Ethnic Marketing

Ethno-marketing (from Greek: ἔθνος ethnos = people and marketing ) is aimed at target groups that are viewed as ethnically different from the majority population of a state (see ethnicization ). Important target groups for ethnic marketing in Germany are, for example, the population of Turkish origin , Germans from Russia and increasingly also the Chinese , in the USA Asian Americans , Hispanics and African-Americans . The country of origin of ethnic marketing is the USA, where it has been practiced on a larger scale since the end of the 20th century.

In the opinion of the ethno- marketers , the ethnic target groups show a specific ethnic consumption and reception behavior. You therefore consider it necessary to address these customer groups separately. They see the ethnic target groups as found and largely homogeneous (cf. primordial approach). In Germany, numerous smaller marketing offices have specialized in this new field of activity, while established companies have hardly been active in this area to date. The most common form of ethnic marketing is the placement of advertisements in around 2,000 foreign-language print media. In addition, there is also ethnic advertising in the form of commercials, advertising letters, e-mails or events.

In anthropology and related social sciences, on the other hand, a constructivist perspective (cf. constructivism ) has largely prevailed. Ethnic groups are not regarded as naturally given, but as socially constructed (cf. ethnicity ). From a constructivist point of view, ethnic marketing does not correspond to the natural consumption and reception characteristics of the ethnic target groups, but rather the ethnic marketers tie in with widespread ethnic attributions, which they interpret differently with their advertising images and in their campaigns. Due to the heterogeneity of the ethnic target groups, it is difficult for marketers to reach ethnic target groups as a whole. For example, the approaches of the few marketing agencies that do ethnic marketing for people of Turkish origin living in Germany differ greatly. Their opinions about what makes the special characteristics of people of Turkish origin in Germany are in part contradicting each other.

The effect of ethnic marketing is based on the symbolic appropriation of ethnicity by the consumer. Depending on the situation, each individual is free to identify with certain ethnic campaigns or to feel ethnically addressed. The perceived ethnic discrimination in a society and the possibility of compensation through ethnic marketing can be of decisive importance for the success of a campaign.

literature

• Tanju Aygün: German-Turkish consumer behavior. Eul, 2005, ISBN 3899364147
• Lisa A. Guion and Heather Kent: Ethnic Marketing: A Strategy for Marketing Programs to Diverse Audience. (PDF; 92 kB) University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science 2005
• Manuel Bräuhofer: Ethnomarketing in Austria. The practical manual. Verlag Holzhausen, 2011, ISBN 978-3-99015-006-1

Web links

• Handelsblatt article on the opportunities and risks of ethnomarketing
• Ethnomarketing - is the customer king or sheikh?
• Zeit article about ethnic marketing
• Spiegel article: German companies advertise past minorities
• taz article: Advertising in Polish
• Die Welt-Artikel: The advertisement speaks Turkish

Individual evidence

1. ^ Halter, Marilyn: Shopping for Identity . New York 2000, p. 31
2. ^ Halter, Marilyn: Shopping for Identity . New York 2000, p. 50 f.
3. ↑ Matthias Kulinna: ethnic marketing in Germany , pages 135-265
4. ^ Halter, Marilyn: Shopping for Identity . New York 2000, p. 194 ff.
5. ↑ Matthias Kulinna: ethnic marketing in Germany , page 263