Recommendations for U. S. Multicultural Marketing: A data-informed approach

By Derrick Raphael Pacheco – Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, Florida State University

As time progresses, we can see the impact that multicultural groups have on marketing and business operations. Specifically in the U.S., we can see the strides that marketers have made to ensure the U.S. maintains its status as a leader in multicultural marketing. Just as the U.S. has shifted its demographics away from being solely a nation of individuals with white skin and of European descent, this rise in multi-ethnic and multicultural communities has shaped the ways we operate and engage with people. As marketers need to become aware of our consumers’ behaviors from an ecological perspective, there is a need to examine the ways that multicultural marketing has impacted various aspects of society. Rodriguez (2020) suggests that in order for individuals and groups to shift from a multicultural perspective to an ecological perspective, we need to ensure that if we develop solely a multicultural view to society we “undercut the rise of bold and new ways of experiencing the world” (p. 27).

Multicultural marketing needs must be carefully considered when engaging in a diverse and multicultural society. While marketing towards one specific segment or identity group may have its benefits, there can be negative implications towards other identity groups. As developed by Mishra & Bakry (2021), the social identification model of consumer-brand relationship discusses the ways an individual’s acknowledgement of their social identities and the intersectionality that occurs with their perception of a product, brand, and/or company. Because of this, it is important to explore the effects of multicultural marketing from various approaches in order to understand the ways this ecological process occurs. In order to address this unique balance of ensuring diversity is centered in our U.S. multicultural society, it is imperative that marketers seek to examine multiculturalism not as something unique or different, but as an integral part of a functioning and working society (Rodriguez, 2020).

Charting the path: Exploring inequity and systemic oppression

As it relates to the U.S., especially after the various pandemics we have faced, and are continuing to face, related to public health and racial equity, just to name two, we have become a society that has signaled shifts to preferring brands and products that address systems of oppression (Morse, 2021). While various cultures make up our diverse melting pot of a nation, it has been found that Hispanic/Latinos hold roughly 2 percent of the wealth in the country, followed by African-Americans at roughly 2.5 percent (Morse, 2021). While this disparity must be noted, it was also found that these groups have a large buying power that is higher than the presented percentages associated due to the likelihood of spending more funds rather than investing and retaining funds (Alexis, 2019). It is also important to note that studies that examine this form of oppression and racism are rarely conducted in multicultural marketing (Mishra & Bakry, 2021) for a variety of reasons, but can be tied to retaliation and brand inauthenticity.

In addition to addressing the impacts of race and ethnicity within the sphere of multicultural marketing in the U.S., when engaging with a multicultural market, age is another relevant and important consideration that needs to be considered. In comparison to their non-Hispanic White peers, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanics have a lower median age within their population in the U.S. and a longer effective buying power as measured by number of years (Alexis, 2019). Since it is noted that multicultural groups have higher levels of brand and product loyalty, especially for Hispanic-Americans (Korzenny et al., 2017), there are unique conditions that marketers need to understand when marketing across age groups. By assuring that longitudinal approaches are taken when understanding the effects of consumer behavior and branding in these groups there may be a potential benefit to understanding the effects of the product and brand life cycle within a community.

Relationship between marketing communication and the human experience

While it is also important to address the unique needs of different cultural groups, there is also a need to understand the ways in which marketing affects the human experience. Two pivotal environments in the human experience can be seen as the digital environment we create through social media and the physical (and at times virtual) environment we create in higher education. Social media is one of the many channels that has shaped and changed the way multicultural marketing is conducted in the U.S. (Alexis, 2019). Alexis (2019) continues to note that “multicultural Americans see social media as a tool for expressing their unique voices” (p. 323) and can relate to the roles that social media, peer to peer marketing, and influencers play within multicultural marketing. Through these unique human interactions, especially when providing product reviews, recommendations, and endorsements, the power of multicultural marketing belongs with those in these communities who heavily influence the human experience.

As the future of multicultural marketing provides many opportunities to be inclusive of different identity groups, there is a unique need to not fully change the field of multicultural marketing communications, but to adapt it to the needs and wants of society (Morse, 2021). While there has been literature to support that academic programs offer some support in this development, specifically through the use of case studies in undergraduate business programs (Grier, 2020), there needs to be components of this that professional organizations and consulting firms offer marketers outside of the classroom. Business schools have specifically been found to not have integrated many diversity concepts into their curricula (Grier, 2020). As the U.S. continues to become an ever more multicultural society, and as there is an increase in students on college campuses holding intersecting social identities on college campuses, there is an inherent need to be more inclusive of these concepts in marketing education and society as a whole.

Conclusion

The effects of the U.S. multicultural market can be felt in all aspects of our shared society. From the impacts that our multicultural market has on the field of education, in physical and in-person environments, and across ethnic and age groups, multicultural marketers are not tasked with something easy in understanding these behaviors. In order for the U.S. to maintain its status as a leader in multicultural marketing, it needs to assure that it can adapt its cultural history with those who are shaping the demographics of the nation. With the rise in population of individuals who hold minoritized social identities, there is a need to better understand these individuals at the forefront of a marketer’s research agenda. Only then can we center inclusivity and brand authenticity and assure that products and services are perceived by various groups of people in the same way.

References

• Alexis, C. (2019). The three-trillion dollar market brands should not overlook. Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 7(4), 321-331.
• Grier, S. A. (2021). Marketing inclusion: A social justice project for diversity education. Journal of Marketing Education, 42(1), 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475319878829
• Korzenny, F., Chapa, S., & Korzenny, B. A. (2017). Hispanic marketing: The power of the new Latino consumer (3rd ed.). Routledge.
• Mishra, S., & Bakry, A. (2021). Social identities in consumer-brand relationship: The case of the Hijab-wearing Barbie doll in the United States. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 20(6), 1534-1546. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1965
• Morse, D. R. (2021). The changing multicultural marketing landscape. Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy, 6(1), 39-44.
• Rodriguez, A. (2020). Reimagining diversity: Moving from a multicultural perspective to an ecological perspective. Journal of Critical Organizational Inquiry, 18(1), 12-29. https://doi.org/10.7206/t