The Role of Religion and Acculturation in the Consumer Ethnocentrism of Turkish Immigrants in Germany

Nurdan Sevim,Elif Eroglu Hall,Hisham Abu-Rayya

doi:10.3390/rel7030029

Abstract

Researchers have invested much effort in the understanding of acculturation-relevant factors that influence immigrants’ psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. Factors that might have an impact on immigrants’ product consumption decisions have comparatively received scarce attention by acculturation and marketing researchers. Immigrants show different product consumption patterns and therefore constitute big consumer groups that can have an impact on both the economy of immigrants’ culture of origin and the host society. The present study investigated Turkish immigrants’ product consumption ethnocentrism. The sample consisted of 599 youth and adult Turkish in Germany drawn from Cologne, the city with the highest ratio of Turkish people in the country. The study sample represented a very similar demographic make-up of the Turkish people in Cologne. The associations between acculturation strategies, loyalty to religion, and product consumption ethnocentrism were quantitatively analyzed based on a field survey. Research findings indicated that participants in the acculturation mode of separation scored significantly higher for consumer ethnocentrism than those showing other orientations, and those with an assimilation orientation scored the least for consumer ethnocentrism. Among the three religiosity dimensions (behavioral, emotional, cognitive) investigated in the present study, analyses controlling for a range of socio-demographic variables revealed a positive relationship between the behavior dimension of religiosity and consumer ethnocentrism.

Highlights

Short or long term residence in a foreign country may force people to fulfill various consuming behaviors to sustain their daily life
The product consumption behaviors of immigrants may vary depending on a range of factors including acculturation orientations and religiosity
The study sought to investigate the relationship between socio-demographic variables and product consumption ethnocentrism so that important factors can be taken into consideration in the analyses of the relationship between acculturation or religiosity and product consumption ethnocentrism

Summary

Introduction

Short or long term residence in a foreign country may force people to fulfill various consuming behaviors to sustain their daily life. The market conditions in the new resident country may differ significantly from the market conditions of their home country in terms of both product availability and consumption behavior types. Short or long term migration leads to intercultural consumer experiences involving specific struggles associated with product search and consumption [1]. Turkish people immigration to Germany started in the 1960s [2], and it is estimated that 2,790,000. Turkish are living nowadays in Germany, constituting the largest ethnic group in the country. Turkish immigrants who crossed the borders and initiated a new life in Germany brought with them their product consumption cultural habits. To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated

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