ABSTRACT

Discussions of cultural diversity issues in the specialist literature are mostly from a demand side ethnic marketing perspective. Focus is on consumption behaviour involving ethnic minority consumers and minority ethnic groups. A somewhat mute role is afforded to suppliers to ethnic communities, although many of these are both ethnic minority consumers and entrepreneurs affiliated with a minority ethnic group.

Advocacy is presented for a more holistically supported analysis of market-related cultural diversity issues, via the introduction of substantial management literature dealing with ethnic entrepreneurship and ethnic minority business. The importance of accounting for the supply side is highlighted, embracing a more holistic analytical approach that entails the articulation of ethnic marketing with ethnic entrepreneurship.

It is concluded that, at least theoretically, ethnic marketing deployed by ethnic minority businesses targeting their co-ethnic group should be “naturally” ethnic-sensitive, hence likely to face less challenges and to hold a competitive advantage over other types of businesses, given “natural” socialization and proficiency in the co-ethnic group language, with service often delivered by co-ethnic employees. The expectation is that strategies and associated tactical activities will vary across ethnic minority businesses and other businesses without ethnicity connotations. Ethnic marketing needs to understand ethnic entrepreneurship.