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ch 61 (2008) 83–90

Journal of Business Resear

Triple acculturation: The role of African Americans in the consumeracculturation of Kenyan immigrants

L. Wakiuru Wamwara-Mbugua a,⁎, T. Bettina Cornwell b,1, Gregory Boller c,2

a Wright State University, Department of Marketing and International Business, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435, United Statesb UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia

c Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis,Memphis, TN 38152, United States

Received 24 February 2006; accepted 3 April 2007

Abstract

The role of a subcultural group in the consumer acculturation of Kenyan immigrants is examined. Our findings demonstrate that particularimmigrant consumer behaviors are influenced by triple acculturation forces: dominant; subcultural and original culture. We find that immigrantsdo not arrive in the United States aware of their need to acculturate to a subcultural group. Critical incidents alert the immigrants of the need toacculturate to the African American subculture in order to fulfill some basic consumer goals such as accessing hair care, nightclub entertainmentand church services. Progressively, immigrants begin to incorporate triple acculturation forces in their consumer decision making. The immigrantslearn to be innovative as well as to engage in satisficing as they navigate the new consumption environment. This research contributes toacculturation studies by extending the models of Berry (Berry JW. Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In: Padilla AM, editor. Acculturation:theory, model and some new findings, Boulder, CO: Westview Press; 1980. pp. 9–25) as well as Penaloza (Penaloza L. Altravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings: a critical ethnographic exploration of the consumer acculturation of Mexican immigrants. J Consum Res 1994;2:32–54[June])by incorporating the role of a subcultural group in this process.© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Consumer acculturation; Immigrant adaptation; Subcultural; African

1. Introduction

This research examines the consumer acculturation processof immigrants to both a dominant culture and a relevantsubculture. As nations face growing cultural diversity, there isan increasing need to understand the role of subcultures.Supporting, empirical work in this study is based on the role ofthe African American subculture in the consumer acculturationof Kenyan immigrants. The experience of African immigrantsin the United States differs from that of other non-white groupsbecause of the existence of a large African American populationand the complexities of race relations. Historically, the legacy of

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 937 775 4579; fax: +1 937 775 3952.E-mail addresses: lwamwara@wright.edu (L.W. Wamwara-Mbugua),

b.cornwell@business.uq.edu.au (T.B. Cornwell), gboller@memphis.edu(G. Boller).1 CDC: Tel.: +617 3365 8295; fax: +617 3365 6988.2 Tel.: +1 901 678 2667; fax: +1 901 678 2685.

0148-2963/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.04.011

slavery and racial discrimination has shaped the experiences ofAfrican Americans. Although many Africans may not directlyshare this history, they are nonetheless impacted by its legacy. Inlight of these facts, an examination of black immigrantacculturation is important.

Acculturation studies typically examine the acculturation ofimmigrants to the dominant group. One finds little mention ofsubcultural group roles in the acculturation process. Most workexamines the degree to which immigrants maintain theiroriginal culture and the degree to which they adjust to thedominant culture. Assimilation, the oldest model of accultur-ation (Gordon, 1964) assumes that immigrants will follow a uni-directional (i.e. toward the norms of the majority), progressivelearning mode, in becoming more like their counterparts in thehost country (Tse and Lee, 1994).

In contrast to assimilation, Berry (1980) examines whetherimmigrants want to retain the culture of origin and desire tohave positive relations with the host culture. Berry's resulting

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typology suggests four outcomes: integration, separation, mar-ginalization and assimilation. Research suggests that immi-grants adopting an integration strategy are the best adjusted.Findings are largely predicated on the immigrant's adjustmentprocesses towards the dominant group. Of interest however, iswhether immigrants dissimilar to the dominant culture butsimilar by marker (e.g. visual appearance, accent) to a relevantsubcultural group also exhibit similar mental health adjustmentbenefits. Researchers such as Hirschman (2001) and Wamwara-Mbugua (2003) have begun to question the applicability of thedual acculturation framework to non-white immigrants.

Bashi and McDaniel (1997, p. 672) illustrate this pointeloquently: “Immigrants are forced to assimilate as members ofdifferent racial groups because of racial stratification.” Thusimmigrants from Europe will typically be assimilated into“White” America, while immigrants from elsewhere will be fitinto various categories of “otherness.” In the United States,racial assimilation of immigrants of various national origins iscentral to construction of the racial hierarchy. McDaniel (1995)suggests that immigrants do not come to America raciallyclassified in the American sense. As documented by Penaloza(1994) and Oswald (1999), most non-white immigrants find thatthe dominant culture has an ascribed identity for them.

1.1. Consumer acculturation

Upon immigration, immigrants must quickly learn newconsumption behaviors (Tse and Lee, 1994). Marketers havesought to understand immigrant consumer behavior by inves-tigating different aspects of ethnic consumer behavior (Larocheet al., 1997a; Oswald, 1999, Penaloza, 1994). Extant researchhas made significant contributions towards our understandingof ethnic consumer behavior. However, with the exception ofPenaloza's work(1994), most of the research does not inves-tigate the process of consumer acculturation which she definesas: “the general process of movement and adaptation to theconsumer cultural environment in one country by persons fromanother country.” Penaloza (1994) develops a comprehensivemodel of consumer acculturation which demonstrates that im-migrants have two conflicting sets of consumer acculturationagents: one corresponding to their culture of origin and onecorresponding to the existing culture. Although Penaloza'sstudy incorporates acculturation agents from the culture oforigin as well as mainstream U.S. culture, the work does notexamine the role of a third entrenched subcultural group. Thus,this work extends Penaloza's model by incorporating accultur-ation agents from a subculture. Incorporation of this third cul-tural element is timely since many countries are developingstrong subcultural groups within the dominant cultural frame;examples include the Turkish subculture in Germany, theIndonesian subculture in the Netherlands and the Asian sub-culture within Australia. Currently, U.S. Census Data showsthat of the 300 million U.S. residents, one third is non-white(U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Because of lower birth rates amongwhites and increased immigration of non-white immigrants it ispredicted that by the year 2050, whites will constitute ap-proximately 50% of the U. S. population (Armas, 2004).

2. Research methodology

The sample is comprised of Kenyans living in a metropolitancity in the southern United States. Against the backdrop of alarge African American population in the city, this context findsKenyan immigrants to be a highly interconnected and generallycohesive group. According to a 2003 article by the Institute forInternational Education, one out of every 5 African studentsenrolled in U.S. Colleges and Universities in the 2001/2002academic year was from Kenya. In addition, Kenya is thesixteenth leading country of origin for students in the UnitedStates. Thus, most of the informants originally arrived in theUnited States as students.

Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted. Informantswere purposively sampled using the criteria of age, gender,duration of stay in the U.S. etc. The informants range in age from18 to 51 years. None of the informants was Muslim and theirduration of stay in the United States ranged from 2 months to14 years. Fifty percent (fifteen) of the respondents were married.All interviews were conducted primarily in English, in theinformants' homes. Interviewing began with general questionsand progressed to more specific questions about the immigrants'adjustment processes. The interview protocol covered criticalincidents and progressive acculturation behaviors. Interviewswere undertaken until saturation through informant redundancywas attained (Celsi, Rose and Leigh, 1993).

Consistent with Wallendorf and Belk (1989), triangulationacross sources and researchers sought to ensure trustworthinessof the data. Integrity of the data collected in interpretiveresearch depends upon the practice of proper interviewtechniques (Wallendorf and Belk, 1989). To this end,informants were offered and provided with anonymity. Inorder to build trust and openness with informants, the fieldresearcher revealed some aspects of her acculturation experi-ence (cf. Wallendorf and Belk, 1989), and disguised accounts ofother informant responses were provided in order to facilitatethe openness and ease with the field researcher. Further theplanned naivete technique (Wallendorf and Belk, 1989) wasemployed.

In-depth interview data was analyzed for emerging themesusing the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss,1967). The data analysis procedures used are consistent with thesuggestions of Spiggle (1994). Emergent themes were presentedto co-authors to check for consistency of interpretation and tothe Kenyan immigrants to check if the interpretation representedtheir lived experience. In addition, the field researcher partici-pated in various Kenyan community events.

The analysis presented here seeks to develop an understand-ing of the role of subculture in consumer acculturation, thus,both critical incidents and subcultural acculturation in the pro-gressive learning mode (Tse and Lee, 1994), are considered.Berry et al.(1992) state: “On immigration to the new country,there can be some dramatic and sometimes overwhelmingcontact experiences followed by psychological reactions.” Thusthe role of critical incidents has been implicitly included in pastresearch but not isolated as a unique contributor to the ac-culturation process. The critical incident technique (CIT) was

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originally developed by Flanagan (1954) in the context of jobperformance, but has been utilized in a number of contexts(Bitner et al., 1994) including consumer behavior (Mallalieu,1999) and in understanding gift giving behavior (Ruth, Otnesand Brunel, 1999). The technique allows self-report ofmemorable experiences within a social context. Reports ofthese incidents support examination of what led up to thebehavior, consequences of the behavior and the degree ofcontrol experienced in the behavior. The CIT technique isflexible and can be adapted for different situations. A modifiedcritical incident technique is used by asking the informants torecall their first meaningful experiences with particular con-sumption situations.

3. Findings

Interviews show that Kenyan immigrants do not arrive inthe United States aware of their need to acculturate to theAfrican American subcultural group. Findings here demon-strate that critical incidents alert immigrants of the need toacculturate to the subcultural group. Three exemplars of cri-tical incidents in areas important to subsequent choice andlearning are offered, namely, hair care, church services andentertainment.

After critical incidents have passed and immigrants becomeaware of their triple acculturation requirements, findings showthat immigrants are then molded by their various culturalexperiences. Progressive learning of immigrants shows apastiche immigration pattern with retained preferences fromtheir home culture, acculturation to the dominant culture and tothe subculture. Progressive learning in the areas of music andclothing choice is considered subsequent to the discussion ofcritical incidents.

3.1. Critical incident — hair care

The first critical incident regards access to hair careservices. Unlike other services, hair care services are neededsoon after immigration. Hair delivery service has been foundto be highly interactive, involving intimate proxemics and isaffectively charged (Price and Arnould, 1999). Hence, this isan excellent context in which to examine the subcultural groupacculturation. Findings suggest that one of the ways thatKenyans learn about the importance of African Americans intheir consumer acculturation is when they first look for a hairdresser or barber. They find that their race and ethnicitydetermine where they can get these services. They discover adual delivery system of services such as hair dressers whocater to African hair and others who do not. Informants wereasked to recall the first time that they went to a hairdresser orbarber.

Ali (male): The very first time I had my hair cut in America Iwent to [name]. I also learned very quickly that's not theplace to go because they don't really deal with African–American hair, so they didn't have proper, tools to cut the,fade. Then after that, pretty much word of mouth, friends

directing me where to go, you need to cut hair you need to goto a black neighborhood.... Now I do it myself.

Ali said that his Kenyan friends helped him figure out whereto go for a haircut. Although his original preference was to buy aservice, since this involved some travel, he opted to do hishaircutting himself. Similarly, comments of Omariba illustratehis naivete when looking for a barber.

Omariba (male): The first time I wanted a haircut, I just sawhaircut shop, I got in there and found a white man, that saidthey don't cut black hair, so I didn't know any other place togo, so I asked my brother-in-law where he cuts his hair. Hesaid, hey, you don't cut it near here, so he took me someplacedowntown.Researcher: What about now?Omariba: I think I asked another student who also had thesame problem.Researcher: And are these black students?Omariba: Yeah, black students. They were familiar with thisplace, they told me there was somebody just close here, thatcan cut your hair, so I went there and since then he has beencutting my hair.

Clearly, Omariba and Ali's comments indicate that the im-migrants were unaware of the dual existence of hair salons andas a result they initially made mistakes. Evidently, withoutaccessing the African American salons or without recommen-dations from their black friends, accessing hair care serviceswould initially present some difficulty for the immigrants.Through their experiences with accessing the hair care services,the immigrants discover that they have to access AfricanAmerican establishments in order to satisfy some of their con-sumer needs. The experiences of Mutumia below show thatwhen the immigrants don't acculturate to the subcultural group,they receive substandard services and may even suffer somephysiological damage.

Mutumia (female): The very first time I went for my hair tobe done I went to a black American lady and she did my hairokay. And I liked the way she did my hair, but after that sinceit was a little bit far from where I stay, I tried to look for abeauty shop within where I am staying and so I ended upgoing to a white ladies salon and a white person did my hairand it was done different than the way it was done by theblack lady and different than the way it is done in mycountry, and different from the way I would do it. Becausewhat I realized a white person does not know much of blackhair, so, it did not come out right and that really bothered meand also the chemicals that she used to apply on my hair,almost destroyed my hair. Right now I do my hair.

Due to the hurdle of having to drive far away to get access to anAfrican American stylist, Mutumia has removed herself from themarketplace and has resorted to styling her own hair. Theexperiences of these three immigrants are not unique; in criticalincidents, once the immigrant learns of the dual delivery systems,

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choice may be for one or the other type of service, or to opt outbut, clearly the need for a choice amongst previously undelineatedalternatives is made clear. In these passages, immigrants areengaged in satisficing (interview with H. Simon, Roach 1979,p. 8–9). One could also argue that immigrants are, as a result oflimitations related to being between two acculturating forces,becoming innovative and in this instance, learning to cut theirown hair. Bianchi (1990, p. 150) argues that satisficing is oftenunsatisfactory and the continued uncertainty from availablealternatives becomes “positively, the source of innovation andchange.” Thus critical incidents are change agents for immigrantswhen they are willing to innovate or learn new skills.

3.2. Critical incident — church

Church selection also alerts the immigrant of the need toacculturate to the subcultural group. For religiously orientedimmigrants, the selection of a place of worship is important andhappens soon after immigration. As Muñiz and Shau (2005)noted: “Religion is one of humanity's most enduring creations…Religion is fundamental to human existence. It endures.” Thevast majority of U.S. religious institutions have eitherpredominantly white or black members. As Howell (1996)noted: “One estimate—is that the country has 300,000 pre-dominantly white and 65,000 predominantly black churches.”Experiences that African immigrants find in a white church arestarkly different from that of a black church. Of the thirtyKenyans interviewed, fourteen attended a predominantly whitechurch, eight attended a predominantly black church, five didnot attend church on a regular basis, and three Kenyans attendeda mixed church. When informants were asked about their firstattempts to find a church, their experiences show a new criticalunderstanding of the cultural landscape.

Onyango (male): The first, church I attended, it seemed 90%white. The first Sunday in [state], the church was 100%white, I was the only black. The small church I am attendingnow, it is 90% white. On a few Sundays, some two blacksattended. That was one of my main cultural shocks here, forit to be 100% white, that was very shocking to me. I havealmost asked myself is that Christian? That has reallybothered me, are they not reaching out to everybody?

At the time of the interview, Onyango had been in the UnitedStates for less than 3 months and despite his obvious discomforthe was still attending a predominantly white church. Hence,immigrants gain cultural understanding through the process ofchoosing their home church. Jomo has resolved some of theconflicts addressed by Onyango by attending a predominantlyblack church.

Jomo (male): I had a hard time when I was trying to look fora church and I found that the kinds of ways people worship ina white church was different from a black church. I like theway the blacks carried on their services, as compared to thewhites and also the acceptance generally into the church, Ifelt more at home with the African American community as

compared to the whites because I also went to the whitechurch and it was different, slow, but it was okay, it was stillgood but I preferred the blacks. So, far I still attend thatchurch and I get involved a lot with the activities, so thatmakes me feel pretty much comfortable with them.

In the transcripts, immigrants express feelings of uneasinesswith the different churches and in this decision issues of raceand ethnicity are ever present. Immigrants were in some cases asuncomfortable in the African American churches as the whitechurches. Ali who attends a predominantly white church saidthat he did not attend a black church because of the nature of theservice.

Ali (male): My experience in African–American churches,it's a whole different scenario. They are long, loud singingand loud. I guess I don't know whether I'm too traditional,but church was strictly church, nothing else involved with it,it's not a show.

Guntry and Rousseau (1994) find that messages from criticalincidents serve several functions such as cueing individuals asto what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior; signalingcore values or revealing hidden agendas. In religion, immigrantslearn that race and ethnicity are elements of decision making.Hence the choice of church is impacted by their race andperhaps as Guntry and Rousseau suggest, a hidden agenda.Ochieng described his experience of being disinvited from thechurch of his choice.

Ochieng (male): When I first went to [university], I had a badexperience. My host was Caucasian, a very nice person,married and had one child. They warmly welcomed me andthe following day they took me to church. It was apredominantly white church and being naïve and comingfrom Kenya, I said this is just within the college and this iswhere I will be going. So I made it my home and before toolong the rector that's in charge approached me and said ifyou're looking for a church home I don't think this will be anideal church for you. So I was so hurt, I think it was no doubtracial, that's how I interpreted that.

Despite this experience, Ochieng continues to attend apredominantly white church. This experience influenced hischoice of church, on the one hand, but did not affect his choice ofthe race of the congregation. These examples demonstrate thatthe immigrants have to consider subcultural group acculturationwith regards to their choice of church. The important point hereis that black immigrants have to consciously make a choiceabout which church to attend and in this decision the immigrantsmake a movement toward acculturation that emphasizes eithersubcultural or dominant group culture.

3.3. Critical incident — night clubs

Immigrant choice of a nightclub represents a third area forcritical incidents to occur because of the socially constituted nature

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of interaction in these venues. Nightclub attendance may not occurimmediately and thus enables study of a critical incident thatoccurs with more experience and learning. Over time, immigrantshave learned the importance of race in their marketplace choices.Consequently, racial considerations appear to impact their initialchoice of nightclubs. Interestingly, manyKenyan immigrants go towhite night clubs rather than African American clubs. There istension in the choice despite tending to havemore information thanin previous critical incidents. Safety, form of dress, and type ofmusic played in clubs formed the basis of choice.

Zawadi (female): I go mostly to white clubs. I like the kind ofmusic they have, it's not rap. I don't like rap so it's kind of likethe pop-technomusic. And you can dance the way you want todance and it doesn't matter. Unlike black clubs, everybody iswatching what you are doing. It's all about what you are doingoutside, your dress. So I'm more comfortable in white clubsand most of them, they wear sandals and jeans, nobody caresand nobody questions you. But when you go to a black club,everybody is dressed, it's all about how you look.

Makena (female): I go to white clubs. I tried to go to blackAmerican clubs. I only went once and I found it too wild, toofast, it's too crazy. I'm scared. I'm not comfortable. And oneI don't really like the music but in the white clubs I felt, I wasjust comfortable. They're playing the type of music that Iknow and listened to and I feel safer.

In some cases, the immigrants choose to go to mixed clubsbecause they were uncomfortable in either a predominantlywhite or predominantly black nightclub.

Mambo (male): Usually it will be a mixture, probably likehalf and half. They will be playing music that appeals to bothwhites and blacks. Obviously it is white people who arewilling to associate with black people or vice versa so that isthe kind of atmosphere that I like. I don't wanna be in an allwhite club, the little black spot in a whole rice field, and alsoI don't wanna be in a predominately black club where allpeople are just acting crazy and this kind of stuff, I just like itto be in balance.

Riziki is not comfortable in any environment other than aKenyan dance for the following reasons.

Riziki (female): I don't go to any clubs, unless it is a Kenyanthing. I have gone to clubs before, but I would end up notenjoying because the clubs are either white or black. If you goto a black club then it is so packed and you are not comfortable,if you go to awhite club then you and a fewpeople are probablythe only black people in there and the music they are playing issome rock music, so I don't, I only go to Kenyan ones.

Although Kenyans who went to white clubs cited safety asone of their reasons for this choice, others felt that the whiteclubs were more unsafe because of one being a minority in thoseclubs.

Daktari (male): Most of my friends are comfortable withblacks so I just go to black clubs. The white clubs are moresafer for the most part as far as the guns come, you can saythey are safer, but then at the same time, it's not safe coz youare the minority in there so, the minority is small but theyhave enough numbers to make the room feel like you havebeen shot.

For those discussing night club attendance, most immigrantseither patronize the black or white American nightclubs or theydo not go to any nightclubs and attend Kenyan dances. Clearly,this selection requires a triple acculturation consideration sinceany choice is movement towards the minority, the dominant ororiginal culture.

Undoubtedly, many triple acculturation contexts with im-migrant, dominant and subcultural influences abound, withcritical incidents of importance that direct future acculturationpatterns (e.g., religious rights, gender specific issues). The pointto be made here is that critical incidents may serve to bringawareness of the importance of subcultural acculturation and toinitiate the process because this is required for basic consumergoal fulfillment. Interestingly, this may require satisficing orinnovation when alternatives are not ideal. When Kenyanimmigrants come to the United States, they must learn how toaccess services and consumption patterns that take intoconsideration the African American subculture in a very pro-found way. Importantly, their accounting of the AfricanAmerican subculture in their immigration process may be arequirement that they had not envisaged and as importantly, is arequirement that any immigrant might face depending on thecomposition of the cultural environment. In sum, recognition ofthe need for triple acculturation may come with a first criticalincident that alerts the immigrant to subcultural requirements.

3.4. Progressive learning

Through a series of critical incidents, immigrants learn thatin order to satisfy basic consumer goals they must incorporateacculturation agents from their culture of origin, the dominantculture and the subcultural group as well as others. In theassimilation model, the greater the progression towards theattitudes and values of the host, the greater the degree ofacculturation (Laroche et al., 1997b). For certain immigrants,the host is inclusive not only of the dominant culture but also arelevant subcultural group. Hence, triple acculturation worksthrough the same progressive learning mechanisms as doesacculturation to the dominant culture (Kim, 1979). That is,immigrants over time, come to learn of subcultural preferences,and they accept or reject these in a similar way to the way thatdominant culture behaviors are incorporated or ignored. Thetwo progressive learning patterns discussed are with regard tochoice of music and dressing style.

3.4.1. Progressive learning: musicBohlman (2005) noted: “music may represent a self-identity

that is very individual or a group identity that expresses thecommon culture of a larger collective.” As such cultural

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background and self-concept influence music preferences. Belk(1984) has demonstrated the role that possessions play indefining, securing, and communicating one's identity in largescale modern cultures. This thinking regarding the role ofpossessions is easily transferred to the role that choice of musicplays in identity construction and maintenance. Imani discussesthe gradual changes to her music preferences and ties this to herevolving identity.

Imani (female): I listen to a lot of gospel. My radio has 4stations. I have both African Americans' and the white folks.Before I used to listen more of the white people's music andradio than black because I could understand them better. Icould relate to them because that's what we were exposed toin high school. That's when the music was like what whitepeople sing, they sing the hymns and stuff like that. But nowthat I go to this black church I've gotten a little more black soI listen to the black stations.Gitonga (male): R & B, Rap Hip Hop. I guess it is probablyjust a black thing here. Back in Kenya we were verycomfortable listening to Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, and Iactually like some songs, like the Gambler. I still have that onCD. I am much more open to Kikuyu music, Lingala andNdombolo much more than I was back then. It was not coolto be caught listening to [Kenyan musician] full blast, but,now I am actually proud of it.Researcher: What changed your perspective?Gitonga: It is the exposure and what it denotes here. You arecountry, you are white.

Cornwell and Drennan (2004, p. 115) note “The intersectionof product and international context produces various potentialmeanings to be used in identity construction.” Therefore,Gitonga's consumption of country music in a U.S. contextproduces meanings that were otherwise unconnected to thisproduct in Kenya. According to Gitonga, in the U.S. theconsumption of country music connotes that one is white andcountry. Therefore, while he retains a CD with country music,he now listens to R&B, Rap and Hip Hop. Furthermore,Cornwell and Drennan (2004) have noted that individuals mustout of necessity craft or at the minimum consider the identityoptions available to them. Hence Gitonga crafts and considershis new identity by eliminating the consumption of countrymusic and incorporating Hip Hop music while simultaneouslygiving new meaning to his ethnic music. For Imani, music playsa role in the construction of a new identity (i.e. more black).Imani now listens to black radio stations and attends a blackchurch.

The ability of individuals to self-fashion an evolving identityhas been termed elective identity (Cornwell and Drennan,2004). Much of this identity is communicated through outwardappearance with clothing sometimes communicating thewearer's cultural background.

3.4.2. Progressive learning: clothingPenaloza (1994, p. 43) noted “clothing serves as bodily

protection, but it is also a means of cultural expression that

imperfectly indicates style, gender, social class and even nation-ality.” For Kenyan immigrants the clothing may not onlycommunicate their nationality but also their movement towardsthe African American culture. Therefore, when talking abouttheir sense of style, the informants mainly compared Kenyanpractices with those of African Americans and white Americans.

Gakuru (male): I dress more like an African American. BlackAmericans mostly like to wear baggy pants, sometimessagging, wearing the waist down and boots.White Americanslike straight pants and sport shoes, fitting clothes most of thetime.Iregi (male): My style is not African, it's not whiteAmerican, it's African–American. I wear things that I seeAfrican–Americans wearing. Most white people wear it butI'm more in style or in line with what African–Americans arewearing.

Halter (2000, p. 7) has noted: “ethnicity is increasinglymanifest through self-conscious consumption of goods andservices and, at the same time, these commodities assist innegotiating and enforcing identity differences.” The Kenyanimmigrants learn about the importance of their African clothingand its centrality to their evolving identity. The comments of theinformants demonstrate the change in their attitude towards theAfrican clothing. While the clothing may not have been centralto their identity in Kenya, in the U.S. the clothing has newmeaning and is linked to their identity as Kenyans.

Jomo: When I was back home, I was so much into thewestern kind of dressing coz, Africa is picking up a lot of thewesternized kind of clothing so, I was more into that butwhen I came here I realized that I am proud of my countryand I wear more of my African clothing.Ali (male): In Kenya I had some but I would never wear it. Iwould never wear a kitenge [Kenyan clothing]. But when Igot here and I literally realized that it was good and I got a lotof compliments I guess it all boils down to the fact ofbelonging, which is weird though that it takes you cominghere to now get that, become proud of where you are from.Ngina: I had two African outfits. But when you are there, theoutfits are there and many people wear them. You don't placeas much value on them as when you are here. Here you can'tget the clothing so you feel, that is part of your culture and soyou bring the clothes I knew that I wouldn't find them herebecause they are unique, so I wanted to have something thatwas part of my culture when I came here.

The views expressed by the immigrants are consistent withHalter (2000, p. 7) who notes: “through the consumption of ethnicgoods and services immigrants and their descendants modify andsignal ethnic identities in social settings no longer sharply or-ganized around ethnic group boundaries and the migrationexperience.” Through wearing African clothing the immigrantssignal their Kenyan identity to others. Interestingly, the im-migrants do notwear theKenyan clothing on a daily basis butmayexhibit what has been termed by Stayman and Deshpande (1989)

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as situational ethnicity. Mehta and Belk (1991) noted that Indianimmigrants had transitional objects which provided a sense ofsecurity and cultural identity that had been taken for granted inIndia. In wearing African clothing and listening to Kenyan musicthe immigrants symbolically experience a sense of security whilemaintaining their cultural identity.

In sum, the immigrants give new meaning to theiracculturation experiences. This process is impacted by theirpresent experiences as well as their recollection of life in Kenya.Baker et al.(2004) note: “While collective memories reside inthe material aspects of individuals' lives, it is not the objects thatcarry meaning; individuals “read [and] actively attributemeanings to . . . [these] objects” Straub 1993, p. 116). Thepast and objects from that past are “deconstructed” and“innovatively recreated” by groups of individuals (Straub1993, p. 120).” Thus, the country music, the African clothing,the night club attendance and other experiences described in thisresearch are deconstructed and given new meaning in themanner described by Baker et. al. (2004).

4. Contributions and conclusion

The findings of this research question the adequacy ofexisting models of consumer acculturation. Current models donot incorporate the important role of a subcultural group in theconsumer acculturation process. This research offers a signif-icant new contribution since the findings demonstrate that in thepresence of an important subcultural group with whichimmigrants must interact, immigrants will respond to tripleacculturation forces rather than only the two (home and host)that have previously been examined in both the acculturationand consumer behavior literatures. Extending the work ofPenaloza (1994) and Berry (1980) to incorporate subculturalinfluences further advances the understanding of immigrantadaptation to subcultural groups. Current population growthtrends in the United States point to the increases in non-whiteimmigrants. Undoubtedly as these populations increase, allimmigrants may have to incorporate acculturation forces fromthe dominant as well as the subcultural groups. Indeed,population projections for the U.S. indicate that in less than50 years, the United States will have no visible dominant group.As such the incorporation of models that understand accultur-ation as a process involving movement towards different groupsrather than one dominant group is consequently quite timely.

An additional contribution of this research is to suggest therole of critical incidents in shaping the immigrant's understand-ing of potential subcultural acculturation requirements. Flana-gan (1954) defined a critical incident as: “to be critical, anincident must occur in a situation where the purpose or intent ofthe act seems fairly clear to the observer and where itsconsequences are sufficiently definite to leave little doubtconcerning its effects.” The informants here were able to clearlyarticulate their first experiences of accessing hair care services,church services, night clubs and the effects of their decisionswere evident to them. Findings here show that those immigrantswho had negative outcomes at dominant group serviceproviders quickly learned that they had to understand offerings

targeting subcultural groups in order to make an informedchoice. Previous research has suggested that the messages thatindividuals derive from critical incidents may also includegeneralizability of these resulting behaviors to other situations(Guntry and Rousseau, 1994). Thus, from critical incidents suchas hair care, choice of church and others, the Kenyanimmigrants progressively learn of the necessity to acculturateto the subcultural group. While the immigrants learn of thenecessity to consider the subcultural group, they nonetheless donot become identical to the subcultural group. They maintainaspects of their original culture, acculturate aspects of thesubcultural group and finally the dominant culture. Clearly, asnations become more diverse, these triple acculturationmechanisms will be more evident. The process through whichthese triple forces influence the immigrant experiences willvary, depending upon the immigrant group and the subculturewith which they identify or with which they are identified byothers. Future research should address various forms of tripleacculturation. For example in the U.S., some immigratinggroups such as Hispanics may already have enclaves thatconstitute a distinctive subculture. The Kenyan immigrantsmust acculturate certain aspects of the African Americansubculture; yet in this case they have no unifying mother-tongue, food or customs. Hence, the process of subculturalgroup acculturation may be markedly different for immigrantshaving unifying enclaves and those without.

In conclusion, immigration is a transformative experience forthe immigrant and over a period of time immigration transformsthe very fabric of society. This has clearly been the case in theUnited States where the most current census data U.S. CensusBureau, 2000 revealed that 10.4% of the population, or 28.4million people were foreign-born residents. Non-white immi-grants experienced the most growth. Non-white immigrants facetriple acculturation forces as they undergo the transformationfrom native of a given country, to an immigrant of the U.S.Therefore, a better understanding of the way that immigrantssynthesize multiple acculturation forces will enable marketers tobetter serve the needs of immigrants. This might includebusinesses putting more emphasis on resolving culture basedperplexities that may plague certain of their customers. Thisresearch further highlights the need for education for immigrants,marketers and public policymakers. Undoubtedly, the educationof immigrants about the nuances of the U.S. marketplace willresult in enhanced consumer welfare through their knowledge ofproper channels to access needed goods and services. Further,educating consumers might enable them to avoid pitfalls in theconsumption environment. As stated previously, immigrants aretransformed as well as transform society hence future researchstudies should further investigate multiple acculturation forceswith other groups in order to enlarge the discussion on theacculturation processes in a world of elective identity andincreasing cultural diversity within nations.

Acknowledgement

The first author would like to thank the ACR Jagdish ShethFoundation and the Centre for International Business Education

90 L.W. Wamwara-Mbugua et al. / Journal of Business Research 61 (2008) 83–90

and Research at the University of Memphis for funding thisresearch.

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