ABSTRACT
Loyalty and ethnic networks are the foundation of relational ethnic marketing strategies. Emphasis is on the importance of ethnic minority business’ promotion to a perceived “preferred supplier” of the co-ethnic group, as a factor in the generation of co-ethnic consumers’ loyalty to the business and to the group. The distinctive factor is that the de facto consumer is the minority ethnic group rather than any one individual consumer. Hence, while individuals’ consumption of a service-product may be episodic, routine purchase occurs when all consumers in the group are considered.
From a supplier’s perspective, the decision whether to invest in a relationship with co-ethnic consumers depends on whether the lifetime value promised by their group converts into a substantial value opportunity that justifies the investment in developing and delivering ethnic-sensitive terms of exchange.
Becoming a preferred supplier to the co-ethnic group may justify competitive advantage that can be as sustainable as the resilience and stability of the group. If the business is able to sustain its performance as a preferred supplier, consumer loyalty may join with ethnic loyalty to make it difficult for competing businesses to gain even a testing of the service-product they have to offer.
