Consumer Behavior of Immigrants in America:

America has long been considered as a melting pot where immigrants from all over the world bring their

old cultural characteristics and try to amalgamate with American cultural behavior. According to the 2016

census USA boosts of 43.7 million immigrants who are 13.5% of total US population (Zong, Batalova, &

Hallock, 2018). The majority of immigrants to the US have been from Asia and South America where

Mexicans, Indians, and Chinese are the leading foreign-born groups in the country. When immigrants start

to live in the US, they try to gel in with the American culture and consumption habit. This change in lifestyle

is called Acculturation and Acculturation refers to social/ psychological changes resulting from contacts

between individuals from different cultures during which immigrants acquire attitudes, behaviors, and

cultural identity of host and integrate them with their original cultures (Penaloza, 2009).

However, many 1st generation immigrant consumers often feel unlike from the population in the host

country on the acquisition and use of consumer goods. They try to preserve their original culture and show

a strong desire for everyday and unique products from the home country. However, to assimilate with

American society in public settings, sometimes immigrant consumers opt for the US made objects including

cars and clothing while at home food, media, etc. consumptions remain unchanged. Many studies have

shown that immigrants with monocultural identity look for brands that reflect consumers' distinct culture

(Dino & Cappellini, 2014).

Even though immigrants share a significant percentage of the US population, unfortunately, there are

various misconceptions regarding immigrant consumer segment. One of them is that the immigrant

population is grouped into only a few sections barring the sub-groups (Kaufman‐Scarborough, 2000). For

example, many big supermarkets carry just South American or Oriental products, thinking they have

covered entire ethnic groups. Since many immigrants' experience relatively slower assimilation into the

mainstream culture, it has created challenges as well as opportunities for marketers that stem from the

diversity of the subcultures associated with the many different ethnic immigrant groups. To meet these
challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities, marketers must gain a better understanding of the

unique consumption patterns of ethnic subcultures (Mathur, Guiry, & Tikoo, 2008).

Issues with Walmart, Lejune Drive, Springfield Store:

A big corporation like Walmart has over 5000 stores nationwide, and many locations are highly populated

by the immigrants. In Springfield, IL we have 2 Walmart stores and both places are visited by a large

number of immigrants. Due to the proximity, the Lejune Drive store is highly visited by students of UIS.

UIS has a good number of international and immigrant students mostly coming from China and the Indian

subcontinent. A large number of international students live on and around the campus, and Walmart is the

closest store to do grocery shopping. However, the store lacks tremendously in stocking up ethnic goods

and which has resulted in losing a good chunk of customers. Many customers now opt for online shopping

and other specialty stores avoiding Walmart which was once used to be a popular choice for many. Walmart

cannot get back that segment just by offering ethnic products at a lower price as their main competitors are

local specialty stores and the growing e-commerce.

My Solution to The Problem

To attract the immigrant segment, Walmart can implement a personalized marketing approach to seize the

immigrant or international student pool, as opposed to a mass audience all at once. The Walmart close to

UIS can include essential Indian grocery items as International student part mostly consists of Indian

students. There is only one Indian store in whole Springfield which is quite far from the campus and sells

goods at comparatively higher rates. Hence, most of the time students avoid shopping there as the location

is not nearby and students do not always have the luxury of spending too much on grocery. Walmart can

surely take advantage of that void and offer such items at a lower price.

Nowadays offering low price cannot be the only selling point and so Walmart needs to deliver unique

courses that the customer will not experience anywhere else. Possible approaches to enable are-
In yesteryears, companies used to conduct surveys, but in recent times Big Data has taken that place.

Walmart is already a big organization with the advanced tools to obtain data from mobile communication

devices, social media and e-commerce platforms. Data help to measure which individuals in this highly

targeted segment are more willing to spend money on Walmart and their shopping pattern.

Walmart can come up with the option where customers can select their ethnicity on the website and mobile

app. Through this Walmart will show only specialty items of that selected group along with regular

products. Simplifying the whole process will make the purchase fun and keep it slowing because fewer

steps mean fewer opportunities for abandoning the process.

Food is a big part of every society, and it carries sentimental value. The deli in the store can introduce ethnic

food items of different cultures around the world and can keep the most popular treats (focusing mostly

Indian) in their everyday menu. This will surely make the students come to Walmart as the store will serve

both grocery and freshly cooked food.

Another great way to offer the products is by monthly subscription plans. Like bundle offers, subscription

plans should have cheaper price tags (starting price $20) with very minimal or no shipping cost (No shipping

cost for clients with 3 months+ subscription plans). Subscribers can fill up their boxes with 4/ 8/ 12 ethnic

items including snacks and essential ethnic ingredients, and the box will also provide them with easy-to-

make recipes (according to the choice of ethnic cuisine). Customers will be able to write reviews about

what they like or dislike about the program and what changes can be made to get more personalized box

next time.

Another digital step by Walmart can be recruiting Influencers. These days advertising dollars are best spent

on social media personalities as young people love to watch "Shop with Me at (Store Name)" vlogs (video

blogs) posted by the Influencers. Unlike traditional advertisements, these kinds of videos are interesting to

hold the viewers and can be used to present the latest products and offers in a very casual but effective

manner.
 Once, Walmart starts to become the go-to place within a small but vocal Indian as well as other international

student community; the store can start sponsoring college programs. Walmart can arrange workshops at the

college premises to build customers knowledge who are interested in ethnic items by providing product

demos. Even though, Walmart is one of the largest and most popular brands in the world, sponsoring

college events of International Student Associations will convey the message that Walmart cares for

everybody, every race, age, and ethnicity no matter what the size of the community is.

Hyper-local targeting and niche community engagement can pay rich dividends for Walmart, that know

who their core audience is for that location and where they live, digitally and physically.

Through micro marketing, Walmart can capture not only Indian but also the international student

community, who once turned their back from Walmart and can eventually convert these customers into

loyal and repeated clients to the business.

Refences:

Dino, A., & Cappellini, B. (2014). How Immigrants Travel with their Home Brands: Brand Relationships and

Acculturation. Advances in Consumer Research, 42, 288–293.

Kaufman‐Scarborough, C. (2000). Asian‐American consumers as a unique market segment: fact or fallacy?

Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(3), 249–262. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760010329247

Mathur, S., Guiry, M., & Tikoo, S. (2008). Intergenerational Culture-Specific Consumption Differences Between

Asian Indian Immigrants in the U.S. and Indians Residing in an Indian Metropolis. Journal of International

Consumer Marketing, 20(3/4), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530802129276

Penaloza, L. (2009). Acculturation and Consumer Behavior: Building Cultural Bridges Through Consumption.

Advances in Consumer Research, 36, 16–19.

Zong, J., Batalova, J., & Hallock, J. (2018, February 2). Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and

Immigration in the United States. Retrieved July 11, 2018, from

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-

united-states