Marketing

Product (mathematics)

Philosophy

Ethnic group

Social psychology

Gender studies

Anthropology

Business

Advertising

Psychology

Mathematics

Consumer behaviour

Categorization

Epistemology

Sociology

Geometry

Race (biology)

Market segmentation

This chapter examines the development of ethnic/racial-group-based brand connections in the United States. There are two major motivating sources of this race/ethnic brand-self connection: the marketer, who is attempting to establish a relationship between the brand and the individual with a focus on the individual's 'race' through race-based target marketing, and the consumer, whose 'ethnicity' may drawn him/her to certain brands, sometimes within identified product classes. Three major classifications of racial groups will be discussed: African American, Asian, and Hispanic. The chapter incorporates difference in describing race-based market targeting versus ethnic-based brand usage. Ethnicity is defined in this chapter as self-categorization based on ancestry or country of origin. Consumer behavior research has examined how ethnicity influences product, brand, and retailer choice. The chapter discusses that market segmentation can lead to a type of market segregation. It suggests that for marketers in the United States, not only does race matter, but ethnicity does as well.

Self-Expansion Motivation and Inclusion of Brands in Self: Toward a Theory of Brand Relationships