The effects on marketing

According to a study conducted by Ipsos Reid, advertisements in the mother tongue of the target consumer would be more effective at capturing Chinese and South Asian audiences. Moreover, 63% of the Chinese people who participated in the study said they would be more inclined to promote companies that are involved in their local community.

But simply translating an advertisement that is targeted at a different audience is not enough, especially when trying to capture newcomers. A significant portion of them do not identify with the advertisements. The language and presence of actors from various cultural backgrounds is not sufficient to reach the different communities. Publicity needs to be designed or adapted to reflect the reality of your audience.

Prasad Rao, a specialist in ethnic marketing provides a concrete example of the ethnocultural impact on marketing: the concept of a hassle-free mortgage initiated by certain large banks is undoubtedly attractive for the average Canadian, but for South-Asians and the Chinese, for whom haggling to obtain the best price is part of their culture, this practice was not well received.

Source: http://jimmintz.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/marketing-to-canadians-of-south-asian-and-chinese-origin-a-hot-trend/ , http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/marketer/article.jsp?content=20070129_68441_68441 and http://www.consumerology.ca/Consumerology_Release_Mar2.pdf