Building brand community among ethnic diaspora in the USA: Strategic implications for marketers

Abstract

This exploratory study modifies two theoretical scales from consumer behaviour and social psychology and tests their psychometric properties through empirical data obtained from a sample of customers in an ethnic diaspora. Upon validation, the relationship between brand community integration and the Suinn-Lew ethnicity scale is examined. Preliminary results indicate the scales to be relatively robust in their modification. The results of this study contribute by introducing a respected scale from social psychology to the marketing literature, validating an existing scale of brand community in the ethnic marketing context, and suggesting implications for future research with larger samples and scope. Findings of the study are of interest to US firms employing marketing strategies to reach ethnic minorities in the country. In addition, firms in other countries would find the results of the study to be of interest as they employ marketing strategies targeting the ethnic diaspora in the USA.