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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of consumer ethnocentrism and country of origin across different immigrant communities.

A survey was used to collect data from immigrants in the USA and Mexico.

For immigrants with high levels of ethnocentrism, the bias for home and host country products interacts with the country of origin effect and creates multiple scenarios where the two effects move in the same or opposite directions. For immigrants with low levels of ethnocentrism, on the other hand, the country of origin effect alone is salient.

The authors used a modified version of CETSCALE. Future research should revisit the content and dimensionality of consumer ethnocentrism in immigrant and other multicultural settings.

Both scholars and practitioners should exercise caution when working with ethnocentrism and country of origin as today’s societies are increasingly multicultural, which requires major modifications to the theories and tools.

Similar to ways in which the US Census Bureau enabled multicultural consumers to assert their mixed identities, scholarly and business circles should embrace multiculturalism and empower immigrants.

Previous studies of consumer ethnocentrism and country of origin in multicultural contexts have restricted themselves to only one pattern of migration: consumers who move from developing to developed countries. The paper addresses this limitation by investigating various patterns of migration (including lateral, upward and downward) in multiple first-generation immigrant communities in two countries.

Previous research on global marketing has typically focussed on marketing strategies across national markets. Yet, the cross‐national mobility of individuals has increased heterogeneity within country markets. The purpose of this study is to examine how immigrant consumers perceive advertising appeals in the context of the consumer acculturation process. Specifically, our study focusses on the reactions of Mexican, American, and Mexican‐American consumers to puffery‐laden advertisements.

Using two‐factor theory as our theoretical prism, the study offers salient hypotheses regarding consumer perceptions of puffery‐laden advertising appeals, which are then tested in a cross‐national experiment in the USA and Mexico.

The results show that Mexican consumers are more susceptible to puffery‐laden claims than Americans. In contrast, American consumers are more susceptible to advertising that does not contain puffery‐laden claims than their Mexican counterparts. Interestingly, the findings also reveal that Mexican immigrants are highly susceptible to both, puffery‐laden and no puffery appeals. The mixed results show that recent Mexican immigrants struggle as they transition to the dominant American consumer culture. First and second generations of Mexican‐Americans, however, react to puffery‐laden advertisements just as typical American consumers.

The paper discusses relevant implications not only for the study of puffery and acculturation of immigrant minority groups, but also for companies engaged in global advertising campaigns in countries with diverse immigrant communities.

The paper offers a worthwhile and unique examination of consumer acculturation in an international cross‐cultural setting and puts forward interesting insights regarding the application of international advertising strategies.

This study aims to investigate how consumers respond to global brands adapting to local elements. Specifically, this study identified three factors (i.e., cultural compatibility, cultural elements authenticity and cultural pride) affecting the purchase intentions (PIs) toward global brands using Chinese elements among Chinese consumers in China and Chinese immigrants in North America. Another aim is to examine the moderating role of acculturation in the relationship between cultural pride and PIs among Chinese immigrants.

Three studies were conducted to test the hypotheses in China and North America. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the factor structure. Hierarchical regression was used to test the main effects and moderated regression analysis was used to test the moderation effect.

Results show that cultural compatibility, cultural elements authenticity (CEA) and cultural pride positively affect the PIs toward global brands with Chinese elements for both Chinese consumers and Chinese immigrants. Further, among Chinese immigrants, acculturation moderates the relationship between cultural pride and PIs.

This study explored the factors influencing the PIs toward global brands using Chinese elements, filling a research gap. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine how perceived CEA affects consumers’ PIs toward global brands with Chinese elements. Further, the findings have implications for global brands that want to target Chinese consumers and Chinese immigrants in overseas markets.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism pertain to first-generation immigrants, who often identify with two or more countries.

After a pretest to validate the modified consumer ethnocentrism scale, the main study used a series of scenario-based experiments and compiled data from 419 members of four distinct first-generation immigrant communities.

Non-ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of economically advanced countries. Ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of their home and host countries relative to foreign products, regardless of the economic standing of foreign countries. When home and host countries represent significantly different degrees of economic advancement, both ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of the more advanced country.

Apart from the individual effects of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism, the interplay between the two effects can yield important insights. There are other ways to operationalize multicultural identity beyond studying first-generation immigrants. Researchers should go beyond nationality and incorporate other forces of cultural diversity.

For both ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric immigrants, the product that benefits from both effects is the most preferred, and the product that benefits from neither of the two effects is the least preferred. Where the product benefits from one but not the other effect, the two effects hold roughly equal power for ethnocentric consumers, but COO dominates CE for non-ethnocentric consumers.

The paper presents a critical evaluation and extension of the respective literatures investigating familiar constructs in multicultural settings.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the cognitive and affective dimensions of COO and the owned-by/made-in cue combinations in first-generation immigrant markets.

The cognitive and affective dimensions were manipulated in a scenario-based experiment administered on 261 Mexican Americans in three product categories.

The cognitive and affective dimensions each have a distinct impact. When the two dimensions combine, the effect is stronger within the specialty product category, followed by the shopping product category, and, to a lesser extent, in the convenience product category.

The cognitive dimension was represented by the country’s degree of political, economic and technological development, whereas the affective dimension was traced by examining immigrants who identify with the emotional and symbolic meanings associated with countries involved in the country of origin (COO) message.

Managers should pursue emerging COO research whose concepts and designs are congruent with today’s global consumer culture. The authors find support for the stand-alone effects of made-in and owned-by COO cues, as well as the effects of the cognitive and affective dimensions of COO. When COO messages combine both made-in and owned-by cues, the cognitive and affective dimensions may work synergistically, depending on the product category.

This study adds to the nascent literature that recognizes the multiplicity of consumer identities, and bridges the gulf between the conventional COO research and the increasingly multicultural nature of the marketplace.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of acculturation on immigrant consumers’ loyalty. The authors posit that the acculturation orientation of immigrants determines their consumer loyalty to both ethnic and mainstream brands and stores.

Using a sample of Hispanic consumers in the USA and consumers from the former Soviet Union in Israel, this study tests a model in which two acculturation continua, original culture maintenance and host culture adaptation, serve as antecedents for immigrants’ consumer loyalty.

Acculturation determines the extent of immigrants’ consumer loyalty. Both acculturation continua are associated with distinct loyalty patterns that are similar across the two immigrant groups.

Despite sampling limitations, the paper demonstrates that immigrants’ acculturation orientation influences their loyalty to ethnic and mainstream brands and stores. Shared by ethnic consumers in two culturally diverse markets, this relationship transcends geographic boundaries.

The results provide insights for marketers with respect to the development of segmentation and positioning strategies and tactical implementations that address the preferences of ethnic consumers.

This paper highlights the importance of understanding the unique needs of ethnic consumers and addressing them. Successful integration of immigrant consumers into the marketplace can also help in their integration into the host society at large.

Findings shed light on the commonalities and differences among immigrant groups in different national settings. The paper highlights the role of cultural transition as a key experience that affects immigrants regardless of specific environmental or situational circumstances.

This paper aims to develop an understanding of key variables for designing and marketing healthcare services for immigrant consumers – widely considered a vulnerable consumer group.

Data collected from 277 participants was analyzed using ANOVA models and mean score comparisons.

Differences based on immigrant status and acculturation level are identified. Differences between immigrant acculturation levels based on service quality dimensions are also revealed.

This research indicates that acculturation-based studies are insightful and finds that immigrants’ service responses do not mirror those of native respondents in healthcare services.

This research highlights key nuances within immigrant populations that hold significant implications for service providers. Culturally appropriate service design and marketing can enhance service utilization by the target population.

This study focuses on the healthcare service experiences of immigrant populations and application of this information to service design.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The objectives of this study are: to gain a better understanding of the modes of acculturation of West African immigrants in Canada; to relate these modes of acculturation to consumers' perceived likelihood of successful complaint and complaining behavior; and to compare consumers' complaint attitudes and behavior in their home countries (i.e. original countries) and the host country (Canada).

An empirical study is conducted among a sample of 218 immigrants from several West African countries now living in Canada. ANOVA and paired samples t‐tests were used to test the research hypotheses.

The results show that the majority of the surveyed West African immigrants fall into one of two acculturation groups: integrated or separated. Although there are no significant differences between these two groups in terms of their perception that a consumer complaint is more likely to be successful in Canada than in their home countries, there are significant differences in their complaining behaviors in Canada and at home.

Marketers should be aware that not all immigrants are the same and that market segmentation based on the degree of immigrants' acculturation might lead to a sound marketing strategy.

Caution should be exercised in generalizing the research results to the entire population of West African immigrants in Canada.

Most previous studies of the consumption behavior of immigrants have examined their perceptions and behavior mainly in the context of the host country, while overlooking their perceptions and behavior in their home countries. The present study has addressed this gap in the literature by investigating the perceptions and behavior of West African immigrants to Canada in both contexts.

The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of ethnic identity and demographic characteristics (the length of residency in the USA, education, income, age, and origin of ethnicity) in relation to brand purchases for status.

The research is based on a survey of 324 retail customers of Hispanics (n=173) and Asians (n=151) with analysis performed using regression analysis, t‐tests, and ANCOVA.

The stronger an immigrant identifies with his/her ethnic culture, the more likely he/she is to purchase high‐priced branded products for status purposes. Immigrants with higher incomes are more likely to purchase high‐ priced prestige brands. Younger immigrants report a greater propensity to purchase high‐priced prestige brands. No relationship with the dependent variable was found with length of time in the USA, education, and origin of ethnicities of immigrants.

The major contribution of this research is to demonstrate the importance of ethnic identity strength, to reveal the major demographic variables on immigrant consumer behaviors, and to identify means by which practitioners can effectively use ethnicity strength, income, and age to target immigrant consumers.