Marketing services to ethnic consumers in culturally diverse markets: issues and implications

Abstract

Ethnic consumers arriving in an ethnically diverse nation such as Australia are likely to have a limited knowledge of the marketplace. Combined with possible communication difficulties, constrained decision making may result when selecting both products and suppliers. Services are significantly different from tangible products to warrant a distinct marketing literature but within it marketing to ethnic consumers is not distinguished. This paper argues that the marketing of services to ethnic consumers in culturally diverse markets requires this focus. A review of the literature identifies service selection difficulties that are likely to be endemic to minority ethnic groups residing in a culturally diverse society. The task of inexperienced ethnic consumers in selecting a service provider is used to identify potential constraints in the decision‐making process, to explain how membership of an ethnic group can reduce selection difficulties and to discuss how group recommendation influences an individual’s behaviour and vice versa.