Who am I? Tapping into the Chinese consumer market

By: Irina Skaya

Born in a small town that is unfamiliar with traffic lights and shopping malls, in Moldova (located between Romania and Ukraine) and growing up in the Big Apple, I continue to struggle with cultural duality and self-identity. On one hand, growing up in a diverse city like New York, I am more open-minded about other cultures than my parents. But I am always reminded that I am not American enough because I don’t eat hash browns, bacon and eggs for breakfast. On the other hand, I am not completely emerged in the Moldavian culture either because I was raised during the former USSR and I only speak Russian, not Moldavian.

But I am not alone. Whether you’ve emigrated from Moldova, Latin America or China, first and second generations struggle with cultural duality—we are pushed around by our American counterparts for not being American enough, and by families for being ashamed of our own heritage.  At last week’s ANA Multicultural Marketing Conference, Starcom Media Vest Group (SMG) presented marketers with insights into the cultural identities of Chinese Americans, and discussed the importance of researching the values and motivations of this group in order to truly connect to this market.

Although immigrants in general share similarities in regards to the assimilation into the American culture, the assimilation and acculturation models are very unique to the Chinese member community. For instance, the first generation is considered to be the protectors of the culture—they settle into metropolitan areas that are culturally saturated in order to maintain same traditions and rituals. The second generation, born on the American soil, is the forefathers of what it means to be Chinese-American.  They struggle with self-identity during the early part of their lives—they do not feel fully Chinese nor fully American. As they mature, they begin to embrace their culture and heritage by integrating their culture into American life. This group is known as the, “Hyphen in-between.” How does this duality and having two identities impact the Chinese sense of consumerism?

As marketers, it is critical to align messages based on the audience’s relationship to the following core pillars of value: tradition, frugality, family, worth ethic, education, food and entrepreneurship. The state of duality helps explain how participation with English-leaning communication approaches tethered to cultural nuance is vital to messaging. The growing paradox of Westernization and a desire to retain traditional cultural touchstones such as language will create a need for communicating in a nuanced and balanced way. Chinese Americans are the largest consumer of in-language media. The primary language spoken in families and among friends will influence the media consumption. The other indicator is generations. The younger generations are more English-leading as expected. However, most of them have seen Chinese media, consume it when they spend time with the older people in their families—this calls for more balance. In fact, the overall consumption of television is down by 35% and an increase of 53% in time-shifting because of lack of relevance of in-language media and antiquated stereotypes such as emasculated and sexualized Asian Americans. What does the Chinese American identity morph into moving forward?  How do we know this community aligns with our category and brands?

For a more in-depth analysis of the cultural identities study, visit www.ana.net.

Comments

[Marla Currie]

February is Black History Month so it's fitting to introduce a new digital-only multicultural media it is an exciting time to be a marketer.

Responding to multicultural consumers usage of the Internet (second only to TV), we're launching a new digital-only magazine that has "consumerism" editorial as its focus, "The Penny Wiser" (http://www.the-penny-wiser.com).

We're using Permission Email to distribute to 1,000,000 BLACK AND LATINO CONSUMERS quarterly.

The PW promises to be a unique vehicle, editorially/creatively for its subscribers and very cost-effective for advertisers. Email has the highest ROI of any online marketing tool.

We're LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS for our March 15, 2009 debut issue.

I'd like your support of this new, viable multicultural digital medium.

Marla Currie
Targeted Media Online
mcurrie@targetedadgroup.com