Multicultural, not multinational: emerging branding strategies in culturally diverse societies

This paper proposes that approaches to culture-based brand positioning are diversifying in response to increasing complexities of consumer cultural identities, with uni- bi- and multicultural identities emerging. Acting as visualisations of consumers’ cultural identities, brands represent people’s ideas about their membership of cultural groups. Findings from a critical visual analysis of brand communications reveal that the brands’ positioning concepts include associations with single cultures, or two or more distinct types of culture that go beyond traditional global-local positioning strategies. This suggests that in culturally diverse marketplaces, coherent branding strategies that create ‘multi-cultural’ meanings can be used by marketers as a competitive positioning tool, to appeal to consumers that integrate multiple cultures in their identities

Consumer mobility and well-being among changing places and shifting ethnicities

International audience(Market)places are spatial entities which individuals and groups might experience as meaningful. By highlighting the role of place in ethnic consumer research, this article argues that increased mobility and changing places render relatively stable notions of ethnicity outdated. We identify three main trajectories to revitalize future research on ethnicity. First, we demonstrate the need for research on ethnic identity to be underpinned by a better understanding of the role of place in identity processes. Second, we contend that the established migration/acculturation paradigm should be replaced by the mobility/adaptiveness paradigm. Third, we consider the profound effects of interethnic contact among mobile and immobile populations within shared places on individual and societal well-being

Brokering intercultural relations in the rainbow nation: introducing intercultural marketing

This paper considers the role of marketing in building intercultural relations in superdiverse, post-colonial societies, using post-apartheid South Africa as a case study. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, we analyze South African advertising campaigns to determine how marketing brokers intercultural relations by legitimizing social meanings conveyed through nation-building ideologies and consumers’ lived experiences. We examine whether marketing outputs align with stages of Rainbow Nation-building strategies and types of consumers’ lived experiences of South Africa’s superdiversity. We then derive a conceptualization of intercultural marketing, which we characterize as an approach focused on brokering meanings of convivial intercultural engagement and collective development of societal welfare goals. We contribute to macromarketing theory, directing attention to the important brokering role marketing has, in bridging conceptions of reconciliatory social development held by public policy makers and by societies’ populations. By conceptualizing intercultural marketing, its goals and tools, we contribute to multiculturally-sensitive marketing research and practice advancement

Institutionalizing diversity and inclusion engaged marketing (DIEM) for multicultural marketplace wellbeing

Within an institutional theory framework, this paper identifies three interconnected fields of the marketing institution – research, education, and practice – that contribute to advancing the diversity and inclusion discourse in promoting multicultural marketplace wellbeing. Conducting three studies, one in each field and across contexts in three continents, we identify barriers that inhibit effective implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives in today’s multicultural marketplaces. These barriers exist within and across fields and pertain to cultural-cognitive (shared meanings), normative (normative factors), and regulatory (rules and systems) pillars supporting the existence or transformation of institutions. From our research findings, we provide specific guidance for institutional work within marketing’s fields and policy developments needed to advance diversity and inclusion engaged marketing (DIEM) for enhancing multicultural marketplace wellbeing

Constructing a bridge to multicultural marketplace well-being: a consumer-centered framework for marketer action

As modern societies have become increasingly diverse, we witness elevated tensions between different cultural groups. Through spaces and representations they create, marketers provide interaction for various groups and we argue that marketing science, education and practice can play a transformative role in addressing these tensions. Towards this end, this paper contributes in three areas. First, we examine the structures and mechanisms underlying tensions and argue for a change from current policies of tolerance that merely recognize diversity, to actively seeking a well-being-enhancing multicultural engagement. Second, we provide a conceptual framework, employing a bridge metaphor that identifies the interactive marketplace domains of multicultural engagement (security, visibility, opportunity, utility, competence, and cultural navigability). Third, from the framework, we derive an agenda for actions by marketing academe and practice to support each domain

The stigma turbine:A theoretical framework for conceptualizing and contextualizing marketplace stigma

Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and “tribal” associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research emphasizes the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the socio-commercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. We introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, institutions) and their offerings (products, services, experiences). We offer the Stigma Turbine (ST) as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context, and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the ST, we reveal the critical role market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further our understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare

Consumer ethnicity three decades after: a TCR agenda

Research into consumer ethnicity is a vital discipline that has substantially evolved in the past three decades. This conceptual article critically reviews its immense literature and examines the extent to which it has provided extensive contributions not only for the understanding of ethnicity in the marketplace but also for personal/collective well-being. We identify two gaps accounting for scant transformative contributions. First, today social transformations and conceptual sophistications require a revised vocabulary to provide adequate interpretive lenses. Second, extant work has mostly addressed the subjective level of ethnic identity projects but left untended the meso/macro forces affecting ethnicity (de)construction and personal/collective well-being. Our contribution stems from filling both gaps and providing a theory of ethnicity (de)construction that includes migrants as well as non-migrants

Exploring the experiential intensity of online shopping environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the literature on experiential elements of online shopping environments. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a theory-building approach to understand how consumers perceive their experience of the navigation of an online shopping environment and identifies the facets which make up their experiential intensity. The paper first reviews the literature on the experiential attributes of web sites. It then outlines the methodology and explains the use of a “shopping with consumers” approach to uncover consumer perceptions. Findings – Combining think-alouds with in-depth interviews, four dimensions of experiential intensity are found (context familiarity, product presence, visual impact and site-user understanding), and related to four perceptions of a shopping navigation, as: an experience, a tool, an environment, and a dialogue between shopper and web site. Originality/value – This conceptualisation adds to the literature on experience creation, which is critical in delivering consumer value. It is more specific and extensive than extant typologies, clarifies the construct and increases its explanatory power. Think-alouds and depth interviews are shown to yield valuable insights. Consumer perceptions reflect the expectations they have of shopping environments. When shopping online, consumers think like shoppers, not computer users. They want to feel in a familiar shopping context. They want to examine products closely and seek the sense of personal relationship and involvement induced by site-user understanding. Marketers need to harness technological developments to respond to these expectations. Practically, the study provides e-retailers with a framework to assess the current levels of experiential intensity, or initiate the creation of more intense experiences