Importance of the Ethnicity of First Generation Immigrants in Developing Marketing Strategies to Serve Indian Diaspora in the USA

This research study uses two theoretical scales from consumer behavior and social psychology to explore the notion o f ethnicity and arrive at strategic implications for marketers targeting the Indian diaspora in the United States. Empirical data was obtained from a sample o f customers in an ethnic diaspora, a validation o f the relationship between brand \ community integration scale and the Suinn-Lew ethnicity scale performed. The results o f this study contribute in introducing a respected scale in social psychology to the marketing literature, validating an existing scale o f brand community in the ethnic marketing context, and suggesting implications for future research with larger samples and scope. Findings o f the study are o f interest to Indian firm s utilizing marketing strategies to reach ethnic minorities within the country. In additions, firm s in other countries would find the results o f the study to be o f interest as they employ marketing strategies targeting the ethnic diaspora in the USA.