A Multidimensional Perspective on Acculturation and its Relative Impact on Consumption and Lifestyles

Abstract

Social scientists have long believed in the profound and widespread effects of acculturation (De León and Mùndes, 19%; Keefe and Padilla. 1987; Rogier, Cortes, and Malgady, 1991). The diversity of its effects is made apparent by the variable’s potential impact on many areas of inquiry in the social sciences which include consumer behavior (Lee, 1989; O'Guinn Lee, and Faber, 1986; Stayman and Deshpande, 1989; Wallendorf and Reilly, 1983). Traditionally, the process of immigrant adaptation has been represented by a unidimensional or bipolar continuum ranging from ‘unaoculturated’ or ‘igh ethnic identity’ at one end to ‘acculturated’ or ‘low ethnic identity’ at the other. Underlying such a perspective is the notion of assimilation (Phinney, 1990). Canadian society, on the other hand, is characterized by Multiculturalism (Lambert and Taylor, 1988). This implies a form of adaptation that is by fer more complex. The broader multicultural view leaves open the possibility that immigrants in the process of acquiring aspects of a host or dominant culture (i.e., acculturation) may also independently retain aspects of their culture of origin (i.e., ethnic identity maintenance). These two processes are presumed to constitute separate yet correlated aspects of a higher order concept intimated by ‘ethnic change’ (Keefe and Padilla, 1987; Laroche, Kim, Hui, and Joy, 1996; Mendoza, 1989; Mendoza and Martinez, 1981; Phinney, 1990).