Arab-Muslim Americans’ personality riddle and consumer ethnocentrism

Abstract

This study aims to theorize the relationship between acculturation and consumer ethnocentrism for ethnic group minorities. Our study seeks to achieve two interrelated goals. The first is to explore key factors (ethnic identification, religious commitment, and patriotic feelings toward home country) that shape Arab-Muslim Americans’ acculturation level. The second is to extend the conceptual boundaries of consumer ethnocentrism by exploring acculturation impacts on Arab-Muslim Americans’ ethnocentric tendencies toward their home county, and toward Arab countries (co-ethnic countries). Data were collected from 168 Arab-Muslim Americans living in the US Northeast Region. We found that Arab-Muslim Americans’ ethnic identification, religious commitment, and patriotism drive significant negative influences on their acculturation process. The findings lend credence to our postulation of a negative influence of the level of Arab-Muslim Americans’ acculturation on their ethnocentric tendencies toward home country, thus further corroborating the notion that immigrants’ home-country ethnocentrism can be predicted on their acculturation levels.

Keywords:

• Consumer ethnocentrism
• acculturation
• Arab-Americans
• immigrants
• religiosity