The Intensity of Ethnic Affiliation: A Study of the Sociology of Hispanic Consumption

Abstract

Although there has been little recent work dealing with the sociology of consumption, what exists has assumed that there is a general homogeneity within subcultures—i.e., that consumers within a particular subculture exhibit similar consumption patterns. This article examines one subculture (Hispanic consumers) and uses recent developments in sociology and anthropology to show that most work on the Hispanic market has overlooked certain major ethnic identification differences between groups of Hispanics. Implications of these differences for future research and theory on consumer subcultures are developed based on an empirical study comparing Hispanic and Anglo Americans.