Abstract
The effects of economic and cultural globalization process on local communities
do not lead to homogeneity of culture within a country, but rather
to heterogeneity. As companies face national markets that deal with
multicultural consumers from many different backgrounds, it becomes important to depart from standard international marketing designs and to
adapt strategies to local market characteristics in which members of subcultures
do not necessarily exhibit the same buying behavior as in their country of origin. Due to relentless cross-border migration, especially within several European host countries, micro-cultural entities manage to resist total acculturation and maintain their ethnic cultural practices so that understanding culture’s influence on different subcultures’ consumer behavior seems to be essential to corporate success. Targeting ethnic minorities within a host country, identifying their most important culture-specific factors and investigating the impact of these factors on the purchasing behavior are among the main goals of this thesis.
By developing a theoretical framework, this study seeks to integrate existing
models and research traditions in a practicable and comprehensible
manner. The framework highlights the role of culture for minorities in host
countries and provides important contributions to the deeper understanding
of culture-specific factors affecting their buying behavior.
This study employed a mixed-method research methodology incorporating
qualitative as well as quantitative approaches. Through one pre-testing,
five focus group interviews and an online survey including a pilot test,
Germany’s largest minority, the Turkish population, was investigated. The
quantitative data gathered was analyzed and interpreted with the help of
crosstabulations, frequencies, significance levels, chi-squared test and
ANOVA. The results support half of the six hypotheses developed in the
conceptual framework. The research results demonstrated that rituals and
artifacts appeared to be a more important culture-specific factor influencing Turkish minorities’ buying behavior than were religion, language and
values. The results further showed that education among the participants
seems to have an impact on the awareness of typical cultural symbols and
artifacts.
This study bears practical implications for marketing managers. This research
attempts to increase marketers’ awareness of multicultural national
markets and to yield insights into ethnic characteristics. Marketers seeking
new and successful sales strategies in local markets need to know the role
of culture for consumer behavior. The existence of different subcultures
within national boundaries underlines the need for more cultural research.
By enhancing the knowledge of cultural impacts on minorities’ buying behavior
in heterogeneous European countries, marketers can better target
particular ethnic groups.
do not lead to homogeneity of culture within a country, but rather
to heterogeneity. As companies face national markets that deal with
multicultural consumers from many different backgrounds, it becomes important to depart from standard international marketing designs and to
adapt strategies to local market characteristics in which members of subcultures
do not necessarily exhibit the same buying behavior as in their country of origin. Due to relentless cross-border migration, especially within several European host countries, micro-cultural entities manage to resist total acculturation and maintain their ethnic cultural practices so that understanding culture’s influence on different subcultures’ consumer behavior seems to be essential to corporate success. Targeting ethnic minorities within a host country, identifying their most important culture-specific factors and investigating the impact of these factors on the purchasing behavior are among the main goals of this thesis.
By developing a theoretical framework, this study seeks to integrate existing
models and research traditions in a practicable and comprehensible
manner. The framework highlights the role of culture for minorities in host
countries and provides important contributions to the deeper understanding
of culture-specific factors affecting their buying behavior.
This study employed a mixed-method research methodology incorporating
qualitative as well as quantitative approaches. Through one pre-testing,
five focus group interviews and an online survey including a pilot test,
Germany’s largest minority, the Turkish population, was investigated. The
quantitative data gathered was analyzed and interpreted with the help of
crosstabulations, frequencies, significance levels, chi-squared test and
ANOVA. The results support half of the six hypotheses developed in the
conceptual framework. The research results demonstrated that rituals and
artifacts appeared to be a more important culture-specific factor influencing Turkish minorities’ buying behavior than were religion, language and
values. The results further showed that education among the participants
seems to have an impact on the awareness of typical cultural symbols and
artifacts.
This study bears practical implications for marketing managers. This research
attempts to increase marketers’ awareness of multicultural national
markets and to yield insights into ethnic characteristics. Marketers seeking
new and successful sales strategies in local markets need to know the role
of culture for consumer behavior. The existence of different subcultures
within national boundaries underlines the need for more cultural research.
By enhancing the knowledge of cultural impacts on minorities’ buying behavior
in heterogeneous European countries, marketers can better target
particular ethnic groups.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor of Business Administration |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 12 Jan 2016 |
Place of Publication | Australia |
Publisher | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |