to use their presence. Indeed, buying behaviour of foreigners differ from European significantly. For instance, Delener (1990) finds that religiosity affects significantly buying behaviour of many ethnic groups. Therefore, understanding of purchasing habits of people from minority ethnic group requires understanding of their cultural differences, which become apparent in ethnic identities of each nation. Despite the wide academic interest to immigrant adaptation (Bhugra et al., 1999; Masuda et al., 1970; Phinney, 1990; Ward and Kennedy, 1994) there is still a significant lack of coherence in the description of ethnic identity, particularly because of terminological issues. Ethnic identity is explained in early studies as common ancestry based on shared individual characteristics and socio-cultural experiences (Drieger, 1978); and as fellings of belonging or commitment (Ting-Toomey, 1981). Later researches consider ethnic identity of a group or individual as the maintenance of original ethnic persona (Laroche et al., 1998) and a sense of shared values and attitudes (White and Burke, 1987). Thus 'ethnic identity' is not a clear term, but rather an umbrella of terms close to each other, yet not exactly similar, remaining opened for new perspectives. Consequently, such multi-dimensional definition of ethnic identity has led to wide acceptance of its multi-dimensional nature (Christian et al., 1976). Another underlying notion widely agreed is that ethnic identity is bound to culture. (Rosenthal and Hrynevich, 1985). However cultural dimensions vary across studies, proposing different models for the analysis of ethnic identity, mainly depending on the particular observed identity. For instance, Palumbo and Teich (2004) indicate religion, rite of passage, language, food and leisure as dimensions of Hispanic ethnic identity. Laroche et al. (2005) while observing differences between Greek and Italian identities, analyse three dimensions: ethnic language use with family members, ethnic language media exposure and ethnic attachment. More general research of Constant et al. (2006) measured ethnic identities of ex-Yugoslavian, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Spanish ethnic groups with five elements: language, culture, social interaction, hist ory of migration, and ethnic self-identification. Without further excessive specification, seven widely accepted dimensions of ethnic identity are given: language, friendship networks, religious affiliation, participation in clubs and organisations, food preferences, traditional celebrations, and politics. Ethnic minority groups present a vast field of interest