Recent waves of immigration have increased the focus on acculturation as an important factor for understanding consumer behavior and segmenting minority markets (Gorney, 2007). Research suggests, for example, that acculturation has a moderating effect on attitudes toward advertising (Deshpande et al., 1986) and the models featured in advertising (Ueltschy and Krampf, 1997) as well as on the comparative persuasion of TV commercials in different languages (Roslow and Nicholls, 1996). Acculturation also appears to moderate a variety of subcultural influences on behavior, including spousal or family roles in consumer decision making (Ganesh, 1997, Ogden, 2005 and Webster, 1994), the weights given to attributes in the choice process (Kara and Kara, 1996), coupon usage (Hernandez and Kaufman, 1991), brand loyalty (Podoshen, 2006), the purchase of prestige products (Deshpande et al., 1986) and conspicuous consumption (Chen et al., 2005) as well as consumption patterns in general (Wallendorf and Reilly, 1983).
This abundance of research might suggest that the role of acculturation in consumer behavior has been firmly established in the literature. Instead, researchers have started to recognize the limitations of prior acculturation studies and the challenge of acculturation research in general (see, for example, Ogden et al., 2004). Chief among concerns is the issue of measurement. Instead of adopting a single measure of acculturation, researchers have relied on a variety of measures, which, while seemingly demonstrating a high level of external validity, are not strongly grounded in theory and have not been rigorously tested. These measures have included length of stay in the country, type and extent of interpersonal communications with members of the culture, media usage, language(s) spoken, reference group influences, extent or likelihood of intermarriage, and cultural identification, among others (see, for example, Kang and Kim, 1998, Laroche et al., 1998, Peñaloza, 1989 and Valencia, 1985).
A solution for this problem may be found in the cross-cultural psychology literature or, more specifically, in the Cultural Life Style Inventory (CLSI), a measurement scale developed by Mendoza (1994) and inspired by Berry's (1980) model of acculturation. While the Berry model has been well recognized in the marketing literature (see, for example, Askegaard et al., 2005, Holland and Gentry, 1999, Ogden et al., 2004 and Podoshen, 2006), the CLSI has not been adopted by researchers. One reason may be its 28-item length. Shorter scales are normally preferred in consumer research as they allow researchers to include a wider variety of measures in their studies without adversely affecting response rates or inducing fatigue. This is particularly important for measures used as covariates, as most of the questionnaire is typically reserved for the main constructs of interest (Richins, 2004).
In this paper, we advocate using the CLSI as a segmentation tool in marketing, as it demonstrates a high level of reliability and validity and is based on a theoretically sound model of acculturation. We recognize, however, that the length of the scale makes it disadvantageous for use in many consumer studies. With this in mind, we have identified a highly reliable and valid short version of the CLSI, resulting in an easy-to-administer, theory-based measurement tool that has the potential to dramatically increase our understanding of the role of acculturation in consumer behavior and decision-making.
