Investigating the Consumption of Ethnically Disparate Products

Ethnic diversity of the U.S. population has continuously been increasing during the past decade. Accordingly, U.S. retailers have been communicating to specific ethnic groups by offering culturally accommodated products. However, recent market trend in the U.S. suggests that such products are appealing to consumers beyond its target ethnic group. That is, an increasing number of U.S. consumers are purchasing products that are ethnically disparate. Despite the above, no study to date has investigated the specific behavior as a separate and independent phenomenon, thus the drivers of the phenomenon is yet to be fully identified. The current study attempted to resolve the research gap by addressing the following research questions; what values do consumers seek when purchasing ethnically disparate products (EDPs)? and what are the antecedents of those values