The impact of culture-specific variables on pre-purchase decisions of minorities in a host country: a study of Turkish minorities in Germany

Ayhan Kiskanc

    Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

    416 Downloads (Pure)

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    QualificationDoctor of Business Administration
    Awarding Institution
    • Charles Sturt University
    Supervisors/Advisors
    • Zich, Christian, Principal Supervisor
    • Small, Felicity, Co-Supervisor
    Award date12 Jan 2016
    Place of PublicationAustralia
    Publisher
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

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