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1 – 10 of 45Mourad Touzani, Smaoui Fatma and Labidi Mouna Meriem
The purpose of the current study is to attempt to contribute to the understanding of some socio-cultural factors likely to explain the preference for international products in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current study is to attempt to contribute to the understanding of some socio-cultural factors likely to explain the preference for international products in emerging countries, and more specifically those characterising former colonised countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The chosen approach is exploratory and of a qualitative inductive nature. It was based on a series of semi-structured and unstructured in-depth interviews with Tunisian consumers about their relationship to local and foreign products.
Findings
A set of complex and inter-related explanatory factors of the country-of-origin phenomenon emerged through the analysis, notably the complex of the decolonised, acculturation in situ, frustration towards the West and sensitivity to the Western fashion system.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this research is that the interviews were carried out among people living in the three main cities of Tunisia, which are urban settings.
Practical implications
This research proposes a general framework and a set of new constructs that may be used by leaders of businesses, communications agencies or distribution companies. These elements may help them for segmentation, assortment and range decisions, and brand names.
Social implications
Given the failure of “buy local” campaigns, this research shows the importance to revive Tunisian consumers’ feeling of identification with their local culture and to reconcile them with their own identity. Suggestions are given to reach these objectives.
Originality/value
This research proposes a framework explaining how the country-of-origin effect in emerging countries operates in a different manner from what has been suggested in the studies conducted in Western contexts.
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Mario Gonzalez-Fuentes, Jonathan Ross Gilbert, Robert F. Scherer and Carlos Iglesias-Fernandez
A pronounced rise in postpandemic immigration is creating consumption opportunities and challenges for countries worldwide. Past research has shown that immigrant homeownership…
Abstract
Purpose
A pronounced rise in postpandemic immigration is creating consumption opportunities and challenges for countries worldwide. Past research has shown that immigrant homeownership indicates advanced consumer acculturation. However, critical factors which differentiate immigrant decisions to purchase a home remain underexplored. This study aims to examine the importance of different identity resources in determining homeownership gaps between immigrant groups in Spain during a dynamic decade.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods research design with triangulation was used. First, the critical “historical research method” is used to empirically assess 15,465 household-level microdata files from the National Immigrant Survey of Spain. Second, the analysis is corroborated through informant interviews, an evaluation of digital news archives and other historical traces such as relevant advertisements in Spain from 2000 to 2009.
Findings
Results provided an account of immigrant homeownership whereby foreign-born consumers leveraged resources to promote social identities aligned with an advanced level of acculturation through housing investment during this period. Furthermore, marketing focused on specific targets of ethnic minority consumers coupled with government policies to promote immigrant homeownership reinforced the “Spanish Dream” as a new paradigm for housing market integration.
Originality/value
Spain provides an unprecedented historical context to explain marketing-related phenomena due to a perfect storm of immigration, job availability and integration supports. Contrary to popular wisdom, immigrant consumer homeownership gaps are not solely a result of differences in income and economic mobility, but rather an advanced acculturation outcome driven by personal and social investments in resources that lead to consumer identities.
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Purpose: Cool, a subjective, socially constructed concept has interested several researchers investigating its nature and successful marketing applications. However, the authors…
Abstract
Purpose: Cool, a subjective, socially constructed concept has interested several researchers investigating its nature and successful marketing applications. However, the authors note a lack of studies investigating its perceptions in non-Western cultural contexts. The aims of this study are to investigate the meanings of cool in Tunisia, a North-African, Arab-Muslim emerging country.
Methodology: The authors conducted qualitative research through focus groups with Tunisian consumers. The authors used lexical, thematic, and semiotic analyses to investigate cool meanings.
Findings: Findings show that the term “Cool” in Tunisia is mostly related to lexical synonyms and meanings of lightness and flexibility, fun and amusement, humor, and trendiness rather than originality, divergence, creativity, and uniqueness long argued to be the significations of cool in Western literature, despite their minor presence in our results.
Originality/Value: Results show further evidence that the concept is culturally laden and that the socio-cultural characteristics of Tunisia altered its meanings established in the West, mostly associated to its origins and emergence.
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Saoussen Lakhdar and Fatma Smaoui
This paper aims to explore the socio-cultural meanings of functional foods for Tunisian consumers and to understand how these meanings shape their preferences and practices in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the socio-cultural meanings of functional foods for Tunisian consumers and to understand how these meanings shape their preferences and practices in the particular context of a Middle-East and North African (MENA) region.
Design/methodology/approach
A constructivist perspective based on multi-qualitative methods was designed allowing data collection in a natural setting through focus groups interviews, individual in-depth interviews and projective techniques among Tunisian consumers.
Findings
Findings show the complexity and importance of conscious and unconscious non-health-related socio-cultural factors in the construction and acceptance of functional foods by the Tunisian consumer. Common sense knowledge, social environment and tradition shape the constructions and practices of functional foods. These factors may act as a shortcut to compensate for unhealthy behaviour and as a social marker to reflect trendiness and identity.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are specific to the Tunisian setting and may be not transferable to other settings.
Practical implications
The role of information is central in functional food acceptance. Communication on health effects should consider not only the formal nutritional health benefit but also lay knowledge.
Social implications
The findings of this research contribute in the government’s understanding of Tunisian’s constructions of health and well-being by suggesting that besides health motives, non-health-related factors such as lay knowledge, social influences and conspicuous consumption play an important role in functional foods choice.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to extend functional foods literature by exploring the complex interconnected conscious and unconscious socio-cultural constructions behind functional food choice. It contributes also to the understanding of the food consumer behaviour in the specific cultural context of the Arab-Muslim MENA region, an under investigated setting.
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The internationalization of education introduces notable cross-cultural challenges and benefits for consideration by scholars of comparative and international education. When…
Abstract
The internationalization of education introduces notable cross-cultural challenges and benefits for consideration by scholars of comparative and international education. When teachers move overseas to work, they become sojourners, “between-society culture travelers” (Ward et al., 2005, p. 6). Living and working between cultures offers a substantial set of both challenges and opportunities. Acculturation theory (Sam & Berry, 2006) was initially understood as culture shock (Oberg, 1960), an occupational malady. Acculturation theory seeks to explain adaptation processes and has mostly examined sojourners whose intent is to permanently adapt to a new culture. Educators who are sojourners require temporary states of adaptation. This chapter narrates a subset of a qualitative study examining educator acculturation from an asset orientation to explore what benefits acculturation offers to sojourning educators who work in international schools overseas. Findings include that even highly stressful episodes of culture shock can manifest in long-term benefits, such as the development of personal and professional resilience and self-leadership strategies, as well as the reflective curating of one’s personal and professional identity, which may include the development of an interstitial identity. These benefits serve to increase educators’ cultural competencies, to prepare educators for supporting sojourning students who are acculturating, and to prepare educators for smoother acculturation experiences afterwards.
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Adam Potter and Christopher Richardson
The purpose of this paper is to show how the theory of researcher positionality can help international business researchers and human resource managers clarify the ideal position…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how the theory of researcher positionality can help international business researchers and human resource managers clarify the ideal position of the expatriate in relation to host country nationals (HCNs), so that selection and cross-cultural training (CCT) can be more targeted and assignment specific.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper linking positionality theory and the methodological practice of reflexivity from ethnographic research and other social sciences to the research of expatriate acculturation.
Findings
This conceptual paper outlines theory from ethnographic research that, when applied to expatriate selection and acculturation, increases the field’s understanding of the expatriate’s position in relation to HCNs. This theory practically informs selection criteria, CCT programs and support plans as they pertain to specific international assignments. A novel theoretical model is then proposed.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is conceptual in nature. Empirical research is needed to test the value of this paper and its proposed positionality gap model (PGM) model.
Practical implications
The research and conceptual model proposed in this paper has the potential to improve how multinational enterprise (MNE) managers conceptualize expatriate assignments, expatriate selections and expatriate CCT leading to more effective work and value added to stakeholders.
Social implications
The PGM model proposed in this paper highlights the value of HCN’s culture and preferences as input for selection and CCT of an expatriate worker and contributes to the body of literature that views expatriation with multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Originality/value
This paper’s originality stems from the application of a well-understood phenomenon in ethnographic research and other social sciences to expatriate acculturation. The common practice of reflexology and theory of positionality can clarify the ideal position for an expatriate in relation to the MNE and HCNs for both researchers and practitioners.
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Although there is great potential for diversity, library and information science (LIS) is a relatively homogenous profession. Increasing the presence of librarians of color may…
Abstract
Although there is great potential for diversity, library and information science (LIS) is a relatively homogenous profession. Increasing the presence of librarians of color may help to improve diversity within LIS. However, recruiting ethnic minorities into LIS has proven to be difficult despite various initiative including scholarships, fellowships, and locally focused programs. The central questions explored in this research can be divided into two parts: (1) Why do ethnic minorities choose librarianship as a profession? (2) What would motivate members of minority groups to join a profession in which they cannot see themselves?
The research was conducted through semi-structured, qualitative interviews of 32 ethnic minority students from one of four ethnic minority groups (African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American) currently enrolled in an LIS graduate program. Eleven themes emerged from the data: libraries, librarians, library work experience, LIS graduate program, career plans and goals, education and family, support, mentors, ethnicity and community, acculturation, and views of diversity.
The findings seem to support many assumptions regarding expectations and career goals. The findings related to libraries, librarians, mentors, and support illustrate that many recruitment initiatives are starting in the right place. However, the most noteworthy findings were those that centered on identity, acculturation, and diversity because they dealt with issues that are not often considered or discussed by many in the profession outside of ethnic minority organizations.
Christina Hadjisoteriou and Panayiotis Angelides
The overarching purpose of this paper is to explore the transformation of intercultural education in Cyprus in the context of European integration. More specifically, it indicates…
Abstract
Purpose
The overarching purpose of this paper is to explore the transformation of intercultural education in Cyprus in the context of European integration. More specifically, it indicates the ways in which intercultural policy has been formed by complex and often counteractive influences. The analysis draws upon policy documents collected from the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) and interviews carried out with Cypriot policy-makers. Europe has come to play an important role in the development of Cypriot intercultural policy by becoming a mechanism of pressure for educational change. Through monitoring processes, Europe has indicated problems deriving from the culturally pluralistic character of the Cypriot society that should be addressed by national policies. In this context, Cyprus has initiated an educational reform, including a reform of the national curriculum towards a more intercultural orientation. Nonetheless, the findings of this research assert that there is a gap between policy rhetoric and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reports on an analysis of the policy dynamics influencing intercultural education in the Greek–Cypriot context. The authors aim to examine the context and content of educational policies and directives which have been initiated and/or developed at the Greek–Cypriot level. To this end, the authors drew upon policy documentary and data derived from interviews conducted with Greek–Cypriot policy-makers and education officers.
Findings
It appears that intercultural education became an important part of the state’s rhetoric. Cyprus has initiated an educational reform, including a reform of the national curriculum towards a more intercultural orientation. Therefore, since 2008, the state and particularly the MEC have replaced the previously used term of multicultural education with the rhetoric of intercultural education and inclusion as the preferable educational responses to immigration.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study suggest that the development of intercultural education requires the re-conceptualisation and re-structuring of the Cypriot educational system and schooling. The state should adopt a balanced governance model between school autonomy and centralised management.
Practical implications
This paper can help schools and teachers to improve their intercultural education approach.
Social implications
The findings could be helpful for improving the intercultural education policy in Cyprus.
Originality/value
These research finding are the first that deal with intercultural education policy in Cyprus.
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Martin MacCarthy, Ashlee Morgan and Claire Lambert
This study aims to consolidate and hone existing spectating and crowd theory. This is achieved by marrying socio-cultural ideas and concepts from related disciplines.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to consolidate and hone existing spectating and crowd theory. This is achieved by marrying socio-cultural ideas and concepts from related disciplines.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual review examines what people do when they congregate at an event, and in doing so, answers the question of what they forgo when denied a crowd. Concepts are teased from the literature as to what happens during participatory congregation (in company, in situ), punctuated by relegation without it.
Findings
Related concepts are organised into a typology. The metamodel is the essence of the paper and includes four themes: (1) identity construction, (2) interacting with others, (3) producing and co-producing the event and (4) the allure of tribalism.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is conceptual and therefore a typology (not a taxonomy). This implies that while it is likely transferable, it is not generalisable. It is manual and subjective, as opposed to objective and automatic. Notwithstanding future research implications, it is intended to inform those considering running virtual events.
Practical implications
Event organisers are informed as to the “what” and “why” of running community events. It encourages a more circumspect, humanistic view that events are not merely a source of revenue.
Social implications
This review contributes a macro understanding of human nature, complementing a micro understanding of crowd behaviour.
Originality/value
Virtual event management is a relatively new and burgeoning field. Prior to the Pandemic an event without a crowd was almost inconceivable.
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Mark J. Martinko and Scott C. Douglas
The high failure rate for expatriate leaders is well documented. One major cause of these failures has been identified as the incongruencies in the perceptions of expatriate…
Abstract
The high failure rate for expatriate leaders is well documented. One major cause of these failures has been identified as the incongruencies in the perceptions of expatriate leaders and the host members that they manage. This article describes theory and research which suggests that a potential explanation for at least some of these perceptual incongruencies is that they are a result of culturally‐based attributional biases interacting with self‐serving and actor‐observer attributional biases. Although not all of the interactions of these biases result in incongruent perceptions, some interactions appear to be particularly prone to result in incongruent perceptions such as when leaders from highly individualistic and low context cultures interact with members from highly collectivistic and high context cultures. Suggestions for research and interventions designed to reduce incongruent attributions between leaders and members are discussed.