The Impact of Arab American Ethnic Identity on the Consumption of Culture-Specific Products

Abstract

This research examines the strength of Arab American ethnic identity as well as the degree of socialization with Arab friends and family, on the consumption of culture-specific products such as Middle Eastern food, dress, and entertainment. An online survey was employed to produce a diverse sample from 230 Arab Americans. The results demonstrate that the strength of Arab American ethnic identity positively predicts the consumption of Middle Eastern food, dress, and entertainment and that this effect is amplified through socialization with other Arabs as opposed to socialization with Anglo Americans. At the same time, independent of ethnic identity and socialization, the results demonstrate that Arab Americans are more likely to consume Middle Eastern than Anglo American food but much less likely to consume Middle Eastern than Anglo American dress and entertainment. Accordingly, the present research reveals that ethnic identity and socialization with the same ethnic group are important variables that predict the consumption of culture-specific products but that, independent of those variables, Arab Americans are not nearly as inclined to consume certain culture-specific products such as Middle Eastern dress and entertainment as they are Anglo American dress and entertainment.

The Intersection of Global Consumer Culture and National Identity and the Effect on Japanese Consumer Behavior

“…In-group bias theory (Brewer 1979) refers to patterns depicting the favoring of in-over out-group members. Particularly acute for ethnically homogeneous and collectivistic societies, this bias can be expressed toward the products of the respective groups (Barakat, Gopalakrishna, and Lala 2014). Indeed, alongside the concept of face (i.e., one's own sense of prestige or dignity in communal settings), the most critical social influence in Confucian cultures such as Japan is group conformity pressure (Laroche et al 2004) Regarding Hofstede and Bond's (1988) national culture indices, Japan clusters with other eastern Asian nations as a highly collectivistic society, with strong ties between ingroup members (namely, kith and kin), especially when contrasted against America's extreme individualism.…”

Identity, fashion and dress consumption by immigrants : a focus on ethnic dress and/or hijab

“…This fits symbolic interaction explanation that through religious clothing, meaning is socially constructed (Inglessis, 2008). In this case, the veil symbolizes the collective dimension of Islamic culture as an expression of faith (Barakat et al, 2014;Rahman et al, 2016).…”

“…In western countries like Canada, veiling is influenced by situational factors such as racism and Islamophobia (Barakat et al, 2014;Haddad, 2007;McGuire et al, 1978;Wooten, 1995).…”

Identity, fashion and dress consumption by immigrants : a focus on ethnic dress and/or hijab

“…In their study, Barakat et al (2014) report that "ethnic identity and socialization are important variables that predict the consumption of culture specific products such as dress" (p.405). They emphasize that in many immigrant communities, "ethnic identity is part of culture" (p.406) and in turn influences the consumption of ethnic goods.…”

“…This is reinforced by Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory that holds that "similar others wield disproportionate social influence as compared to dissimilar others' on individual who in turn tow the community line" (as cited in Barakat et al, 2014, p. 408). In other words, strong ethnic identity plays a major role in the consumption of ethnic and culture specific products (Barakat et al, 2014). Somerville (2008) examined transnational belonging among second-generation youth.…”