Consumer Racism and Its Effects on Domestic Cross-Ethnic Product Purchase
Jean-Francois Ouellet's article in the January 2007 Journal of Marketing, Consumer Racism and Its Effects on Domestic Cross-Ethnic Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the United States, Canada, and France, offers a timely investigation of consumer racism and how it influences product choices.
Most people express discomfort with any form of racism. Perhaps this explains why consumer racism has remained a relatively unexplored topic. Ouellet's research focuses on negative expressions of consumer racism (e.g., ethnic animosity in consumer choices). Earlier work on ethnic identification and ethnic choice orientation (e.g., Herche and Balasubramanian 1994, Journal of Shopping Center Research) centered on positive biases in racism (e.g., intense loyalty among consumers from an ethnic minority toward stores owned by members of their ethnic group, which Ouellet labels "ethnic-based ethnocentrism"). Both areas hold much promise for future research.
Ouellet notes that the focus of germane research has moved in two important directions: (1) from ethnocentrism to ethnic ethnocentrism and (2) from national animosity to ethnic-based animosity. Perhaps these shifts mirror the rampant globalization and outsourcing phenomena that undermine consumers' ability to confidently identify or link a given product with a particular country. Because most products contain components produced in several nations, consumers can no longer easily cultivate ethnocentrism on the basis of national animosity. However, they can readily perceive the ethnicity of the individual who owns an enterprise that sells specific products. Overall, the easy availability of ethnic cues (as opposed to national cues) may affect product choices for consumers depending on their ethnic background. Ouellet's research suggests that this phenomenon is robust and pervasive across ethnic groups in multiple countries. It richly deserves greater research scrutiny.
I invite JM readers to participate in this blog discussion.
By Siva K. Balasubramanian, Journal of Marketing Web Site Editor
