Acculturation and Inter-Ethnic Consumer Perceptions: Can You Feel What We Feel?

Acculturation and ethnicity are some of the concepts that are often used by researchers to explain consumption experiences of ethnic minority consumers. The paper attempts to add a new dimension to the existing literature dealing with acculturation and ethnicity by exploring some of the feelings that are associated with one's sense of belonging to a group. The paper argues that the ethnic minority consumers experience multiple states of being which inform their interactions with their own ethnic group as well as the host society. The paper argues that there is no single ever-lasting outcome of acculturation. The paper discusses the implications of multiple states of being for marketing. The paper is based on an ethnographic study of forty-nine ethnic minority consumers in Bradford, UK.