Ethnic marketing tailors advertising to specific consumer groups based on race, ethnicity, or culture. It can be positive or negative, with some companies exploiting stereotypes. The tactic aims to tap into untapped purchasing potential by aligning advertising messages to specific needs and interests of target groups.
Ethnic marketing is the process of designing product and advertising campaigns to appeal to certain consumer groups related to race, ethnicity or culture. It is a type of market segmentation that attempts to target specific groups with more targeted and appropriately presented messages. This type of marketing can be used for positive or negative business purposes.
Marketing introduces products to consumers and tries to get them to make a purchase. It’s a function of an integrated strategy that incorporates things like packaging and advertising to develop a product image and encourage consumer behavior based on that image. Companies have the option of treating all potential customers equally and tailoring the product image to what the majority would like or dividing the overall market into segments and devising different messages for each individual segment.
A company can segment a market based on various characteristics. For example, segmentations can be based on geographic location, gender, or age. One of the most effective, but sometimes controversial, segmentations is by ethnicity. Ethnic marketing attempts to tailor advertising and other marketing strategies to the interests and tastes of an identified ethnic group that is perceived to have untapped purchasing potential. In the United States, for example, popular ethnic segments include African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans.
The way ethnic marketing attempts to tap into the untapped buying potential of an ethnic group is by using special tactics designed to capture that segment’s attention. An ethnic marketing campaign targeting Hispanics might use Spanish instead of English for text and audio copy. Similarly, such an ad campaign could use Hispanic models, rather than the Caucasian models used in the main campaign targeting other consumers. These changes are designed to better align the advertising message to the specific needs and interests of the target group. The theory is to allow consumers to see themselves in the ad or someone they can relate to, rather than a stranger with nothing in common with their life experiences.
This type of marketing that highlights the perceived characteristics of a minority group can be used for positive or negative business purposes. In general, doing things like translating advertising into other languages and adding diversity to the advertising images presented is a positive marketing tactic that shows respect for the target group. Some companies, however, exploit stereotypes to promote negative images and behaviors. For example, some companies heavily target ethnic groups for alcohol and cigarette advertising, perpetuating the negative stereotype that minority groups spend more money on these types of unhealthy products than on more positive products. Other companies take general stereotypes and translate them into marketing material that can be perceived as offensive when applied universally.
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