The United States of America (US) is often described as a “melting pot” of various ethnicities. Although this could have been true when people immigrating to the US mainly migrated from the Western Europe, today the “melting pot” may not describe the diversity in the US . It is not hard to appreciate that in the US , people from various regions create subcultures in the US . Marketing to that cultural niche is a challenge that marketing industry must overcome in order to be competitive. Some evidence suggest that the marketing industry assumes that the US is actually a “melting pot of geographic locations” and targets people based on their place of origin, the majority of research indicate that ethnic identity rather than geographical location influence how people shop( Herche & Balasubramanian, 1994 ).

My personal observation is that most people, who know where Afghanistan is located geographically, assume that Afghans have similar cultural values as those in the Middle East . Chan quotes that “ values are determinants of virtually all kinds of behavior that could be called social behavior – of social action, attitudes and ideology, evaluations, moral judgments and justifications of self and others, comparisons of self with others, presentations of self to others, and attempts to influence others”( Chan, 2009 ); considering this definition, at the surface it seems like most people may judge Afghans' behavior correctly. However, this does not seem to be the case.

Geographically, religiously, and morphologically, people from Afghanistan may look similar to those in Iran and Middle Eastern countries, but behaviorally, it seems that Afghans follow trends common to South Asian counties. The food Afghans like, the clothing styles, the movies they watch, and many other characteristics that Afghans have including purchasing goods is similar to that south Asian countries. Therefore, my personal observation is support by the theory that it is ethnic identity rather than (perceived) geographical location that determines shopping behavior.

Although I can give many examples about who people from Afghanistan and surrounding countries shop, there are compelling evidence that the same is true for other cultures. One of my favorite topics is the behavior by those originating from the Far East . I am always amazed by how this demographic group behaves in western countries including their shopping style. Studies show that their shopping style is also determined by their ethnic identity rather than geographical location ( Chan, 2009 ;   Herche & Balasubramanian, 1994 ). In support of this notion that ethnicity and not specific cultures predicts purchasing behavior, Mokhlis reports that difference in ethnic attitude in the same group of people predicts different shopping style ( Mokhlis, 2009 ). In fact, in their study, they found that those with stronger ethnic identification showed substantially different shopping behaviors than those with loose ethnic identity to Far Eastern culture ( Mokhlis, 2009 ).

It may make logical sense that one assume that people who “look alike” will show “alike” behavior that includes their shopping style. This logical assumption may mislead some industries to promote their product to wrong group of people. My personal observation and that support by marketing literature support the idea that people who “feel alike” do seem to “shop alike”. These observations can be used as a guide to study how various cultures intermingle in the US . It is quite likely that the US is no longer a “melting pot” of cultures, but it is a chain of various cultures with interlocking diverse culture subgroups.

References:

Chan, A. M. (2009). Measuring Cross-Cultural Values: A Qualitative Approach.   International Review of Business Research Papers, 5 (6), 322-337.

Herche, J., & Balasubramanian, S. (1994). Ethnicity and Shopping Behaviour.   The International Council of Shopping Centers., 1 , 65-80.

Kavak, B., & Gumusluoglu, L. (2006). Segmenting food markets: The role of ethnocentrism and lifestyle in understanding purchasing intentions.   International Journal of Market Research., 49 (1), 71-94.

Mokhlis, S. (2009). Malaysian Chinese Consumers:Their Ethnic Attitudes and Shopping Orientations. International Journal of Bussiness and Management., 4 (11), 53-62.