Situational ethnicity and identity negotiation: “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism
Situational ethnicity and identity negotiation: “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism
Purpose: While the literature on migration highlights the reshaping of host and immigrant population in countries, there is a paucity of research in marketing investigating the evolving dynamics for acculturation. The purpose of this study is to further the understanding of the emerging phenomenon of acculturation and identity negotiation. Design/methodology/approach: Three experiments examined situational ethnicity, self-construal and identity negotiation in home and host culture work and social settings. Study 1 and Study 2 were conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), where the host country is the majority population. Study 3 was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the host country is the minority population. Study 4 utilized qualitative interviews in both countries. Findings: Results from all four studies show that ethnic consumers deploy “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism when the host society is the majority population (UK) and when the host society has the minority population (UAE). Originality/value: The authors offer new insights into identity negotiation by ethnic consumers when the host society is the majority population as well as the minority population. “Indifference”, i.e. preferring to neither fit in nor stand out as an identity negotiation mechanism, is deployed in work and social settings of home and host societies. The authors also advance the existing literature on acculturation by examining whether independent and interdependent self-construal influence identity negotiation.
Identity negotiation, Majority and minority population, Mixed methods research, Situational ethnicity
Banerjee, Madhumita
aa2f5228-6b0c-409b-abfe-5d141b9285bc
Shukla, Paurav
d3acd968-350b-40cf-890b-12c2e7aaa49d
Ashill, Nicholas J.
2771b7e5-c88b-4236-bdda-46224beeb935
Banerjee, Madhumita
aa2f5228-6b0c-409b-abfe-5d141b9285bc
Shukla, Paurav
d3acd968-350b-40cf-890b-12c2e7aaa49d
Ashill, Nicholas J.
2771b7e5-c88b-4236-bdda-46224beeb935
Banerjee, Madhumita, Shukla, Paurav and Ashill, Nicholas J.
(2021)
Situational ethnicity and identity negotiation: “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism.
International Marketing Review.
(doi:10.1108/IMR-08-2020-0188).
Abstract
Purpose: While the literature on migration highlights the reshaping of host and immigrant population in countries, there is a paucity of research in marketing investigating the evolving dynamics for acculturation. The purpose of this study is to further the understanding of the emerging phenomenon of acculturation and identity negotiation. Design/methodology/approach: Three experiments examined situational ethnicity, self-construal and identity negotiation in home and host culture work and social settings. Study 1 and Study 2 were conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), where the host country is the majority population. Study 3 was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the host country is the minority population. Study 4 utilized qualitative interviews in both countries. Findings: Results from all four studies show that ethnic consumers deploy “indifference” as an identity negotiation mechanism when the host society is the majority population (UK) and when the host society has the minority population (UAE). Originality/value: The authors offer new insights into identity negotiation by ethnic consumers when the host society is the majority population as well as the minority population. “Indifference”, i.e. preferring to neither fit in nor stand out as an identity negotiation mechanism, is deployed in work and social settings of home and host societies. The authors also advance the existing literature on acculturation by examining whether independent and interdependent self-construal influence identity negotiation.
Text
IMR MB PS NA 2021
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 October 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 November 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The authors thank Associate Editor, Mark Cleveland, three anonymous reviewers and George Christodoulides for their valuable feedback on previous versions of the manuscript. The authors thank the American University of Sharjah (AUS) Chalhoub Professorship Research Funds for a research grant. Special thanks go to Hussain Al Jammali, Christine Ishaak, Dina Khalifa and Drushti Mehta for their assistance with data collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Identity negotiation, Majority and minority population, Mixed methods research, Situational ethnicity
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 453206
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453206
ISSN: 0265-1335
PURE UUID: 1ee5900a-8d2c-484b-ad98-38ac84935d93
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Date deposited: 11 Jan 2022 17:30
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:51
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Contributors
Author:
Madhumita Banerjee
Author:
Nicholas J. Ashill
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