Towards a comprehensive model of the integrative consumer acculturation process: A study of the South Asian diaspora food consumption in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract

Globalisation is shaping cultures, altering consumer behaviours and dispositions, and impacting the dynamics of migration and population worldwide. In addition, the consumer acculturation literature demonstrates increasing evidence of integration among individuals in multicultural environments. Despite these emerging dynamics and evolving acculturation literature, there is a paucity of research that captures the evolving dynamics of consumer acculturation. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyse the South Asian diaspora’s acculturation in light of their food consumption behaviour in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This research utilised a qualitative methodology underpinned by an interpretivist philosophy. A number of qualitative methods, such as in-depth semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, the researcher’s observations, photographs, and notes were used to capture and analyse consumers’ acculturation process and strategies and multiple identities in a multicultural environment. Maximum variation purposive sampling was implemented in selecting the research respondents. A total of 33 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to cover a wide range of respondent groups. The findings portray the Kingdom of Bahrain as a multicultural platform that allows ethnic community members to co-exist and intermingle. The multicultural environment and diversity within the Kingdom of Bahrain enable the South Asian diaspora to experience products, notions, and interactions from their heritage culture, host culture, other multinational cultures, and the global consumer culture, which influence their acculturation strategy outcomes. Also, the host community serves as an integral and supporting catalyst for the South Asian consumers and for the community’s acculturation process and strategy outcomes. This thesis addresses several gaps within the literature and provides novel insights and contributions to further advance the consumer acculturation scholarship. The evolving acculturation literature reveals increasing evidence of integration due to individuals’ interactions in multicultural contexts. This thesis investigates the broad categorisation of integration to reveal different types of integrative consumer acculturation strategy outcomes (the Three T’s: Traditional Desi, Transient Desi, and Temerarious Desi). Another gap exists concerning the constitution of ethnic consumers’ dual and multiple identities, and a thorough explanation and analyses of the motivations and reasons behind the constitution of ethnic consumers’ dual and multiple identities is provided. As a result, a multidirectional comprehensive integrative consumer acculturation model is provided. Finally, in contrast to prior studies, this is the first research that examines acculturation in a country that has a similar population distribution and numerical equality between the host and migrant populations, and which includes blue-collar respondents, who were previously overlooked. This study is of significant relevance to marketing practitioners, various commercial institutions, governmental agencies, and academics. The findings have direct implications for the successful segmentation of several consumer groups, particularly to create successful psychographic and behavioural segmentations of the cultural groups within multicultural societies. As a result, this thesis will allow the concerned parties to better understand the segmentation of customer markets, assess market dynamics, and analyse the current and future trends of consumer culture.