CB8

Locate one or more consumers (perhaps family member) who have emigrated from another country.

How did they adopt to their host culture?

In particular, what changes did they make in their consumption practices over time?

Leaving one country and settling down in another entails a series of challenges and questions for immigrants. Two questions that all immigrants have to address are: "to what extent are cultural identity and characteristics considered to be important, and their maintenance strived for," and "to what extent should they become involved in other cultural groups, or remain primarily among themselves"

Acculturation : When individuals or groups of people transition from living a lifestyle of their own culture to moving into a lifestyle of another culture, they must acculturate, or come to adapt the new culture's behaviors, values, customs, and language. The word 'acculturation' is the act of that transition.

Yes, there are many people who have to adapt to the new culture when they migrate from one country to another country. I have witnessed many of those examples myself. Some of my relatives have just migrated from another country to Nepal and they are having problems adapting to new culture of the host country.

Acculturation theory explains how individuals from a  cultural background react when in contact with another culture (mostly in the context of immigration). The theory posits that, depending on how these individuals react to the “host” culture and how much of their “home” culture they retain, individuals will either integrate, assimilate, reject or become marginalised. From a marketing perspective, we can see examples of all four categories occurring in contemporary (marketing) communications: For example, integration can be seen in the case of global celebrities endorsing local products, merging both home and host culture. Similarly, assimilation can be seen in contemporary communication where “culturally others” have become completely integrated (or assimilated) into their host culture; relinquishing their “home culture”.
A typical example of “rejection” directed marketing can be seen in advertising directed specifically at certain groups, emphasising ”home” culture. Examples can be found on television stations specifically targeting certain ethnic groups, which link consumption of particular goods to cultural origin.
Lastly, “marginalisation” targeted advertisements are typically adverts that are culture free, pan-national advertisements.

There are many factors affect the nature of the transition process. These include individual differences such as whether the person speaks English. Several processes come into play as immigrants adapt to their new surroundings. Movement refers to the factors that motivate people to physically uproot themselves from one location to another. On arrival, immigrants encounter a need for translation. This means they try to master a set of rules to operate in a new environment, which might include learning the new currency. The learning leads to a process of adaptation by which people form new consumption patterns.

During the overall process, many immigrants undergo assimilation where they adopt products, habits, and values they identify with the mainstream culture. At the same time, there is an attempt at maintenance of practices they associate with the culture of origin. Continued identification with their original culture may cause resistance to their new identity and roles. Immigrants tend to exhibit segregation in that they are likely to live and shop separately from mainstream consumers.