Multicultural Marketing Trends in Retail Industry

SUMMARY

As Americans become more attuned to their heritage and less likely to speak only English, shopping malls have become more inclusive of Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and increasingly Central and Eastern European Americans, (CEEA).

The change, this report finds, lies with customer service which is shifting into bilingual mode; with merchandizing, which includes products that appeal to consumers with a radically different sense of style from typical Caucasian Americans; with marketing, which now shifts between ethnic groups in its message, between languages and between ethnic and mainstream media. The change also injects new concepts - like Quinceaneras - into American mainstream, with large stores catering to a universe of cultural habits, religious holidays and rites of passage that stretch way beyond Thanksgiving.

The main purpose of this report is to examine Multicultural Marketing Trends in the Retail Industry. Specifically, we will look at how companies are communicating their message to diverse consumers included in the following ethnic demographics: Central and Eastern European Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. The growth of these multicultural populations (and their subsequent increase in buying power) in the United States is creating opportunities for Retailers to attract new customers and increase their market share in the industry. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, Retailers must realign their marketing goals to be inclusive of the ever-changing face of America.

This report will identify the major considerations that must be made when communicating a message to a multicultural audience. This will address topics including cultural sensitivity, media vehicles, and targeted objectives. In order for retail companies to reach multicultural communities, they must understand the unique differences between specific cultures, and how to incorporate these differences into their primary communications. Additionally, this report will delve beyond marketing messages and look to how retail companies are incorporating multicultural communities into their overall goals. Retailers must consider other trends including geographic location of stores, stocking products that appeal to their multicultural consumers, and creating an environment that is welcoming to multicultural consumers.

Finally, the report examines specific retail companies. These snapshots will provide a history of the companies' multicultural marketing efforts and their past effectiveness. The reports will look at the perception of these companies held in multicultural communities. The company snapshot will end with a view of each companies future plans for courting multicultural consumers. Companies profiled are Sears, Target, Lowe's, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Federated Department Stores and IKEA.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, DEFINITION AND METHODOLOGY
• I MAJOR FINDINGS
• II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• III METHODOLOGY
• II. RETAIL MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS: DEFINING TARGETS AND GOALS
  • 2.1 INDUSTRY CONTEXT
  • 2.2 INCLUSION IN GENERAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
  • 2.3 UNDERSTANDING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AMONG MULTICULTURAL CONSUMERS
  • 2.4 INCREASED BUYING POWER
  • 2.5 CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
• III. RETAIL MARKETING MULTICULTURAL SPECIFIC TRENDS
  • 3.1 COURTING MULTICULTURAL CONSUMERS
  • 3.2 GEOGRAPHIC CONSIDERATIONS
    • Census 2000 Summary: Percent of Persons Who Are Hispanic or Latino
    • Census 2000 Summary: Percent of Persons Who Are African American
    • Census 2000 Summary: Percent of Persons Who Are Asian
  • 3.3 LARGER RETAILER VS. SMALL BUSINESS
  • 3.4 PREFERRED MEDIA VEHICLES AND COMMUNICATIONS
• IV. COMPETITIVE ASSESSMENTS OF RETAIL COMPANIES TARGETING MULTICULTURAL CONSUMERS
  • 4.1 SEARS HOLDING COMPANY
    • 4.1.1 Context
    • 4.1.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.1.3 Marketing Effectiveness
  • 4.2 TARGET
    • 4.2.1 Context
    • 4.2.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.2.3 Marketing Effectiveness
  • 4.3 CIRCUIT CITY
    • 4.3.1 Context
    • 4.3.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.3.3 Marketing Effectiveness
  • 4.4 WAL-MART
    • 4.4.1 Context
    • 4.4.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.4.3 Marketing Effectiveness
  • 4.5 FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES
    • 4.5.1 Context
    • 4.5.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.5.3 Marketing Effectiveness
    • 4.6.1 Context
    • 4.6.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.6.3 Marketing Effectiveness
  • 4.7 IKEA
    • 4.7.1 Context
    • 4.7.2 Multicultural Perceptions
    • 4.7.3 Marketing Effectiveness
• III. DISCLAIMER
• X. APPENDIX