Ethnic Marketing is Not New – Challenging Research Methodologies Behind it is. Preliminary Phd Results About the Application of Projective Techniques in Ethnic Focus Groups

Abstract

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) the estimated number of international migrants¹ has increased globally from about 150 million people in the year 2000 to 214 million people today. This dynamic phenomenon makes societies across the world more multicultural every day and a lot of businesses around the globe acknowledge that in their marketing (Rao 2006; De Mooji 2004; Usunier and Lee 2005; Trompenaars and Woolliams 2004). Regardless if companies identify a specific ethnic group as a target worthwhile to research, the fact that societies become naturally more multicultural, is something the research community has to discuss because researcher”s claiming to have the finger on the pulse of societies, is worth little if there is no concern about the immense natural growth of cultural nuances in societies and its potential impact on the application of market research methodologies.