Deepening Multicultural Marketing Instruction: The Universal and Temporal Dimensions of Ethnic Diversity

The rise of diverse ethnic consumer segments in the United States has made multicultural marketing a mainstay in the American university curriculum. Although multicultural topics contribute to marketing courses, textbooks, and learning objectives are often limited to examining the breadth of ethnic diversity. This study draws upon 10 years of teaching a multicultural marketing course module to propose a depth of diversity method which augments conventional profiles of ethnic breadth. Course findings suggest that allowing students to explore the deeper universal and temporal dimension of ethnicity imparts a more holistic appreciation of different cultural versions, as well as an ability to chronologically envision the multicultural experience of historical and pre-historical periods. As a result, students reported a more authentic and original ethnic brand project experience. However, the depth of diversity method addresses the narrow managerial instruction goal of improving multicultural marketing competences that create brand value relationships with ethnic American customers. Neither the multicultural education literature nor global/cross-cultural ethnic marketing studies are explicitly advanced, although regarded as complementary research veins. Consequently, a timely and tenable multicultural marketing course module is offered to marketing educators engaging an increasingly diverse ethnic market.