Home culture consumption as ambivalent embodied experience

Abstract

Purpose The consumer acculturation literature argues that reconstituting familiar embodied practices from the culture of origin leads to a comforting sense of home for consumers who move from one cultural context to another. This paper aims to extend this thesis by examining further dimensions in migrant consumers’ experiences of home culture consumption. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses data gathered through multi-modal depth interviews with Southeast Asian skilled migrants in New Zealand through the conceptual lens of embodiment. Findings Building on Dion et al.’s (2011) framework of ethnic embodiment, the analysis uncovers home culture consumption as multi-layered experiences of anchoring, de-stabilisation and estrangement, characterised by convergence and divergence between the embodied dimensions of being-in-the-world, being-in-the-world with others and remembering being-in-the-world. Research limitations/implications This paper underscores home culture consumption in migration as an ambivalent embodied experience. Further research should investigate how other types of acculturating consumers experience and negotiate the changing meanings of home. Practical implications Marketers in migrant-receiving and migrant-sending cultural contexts should be sensitised to disjunctures in migrants’ embodied experience of consuming home and their role in heightening or mitigating these disjunctures. Originality/value This paper helps contribute to consumer acculturation theory in two ways. First, the authors show how migrants experience not only comfort and connection but also displacement, in practices of home culture consumption. Second, the authors show how migrant communities do not only encourage cultural maintenance and gatekeeping but also contribute to cultural identity de-stabilisation.

Social media discussion forums, home country and immigrant consumer acculturation: the case of Iranian immigrants in Australia

“…The findings of this study extend the boundaries of consumer acculturation research by highlighting how communicating with the home country through a social media platform can influence acculturation processes. Whilst previous consumer acculturation studies have limited the home-culture focus to ethnic community perspectives (Cruz and Buchanan-Oliver, 2020;Luedicke, 2015), or restricted the use of social media to the influence of the host society (Li et al, 2019;Mitra and Evansluong, 2019), the findings of this study extend our understanding of the acculturative processes, particularly in relation to the inclusion of the home-country perspective.…”

“…The concept of acculturation in previous research is mostly regarded as an outcome of offline interactions in the context of immigration (Askegaard et al , 2005; Aung et al , 2017; Cappellini and Yen, 2013; Cruz and Buchanan-Oliver, 2020; Lysonski and Durvasula, 2013; Min and Peñaloza, 2019). Two broad approaches to acculturation have been advanced in the literature: assimilationist and postassimilationist (Luedicke, 2011; Sam, 2006).…”

“…Interacting within a different sociocultural environment, immigrants experience numerous challenges in their everyday life in the marketplace and beyond (Davis, 2018; Schau et al , 2017). Past research has addressed these experiences and challenges from different perspectives, and a robust body of knowledge has accumulated regarding immigrant consumers’ identity projects, acculturation processes and outcomes (Askegaard et al , 2005; Cruz and Buchanan-Oliver, 2017, 2020; Veresiu and Giesler, 2018), including vulnerability and wellbeing outcomes (Davis, 2018; Demangeot et al , 2015; Visconti, 2014) in relation to market resources and consumption practices.…”

“…The important role of the home culture in immigrant consumer acculturation is well established in previous research, especially in a reciprocal relationship with consumption practiceshow consumption is used by immigrant consumers for ethnic identity construction and self-expression, and, reciprocally, how home-country-related consumption practices can affect immigrant consumers' acculturation processes and outcomes. However, the home culture in these studies is mostly reduced to interacting with the ethnic community in the host country (Cruz and Buchanan-Oliver, 2020;Luedicke, 2015;Peñaloza, 1994Peñaloza, , 2018Souiden and Ladhari, 2011;Veresiu and Giesler, 2018), whereas interacting with the home country (i.e. country of origin), especially using social media, is largely unexplored in the previous immigrant consumer acculturation research.…”

Exploring the chain of effects between local identity and expatriate consumers’ preference for local food brands

“…The moderating role of local food brand value signalling Furthermore, studies have revealed that expatriates are frequently on the lookout for the best value when making the decision to purchase food products and brands (Bundy, 2017). At the same time, studies suggest that migrants, (Cruz and Buchanan-Oliver, 2020) and expatriates (Nowicka, 2007), tend to remain mentally connected to their home country. One recent study shows that expatriates use their home country's traits as a point of reference when assessing a host country's products and offerings (Miocevic and Zdravkovic, 2020a).…”