Marketing to Complex Identities.

A Critical Review of “Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity” by Marilyn Halter

In her book, Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity, Marilyn Halter states that, “consumers look to the marketplace to revive and reidentify with ethnic values” (13). Any question regarding the veracity of this statement was laid to rest after this reader finished reading Halter’s passage regarding the Cuban cosmetologist, Mirta de Perales (145). Immediately after the passage was read, I was compelled as if by a gravitational force, to find Mirta de Perales hair products on the web. If truth be told, I did not even use these hair products when I lived in Miami and they were readily available. I actually used the very American Paul Mitchell. However, these hair products have a completely different meaning to me now as they speak less of shampoo and more of Catholic school uniforms, my teacher Ms. Helu, and Santa Teresita, my school in South Florida which boasted a student body that was 97% Cuban-American. Mirta de Perales products do not simply add luster to your highlights, they bring you home.

According to Ruth Wisse, a professor of Yiddish Literature, “This is the paradox of the American diaspora: the wish to feel different and at home” (Halter 161). If marketers could take a moment to truly digest this sentiment, they would perhaps be able to echo the success of Abel Hernández, owner of the Hispanic supermarket chain called “Mi Bandera”. Hernández fully understands the “neither here nor there” sentiment and shows it by displaying Latin American flags throughout his stores and organizing the store according to how Hispanics shop (Halter 108).

Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity attempts to show the reader that it is those cultural details that Abel Hernández and others pay attention to that really can make a difference. According to Marilyn Halter, in the United States, “Immigrants no longer simply become Americans; they become ethnic Americans” (78). Gone are the days of immigrants feeling pressured to leave the Old Country behind and to instead immediately adopt the characteristics of mainstream America, i.e. White, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. It is also important to note that simply placing people into categories will no longer be a sufficient way to reach them. Immigrants from Bangkok and New Delhi both fall into the category of “Asian-American”, however, to assume that they are culturally one in the same is a mistake. It is an even bigger mistake to believe that they would desire exactly the same products.

Halter describes a situation where a Manhattan Walgreens was not selling very many of the products in its “farmacia” aisle despite being located in a neighborhood with a large Puerto Rican population. The problem was that the products that Walgreens was selling were meant for the Mexican market (145). The store was losing money due to the fact that someone had failed to realize that Puerto Ricans desire to see products on their local pharmacy’s shelves that are different from both mainstream America and Mexico.

Halter also boldly addresses the phenomenon of the growing number of Americans who are embracing their cultural past. Examples of this phenomenon include the various St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and Irish festivals that take place in Boston, Massachusetts, every year as well as the countless Irish cultural clubs that can be found in the city. It is a fact that certainly irks the “New Irish”, or the recently arrived Irish immigrants. According to one such immigrant, these Irish-Americans “have a fairy tale, idyllic image Ireland” (Halter 169). Still, shamrocks and green hats sell and the audience does not appear to be waning anytime soon.

Another example of a group of people who have embraced their cultural past are Jewish-Americans (Halter 148). Despite the fact that many Jewish-Americans do not study the Torah following their Bat Mitzvah/Bar Mitzvah, many of them consider themselves to be culturally Jewish. Consequently, they still seek “Jewish” products despite being estranged from Judaism as a religion.

Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity does not attempt to make judgement calls in terms of the authenticity of individuals’ cultural claims. Instead, it attempts to explain the fact that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are non-negotiable and neither is culture. The less people are asked to erase who they really are, the more they will want to see reflections of themselves in the world around them. The world around them includes all of the products that line all of the shelves in the country. Marilyn Halter argues that it would behoove marketers to grasp this concept if they are to compete in this ever-changing world because at the end of the day the most familiar object can be the most revolutionary. If marketers can understand what makes people feel at home, they will have earned a customer who simply does not want to leave.

By: Tatiana Fernández
Student
Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication
Florida State University

Bibliography

Halter, Marilyn. Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity. New
York: Schocken Books, 2000.