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