Virginie Silhouette-Dercourt and Christel de LassusSource: Int. Journal of Market Research, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2016Downloaded from WARC

Using Greimas' semiotics in ethnic consumer research

With a rapidly growing number of consumers experiencing migration around the world, the need fornew research methodologies to understand ethnic consumption becomes more pressing for managersoperating in global markets. The objective of this contribution is to show that Greimasian semiotics is avery relevant interpretive framework to capture the symbolic and dynamic dimensions of ethnicity. Inthe context of a three-cities research programme (Paris, Berlin, Kuala Lumpur), we use the spatialidentity semiotic square to interpret consumers' discourses in the context of dominated and non-dominated acculturation experiences. We show that informants' discourses are structured around fouridentity anchors and that dual culture consumers use products, brands, ingredients and retailenvironments to construct their identities. Managing two spatial reference points within a coherent selfcan be, at times, challenging for consumers coming from 'third' or 'first' world countries. The issue iseven more pressing for ethnic consumers who experience discrimination, since they are constantlyreminded of their difference. This research confirms the relevance of semiotics, in terms of marketresearch methodology, for grasping the deeper symbolic dimensions of ethnic consumers' discourse.

Virginie Silhouette-Dercourt

Sorbonne Paris Cité University, CEPN, Centre Marc Bloch

Christel de Lassus

Paris-Est University, IRG

IntroductionIn a world of more than seven billion inhabitants, around one billion are currently experiencing mobility at anintra-national (75%) or international level (25%) (Wihtol de Wenden 2012, p. 10). Traditional ‘south’ to ‘north’migration (63 million) is now accompanied by ‘south’ to ‘south’ migration (62 million), and the development ofspecific regional migration systems (for example, Europe as opposed to North America or southern Asia) is adefining feature of global 21st-century migration (Wihtol de Wenden 2012, p. 10). Migration has consequentlybecome more diverse and complex, connecting far-reaching diasporic communities living in different parts of theworld. For example, in Europe, neighbouring countries such as France and Germany have comparableproportions of ‘ethnic’ consumers,1 but the composition of this share is very different in terms of origins.

Furthermore, increased European integration means more mobility among intra-EU citizens with, for example, agrowing number of Erasmus students and bi-national citizens experiencing acculturation.2 On the other hand, anemerging economy such as Malaysia, placed in a different regional migration system, has long lived with a verylarge stock of ‘ethnic’ consumers of Chinese origin, who migrated there in the first half of the 20th century andagain after the Chinese revolution of 1949.

Given the growing number of migrants, market research focusing on ethnic consumers is bound to become avery active and dynamic part of market research companies’ business. But, at the same time, because ethnicityis a complex phenomenon, both symbolic and dynamic, it requires new and innovative qualitative researchmethodologies to address its specificities and build adequate marketing strategies on a cross-cultural basis.

The aim of this paper is to show the relevance of Greimasian semiotics as an interpretive methodology in ethnicconsumer research to account for the many dimensions of ethnicity and its impact on consumption. Following deSaussure, Greimas uses linguistics to develop a method for analysing discourses. One of his tools, the semioticsquare, is a visual representation of the articulation of an opposition (Courtés 1991, p. 152). It can be usedstatically but also dynamically, in a ‘butterfly wing’ manner.

In the first part of the paper, we consider the relevance of Greimasian semiotics in the context of ethnicconsumer research. In the second part, we present the semiotic square we constructed3 and show how we useit to analyse consumers’ discourses across three countries.4 In the third and final part, we discuss themanagerial contributions of Greimasian semiotics as an interpretive framework for the study of culturally diverseconsumers.

Greimasian semiotics in the context of ethnic consumer research

We put forward two key arguments in support of our proposal that Greimasian semiotics is a highly relevantmethodology for conducting research on ethnic consumption: the first is that ethnic consumption is a highlysymbolic activity; the second concerns the fact that ethnicity is a process, and the absence of an interpretivemethodology to account for this key feature.

Ethnicity as symbolic activity

Ethnicity, or the feeling of belonging to a culture of origin, is one of the multi-facets of an individual’s identity(Berry et al. 2006, p. 3). In the marketing literature, ethnicity and its impact on consumption behaviour has beenapproached using three different acculturation frameworks or models (Luedicke 2011). The main hypothesis ofthe first (assimilationist) model is that immigrant consumers ‘forget’ their original consumption culture and, over aperiod of time, adopt new consumption behaviours. The pace at which assimilation takes place will depend ondifferent variables, such as social settings and situations (Stayman & Deshpandé 1989) or the individual’smotivation. Using this model, researchers have tried to measure the link between the level of assimilation andconsumption behaviours, such as brand loyalty and price consciousness (for example, Hoyer & Deshpandé1982; Saegert et al. 1985), product evaluation (O’Guinn & Faber 1985; Lee & Ro Um 1992), the decisionprocess (Hirschman 1981; Quester et al. 2001), media exposure and choice (Lee & Tse 1994; Khairullah 1995).But various authors have questioned this uni-dimensional view of diversity, which can convey a universalistperspective on acculturation (Bhatia & Ram 2009, p. 141) and is based solely on ethnicity or the country oforigin (Vertovec 2007, p. 1025). The second model – or the acculturation model (Berry 1974, 2001) – recognisesthat identity formation between the country of origin and the host country involves feelings of belonging that maybe more complex than a linear process. Each individual develops his/her own acculturation strategy. Especiallyfor subsequent migration generations, consumers must articulate different feelings of belonging inside a

coherent ‘self’ (Tajfel & Turner 1986; Phinney 1990; Liebkind 1992). This phenomenon will strongly influencelifestyle patterns, to the extent that various studies have tried to measure the relationship between acculturationstrategies5 and consumption behaviours using Berry (2001) or Mendoza’s Cultural Life Style Inventory (1989).

While the first (assimilationist) model and second (acculturation) model offer considerable insights into ethnicconsumption, it is the third model – the post-assimilationist model – that has fully taken into consideration thefact that consumption is today ‘our language, our code, the one by which the whole society communicates andtalks’ (Baudrillard 1970, p. 112) and that ethnic consumers manipulate meanings when they choose consumergoods. For example, choices of consumer goods such as clothes and accessories (Oswald 1999), or a brand ofcar (Luedicke 2011), are a way not only to express a sense of belonging to a ‘country of origin’ or to a ‘hostcountry’ culture but also to manage inter- and intra-cultural relations between migrants and locals (Luedicke2011). To understand the complexities of migrant experiences, one must look at an array of variables that havebecome significant in an age of superdiversity (Vertovec 2007). As Vertovec (1999, p. 457) points out, everyday‘practices and meanings derived from specific geographical and historical points of origin have always beentransferred and regrounded’. Such practices and meanings help re-create places or localities between homeand away so as to maintain transnational ties during and after migration. The awareness of multi-localitystimulates the desire to connect oneself with others, both ‘here’ and ‘there’ who share the same ‘routes’ and‘roots’ (see Gilroy 1987, 1993). Connecting elsewhere can make a difference in this respect (Clifford 1994,p. 322).

Semiology, or semiotics, has thus become very relevant (Barthes 1957) for exploring ethnicity as a symbolicactivity (Geertz 1973, p. 5; De Vos & Romanucci-Ross 1975). Consumer goods convey and communicatecultural meanings (Sahlins 1976; Douglas & Isherwood 1978), but this semantic system is linked to a culturallyconstituted world (McCracken 1986, p. 71) that is specific to a particular country. To a certain extent, the post-assimilationist model emphasises the performative dimension of consumer ethnicity. For example, Bouchet(1995) suggests that ethnicity is ‘plastic’ and ‘marketable’, while Oswald (1999, p. 314) uses the metaphor ofethnicity as ‘a garment that can be purchased, sold or discarded, or traded as the situation demands’. Firat(1996, p. 107) notes that, in postmodern consumer culture, ethnicity has been commodi?ed. In her study ofHaitian immigrants in the United States, Oswald (1999) used an interpretation of consumer behaviour groundedin the semiotics of performance. She identifies cultural categories, between which people oscillate. Theconstruction process stages different aspects of people’s identity.

While semiotic analyses have contributed to understanding identity issues and ongoing construction processesthrough consumption by different social groups (e.g. Marion 1994; Harms 1999; Dano et al. 2003; Mick et al.2004) and cultural groups (e.g. Fukuda 1994; Oswald 1999), Greimasian semiotics has not hitherto been usedas an interpretive framework to reveal the specific identity issues faced by ethnic consumers.

Ethnicity is a process

In all three models that account for changing feelings of belonging, ethnicity is viewed as a process. In theassimilationist model (Wallendorf & Reilly 1983; O’Guinn & Faber 1985; Valencia 1985), the feeling of belongingto one’s country of origin disappears over time and is replaced by the ‘national’ identity of the host country. Inthe acculturation model (Berry 1974, 1980; Mendoza 1989; Jun et al. 1993; Peñaloza 1994), people choosebetween different identity strategies that involve the country of origin and the host country. Peñaloza (1994)defines consumer acculturation as processes of movement, translation and adaptation (p. 48). In theseprocesses, assimilation does not always occur; rather consumers retain some aspects of their country of origin,resist the push and pull of both cultures, or live in segregated neighbourhoods. Finally, the post-assimilationistmodel (e.g. Askegaard et al. 2005; Kjeldgaard & Askegaard 2006; Ozcaglar-Toulouse & Üstüner 2009;

Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al. 2009) argues that ethnicity is a resource and not a person’s characteristics.Consequently it is not stable; instead, ethnic consumers are ‘bricoleurs’ in the Levi-Straussian sense: theycreatively and continually negotiate and express their self-concept using products, brands and points of sale. Inthe case of ‘third world’ diasporic communities, Bhatia (2002) underlines in a dialogical model of acculturationthe complexities involved in negotiating the different ‘I’ positions. ‘Hyphenated’ identities such as ‘Afro-French’ or‘Turkish-German’ can be particularly challenging (Bhatia 2002, p. 55). For Oswald (1999), Haitian immigrants inthe United States ‘culture swap’, using goods to move between one cultural identity and another. Theacculturation process can continue past the first generation. Second-generation immigrants6 live dual existences(Lindridge et al. 2004), continually ‘spanning’ between cultures (Sekhon & Szmigin 2005). Sometimes, it is thethird generation that continues to experience the acculturation process (Hansen 1938, p. 12).

Although all three models emphasise the ‘process’ and dynamic dimension of ethnicity, they fall short of actuallyproviding tools to interpret narratives and the related ‘bricolage’ through consumption. Derived from linguistics,semiotics – which ‘seeks to understand how the meaning of discourse is constructed’ (Bertrand et al. 2009) –can help decode the underlying logics that structure consumers’ discourses.

The Greimasian square as an interpretive tool for revealing ethnicity as a symbolic activity and as aprocess

Semiotics, or the study of signs in social life, is based on the work of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure(1916) and of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1935). Two paradigms have been developed.The first is grounded in linguistics (de Saussure 1916; Hjelmslev 1943) and incorporates a two-componentmodel of signification made up of the signifier and the signified. The second main semiotic paradigm is Peirce’sthree-part model of signification. In consumer behaviour research, Jean-Marie Floch introduced Saussuriansemiotics to study consumption-related phenomena (store environment, brand positioning, etc.). This paradigmhas strongly influenced continental European semiotics, and the present study is based on this tradition.

Inspired by de Saussure, Greimas developed different conceptual tools to interpret consumers’ discourses. Forexample, his ‘semiotic square’ is conceived on the basis of Aristotle’s logical square. It can be used to analysediscourse and identify the recurrent narratives that are organised around a limited number of semanticcategories (Marion 2003). It thus can locate in relative terms a given set of consumers’ narratives according tothe major principles structuring them (Bertrand et al. 2009). The development of relations in fact makes this atool that is both dynamic and static (Hetzel & Marion 1993), since the semiotic square can travel ‘on butterflywings’: courses are thus predictable (Floch 1983).

Field implementation of a Greimasian square

The spatial identity semiotic square (SISS)

Because it can both grasp the meaning underlying the discourse and follow this meaning throughout theinterview, the Greimasian square is in our view particularly useful for analysing the discourses of ethnicconsumers. In constructing the SISS, we were inspired by the work of Greimas and Courtés (1993) on thenarrative programmes of spatial location. For these authors, spatial location can be defined as the constructionof a system of references, which enables the different narrative programmes of the discourse to be situatedspatially and in relation to one another. Figure 1 shows the spatial semiotic square developed by Greimas andCourtés (1993).

However, according to the Dictionnaire Culturel en Langue Française (2005), when people refer to the placewhere they are when they speak, they use the semantic categories of d’ici (from here – ‘from this place’) and delà-bas (from there – ‘from such-and-such a place, other than where one is’). Building on the Greimas andCourtés (1993) spatial semiotic square, we constructed the spatial identity semiotic square, which reflectsdifferent identity anchors (Figure 2).

The relation between the terms ‘from here/from there’ can be conceived as a semantic axis on which each termpresupposes the other. They have a relation of contrariety. Individually, each term of the category can also haveother relations: marked by the presence of a distinctive characteristic, each term is in a relation of contradictionwith the term that does not possess this characteristic, thus generating ‘not from here’ and ‘not from there’. Thepairs are contradictory since ‘from here’ and ‘not from here’ cannot occur simultaneously. The semiotic square inFigure 2 is a visual representation of identity positions linked to the semantic categories ‘from here’ and ‘fromthere’. This square shows four spatial identity anchors that consumers can experience.

Meta-terms can also be created from the relations between terms, as shown in Figure 3. Thus, oscillationbetween from here and from there characterises integration. The feeling of not being from there andacceptance of from here illustrates assimilation. Going back and forth between from there and not from hereimplies separation. Lastly, people who are not from there and not from here take refuge in marginalisation.

Finally, it is possible to move around the square on ‘butterfly wings’, and thus predict movements between thepoles or identity anchors, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

With this tool, we analysed discourses on the cosmetics consumption of female adults belonging to three groups

of consumers in three different countries. These three groups were selected because it was expected that theyexperienced different power structures that might affect their consumption. While different authors haveemphasised the need to study acculturation in different contexts, Üstüner & Holt (2007) have drawn attention toa particular context: that of dominated acculturation, which shapes consumers’ identity projects (p. 41). But italso seems relevant to explore whether acculturation experiences of dominated and non-dominated individualshave some elements in common. Are hyphenated identities a source of ‘violent shuttling’ (Viswewaram 1994,p. 119) even when acculturation does not occur between 'third' and 'first' world countries (Bhatia 2002), butbetween two 'first' world countries such as France and Germany? Consequently, in France, we focused onyoung female adults belonging to minority groups that experience discrimination because of the country’scolonial history. They are part of what are termed ‘visible minorities’, second-generation immigrants of Sub-Saharan origin, who are discriminated against particularly in terms of access to employment. By contrast, in thecase of Germany, we conducted interviews with informants experiencing what we refer to as ‘non-dominated’acculturation to the dominant society: Franco-German young adults. Finally, we chose a non-European countrywith a large ethnic group that is seen as integrated into Malaysian society. This choice of very different migrantgroups was also guided by an attempt at cross-fertilisation between parallel fields of study (Vertovec 2003).Contrasting and comparing one migrant group with another can help us better understand what is in play,especially as it is increasingly recognised that ‘participation in one might lead to, or overlap with, another’(Hannerz 1992). More people are migrating from more places, and one must look beyond a single ethnic groupin a single setting to grasp ‘the coalescence of factors which condition people’s life’ (Vertovec 2007, p. 1026).

Interpreting ethnic consumers’ discourses

Cosmetics as a category for studying ethnic consumption was selected for this three-country research on thebasis of its strong identity and cultural dimensions (Rook 1985; Schouten 1991; Desjeux 2006), since the criteriafor beauty and grooming rituals and taboos vary between cultures. Numerous academic studies (for example,Dano et al. 2003; Fabricant & Gould 1993; Marion 2003; Gentina 2008) have emphasised the individual andsocial dimensions of cosmetic products. However, there are fewer studies using these products to examineconsumer behaviour in acculturation contexts than for other categories such as food.7

Interpretation of Sub-Saharan consumers’ discourses in Paris

Twelve phenomenological interviews (McCracken 1988; Thompson et al. 1989; Blanchet & Gotman 1992) wereconducted (see Table 1). The questions first addressed the respondents’ biographical information and, second,their experiences with cosmetics. At the end of each interview, the spatial identity semiotic square (SISS) waspresented to the informant to position a list of brands, products, retail outlets and ingredients.8 Using the SISS,we interpret their discourses in terms of identity positions, dynamic changes between these identity positions,and the role of products and brands in their ongoing identity search. In Figure 6, we provide an example of theuse of the SISS as an interpretive tool of young women’s discourses, showing the forces of attraction andrepulsion that each of the poles exerts in their day-to-day consumption.

While second-generation Sub-Saharan consumers feel a strong sense of belonging to French society, there aretimes when they need to feel ‘from there’ and indulge in consumption patterns associated with their country oforigin. Using shea butter to moisturise hair or skin, spending a day with friends making braids, searching theinternet for new African hairstyles, calling relatives back home to discuss products, or going on a shopping trip inethnic shopping areas, are all examples of this need sometimes to feel ‘from there’. But on other occasions, it isthe sense of being different, or the absence of specific products in stores, or direct discrimination, that gives riseto feelings of not belonging ‘to here’ and leads to seeking comfort in their ethnic group.

The value of the square lies in its dynamic use. Consumers’ discourses can be followed across the identityanchors provided by the semiotic square in a ‘butterfly wings’ manner (see Figures 4 and 5). As Marion (2003)points out, identity is never complete but is always in a process of development. Similarly, the post-assimilationist model suggests that the positions are fluid – they correspond to the narrative processes of

identity construction. Content analysis reveals the questioning of identity that these women engage in and thefluidity of their positions. Day-to-day experience can be particularly complex, as in the example of Oumou (aFrench national born to Senegalese parents):

Yes, I do think I’m more French than Senegalese, because, well, I consume French products, that doesn’t worryme at all. But afterwards, sometimes, I feel rather from there … yes, it’s true that sometimes I seek out otherpeople from Senegal … Because you don’t necessarily share a certain French mentality and yes, somewhere,you try and justify yourself … try to find support. So you say, ‘Well, at home it doesn’t happen like that.’ OK, atthe same time, I’ve never been there, if they ask me questions, I don’t know what to answer …

Interpreting this discourse with the semiotic square allows pathways and transitions between identity anchoragepoints to be identified (Figure 7). These poles and this navigation are visible at the level of consumption. Certainproducts, brands, stores and ingredients are associated with each pole, as portrayed in Figure 8. Oumouassociates different products, brands and retail environments with ‘from here’ – such as Elsève shampoo, SanexShower Gel or Monoprix. Others are only associated with ‘from there’, such as Softsheen Carson or Dark n’Lovely. Again others are perceived as both ‘from here and from there’ or as ‘global’, ‘open to all cultures’, likeNivea, L’Oréal Paris or Dove soap. Oumou’s case is not an isolated one. All the women we interviewedattributed cultural meanings to brands, products, ingredients. We collected extensive concrete data on ‘squares’,enabling us to map, for each of these young women, the brands and products associated with their identitypositions, i.e. to specify what cultural meaning each second-generation consumer attributes to cosmeticsbrands, products, retail outlets and ingredients.

The interpretations of these discourses using a Greimasian square show that these consumers, experiencing a‘dominated’ ethnicity, oscillate between four anchoring identity positions in their daily consumption andperceptions of brands, products, ingredients and retail outlets. We applied this Greimasian square to interpretethnic consumers’ discourses in other national contexts with other minority groups experiencing other powerstructures. We wanted to see to what extent identity issues and related cosmetics consumption are comparable.

Interpretation of Franco-German consumers in Berlin

A second study was conducted in Berlin among ten bi-cultural consumers regarding their consumption ofcosmetics (see Table 2). We chose Franco-German female adults to study another power situation and itsimplication in terms of cosmetics consumption. As in the French study, by using the spatial identity semioticsquare to interpret the findings, we were able to identify different identity anchoring points, as shown in Figure 9.

Management of identity can also at times be challenging for these bi-nationals brought up by Franco-Germancouples, living part of the time in France, part of the time in Germany and now living in Berlin:

I remember, my mother she’s French, she spoke to us in French and my father is German, so it was from thestart totally bilingual, but I knew that when we were living in Germany, I didn’t want my mother to speak Frenchto me … Because I didn’t want to be different from the others, and my sister the same … so in the supermarket,when she spoke French to us I was so ashamed! ‘Mum! We are in Germany, here people speak German …!’

They referred to the difficulty, as they grew older, of not being either 100% French or 100% German. Having aGerman parent in France was also something that gave rise to challenges for some of them when they wereyoung, because of anti-German prejudice. Today, they feel they have ‘a foot in both cultures’, and define theirown personal ‘mix’ between the two (Figure 9).

With regard to cosmetics and beauty products, they mention the two very different models of beauty:

German beauty is rational, I must put this and that together … It has to be thought through: what goes with what… With French beauty, it seems like it comes from the inside: you take this and that, and it works together, it justlooks right … Both types of beauty work, but they are different.

Each informant positioned herself according to the two models of beauty (French or German), relating to the oneat some point in their lives and to the other at some other time. The influence of peers and relatives in bothcountries was crucial in the process. In addition, they mentioned the difference in the environments:

In Paris, you forget … but there is a lot of people who are very well dressed … who seem to make an effort. Youlose that here because there is not even a small group that creates something beautiful. Maybe it is the area Ilive in, but they don’t care about anything: cosmetics, clothes, shoes … I think: ‘This is really too bad, nobodyseems to care, it doesn’t help social interactions’, but at the same time, I don’t feel like a prisoner of this, I live in

Berlin for the cultural life.

They also mentioned the brands and store environments that make cosmetics shopping more ‘rewarding andfun’ in France, but ‘less expensive and more functional’ in Berlin.

They also underlined the difference in culture between the two countries with regards to the relationship to thebody and more specifically to nudity. While in Germany and with German relatives, going naked together to aspa was not a problem, whereas in France nudity was not considered appropriate in social gatherings. Again,each of them positioned herself according to the different beauty references and body nudity rituals.

Interpretation by the square allows us to distinguish the identity anchoring points between the feeling ofbelonging to German society and that of belonging to French society, as well as the questioning related to thesetwo affiliations. It also allows us to follow the pathways of meaning in the discourses. We here take the exampleof Fabienne (see Figure 10):

I don’t think about this all the time in my day-to-day life in Berlin. But there are moments, I don’t feel German, noway … it’s little things, and I think ‘oh no, for that I’m French, I miss France, and I go to Galeries Lafayette’ …Because you see these little things, you see differences and then I think ‘For that I am totally French.’ But then,when I go to France, I can see that in French culture, they are more French than me, so I think ‘Well in fact I’mnot French, so I’m more German.’ It’s really, when you are in one country, you know, you can tell you’re not fromthat country because the other people are more German or more French than you … And I can never be 100%French or 100% German, so we always feel the opposite from the country we are in. So where do we fit in?

The interpretation of consumers’ discourses in Berlin using the spatial identity semiotic square sheds fresh lighton the specific oscillation experienced by Franco-German women living in Berlin. Although they feel that they areto some extent part of German and French societies, they question this sense of belonging in terms of beautymodels or the relationship to nudity. Even though they do not experience the discrimination suffered by theinformants in France, interpretation by the semiotic square shows that they question (or have in the pastquestioned) their sense of identity and that this questioning also impacts their consumption of cosmeticsproducts.

Interpretation of Chinese consumers’ discourses in Kuala Lumpur

A third study was conducted in Malaysia. We interviewed 27 young women of Chinese ethnic origin (see Table3), living in an urban environment, in a country where the dominant national group is Muslim and Malay. Weused the spatial identity semiotic square as an interpretive tool in a non-European country.

The words ‘here’ and ‘there’ were often used in their discourses. Young Chinese Malaysian women spoke firstof the Chinese ideal of beauty, an ideal based ‘there’ in China or in ‘old China’. It is a matter of having a ‘pearlcomplexion’. This term is taken from Chinese literature, and seems to be an important basis for therepresentation of beauty ‘there’ for this ethnic group – hence the very positive perceptions of whitening andsunscreen products, both for personal care and make-up.

The ‘natural’ Chinese woman wants to have translucent, glowing skin that she protects from the sun, lighteningit for greater whiteness with pearl-extract skin whiteners. The representation of beauty is thus fairlyhomogeneous within this ethnic group: pale skin or fair skin signifies high social status, and this is theoverriding aim. It is important, ‘there’, to have a light complexion, and this is a determining criterion ‘here’, eventhough the country is in the tropics, and the skin colour of Chinese Malaysian women is much darker than theideal ‘there’. The discourse around pale skin is central in the perception of beauty among Chinese Malaysians:‘It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, everybody prefers fair skin. Me included.’ Again, the spatial identitysemiotic square enabled us to interpret these discourses (Figure 11).

The motivations for care are also important: cleanliness is one of the first things they learned from their mothers,especially in view of the tropical heat and pollution: ‘The most important thing is to clean and protect my skin,because, here, it’s very important.’ On the other hand, the care following washing is also frequently referred toand is the subject of highly structuring motivations based on ‘there’. It involves looking after and taking care ofone’s hair, and possibly moisturising and enhancing it. The terms ‘rehydration’ and ‘moisturising’ recurredfrequently among all the Chinese respondents.

Then there are the criteria for choosing products ‘from here’ – first, by somewhat exaggerating the colours inmake-up, to match the ‘from here’ criteria. The face is thus viewed in accordance with the ideal ‘from there’, butalso, depending on the occasion, ‘from here’. Ideals of beauty and norms that dictate appearance differ, and arejustified by a search for identity that combines the requirements of ‘here’ and ‘there’, with the ‘there’ able toinclude different representations of ‘there’. Note that the ‘not from here’ and ‘not from there’ components ofidentity may occur in the discourse at the same time: ‘I have to create a new Chinese-Malaysian type of beauty,not really from here, not really from there’; ‘I have a dual culture, not double eyelids, it is more advantageous’ –showing that, despite her Chinese eyelids, her personal culture is inspired both from China and Malaysia.

In the opinion of the interviewees, hair is the most important aspect of beauty: it should be thick, long andlustrous. Only the youngest women are allowed to have short or styled hair. All the other women attach greatimportance to the length of their hair, and the sensuality and attractiveness this confers, in a very different wayfrom veiled Muslim Malaysian women. Analysis of the discourse is organised using the Greimasian square: hair‘from here’, not visible and not enhanced; hair ‘from there’, left loose and very long, and forming part of the idealof beauty; hair ‘not from here’, well cared for and glossy from products but neatly fastened; and finally ‘not fromthere’, cut short but well cared for and glossy through the use of various products. These Chinese-Malaysianwomen oscillate between two cultures and two feelings of belonging. They feel Chinese, but are also aware ofbeing ‘different’ from women living in China now, and at the same time different from the main ethnic group inMalaysia. The semiotic square is again a valuable interpretive tool for analysing the concerns and difficultiesinvolved in developing a coherent self between two cultures. Thus young Chinese-Malaysian women have toconfront cultural identity issues that can be interpreted using the spatial identity semiotic square.

Discussion

This paper focuses on the use of Greimasian semiotics as an interpretive framework in ethnic consumerresearch. While Grounded Theory, comparative data analysis and the semiotics of performance have beenutilised in qualitative ethnic consumer research, the aim of this contribution is to show the relevance ofGreimasian semiotics and of one of its best-known tools – the semiotic square. We constructed our own semioticsquare, the spatial identity semiotic square, and interpreted informants’ discourse as structured around four

identity anchors that represent the challenge to their identities in coming from elsewhere. Because ethnicity ishighly symbolic, uncovering the meanings behind words is essential when analysing the interviews; andbecause ethnicity is an ongoing process, the interpretive tool must also be dynamic. The semiotic square usedhere yields results that, to some extent, are consistent with those of previous studies. Ethnic consumption islinked to identity issues, and ethnic consumers ‘culture swap’, oscillate and negotiate between the pulls andpushes of their culture of origin and their host culture. Shuttling between cultural positions is a strongcharacteristic of these hyphenated, or in-between, identity individuals (Bhatia 2002). They face a commonchallenge on a continuous basis, whether they are from third or first world countries. In this sense, theseprocesses call into question the performative model of ethnicity. Below the surface of consumption and ofwearing ethnicity as a garment, managing two spatial reference points within a coherent self can at times bechallenging. The issue is even more pressing for ethnic consumers who experience discrimination, since theyare constantly reminded of their difference.

However, it is also important to go further and follow the relationship between such ongoing day-to-daynegotiation and consumption. We dynamically follow the movement between the positions they occupy in theirdaily lives as well as the consumption associated with this movement. It seems that dual culture femaleconsumers use products, brands, ingredients and retail environments to construct their identities, which areenriched by a dual cultural affiliation: sometimes they consume ‘like everyone else’, but they also sometimesneed to express their belonging to their country of origin through their choice of brands, products, ingredientsand retail environments. In the young women’s discourses, some brands and products are clearly associatedwith ‘from here’, while others are variously associated with ‘from there’, ‘not from here’, ‘not from here’ and ‘fromhere and from there’.

Managers catering to ‘ethnic’ markets often wonder how to communicate with and address the varied profiles oftheir consumers across markets. The alternation between ‘here’ and ‘there’ can allow them to adapt theirdiscourses. There are visual cues and codes that are associated with these different identity anchors and thatmarketers need to take into account to develop appropriate brand names, brand lines, product formulas,packaging or retail environments for targeting this growing segment of ‘in-between’ consumers around the world.Providing ‘hyphenated’ consumers with identity options through consumption will increasingly be a gauge ofsuccess for managers operating in global markets. Community management in relation to this specific public canhelp construct a suitable discourse, particularly through communication on blogs, forums and other socialnetworks. By including information and discourses that incorporate this ‘here and there’ linkage in their websiteand Facebook pages, brands can get closer to these consumers. It is also important for managers to acquire abetter understanding of what occurs on the web with regard to identity consumption.

Like any interpretive framework for analysing consumers’ discourses, Greimasian semiotics has its limitations.First, it does not claim to capture the entirety of consumers’ experience; it provides only one interpretation –possibly new and innovative, but nonetheless restrictive. By reducing consumers’ discourse to four identityanchors, it possibly misses out on other dimensions of consumers’ discourses, which merit further attentionusing other interpretive frameworks.

Second, it is based on the premise that consumers are rational beings, capable of accounting for what they do inan organised, coherent manner. This assumption, associated with a modernist view of consumers, has beenquestioned by postmodern consumer research, and more specifically by the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT)research tradition (Arnould & Wallendorf 1994). While we subscribe to this perspective, we also believe that thespatial identity semiotic square captures something fundamental in people’s lives, whether in Paris, Berlin orKuala Lumpur. The interviews that we conducted were emotionally charged for most of the respondents, andtouched something fundamental in their lives: Who am I? What should I impart?

Conclusion

Despite the variety of national contexts and ethnic groups examined, this study based on a spatial identitysemiotic square confirms the relevance of semiotics, in terms of market research methodology, for grasping thedeeper symbolic dimensions of ethnic consumers’ discourse. We wanted to draw attention to factors that explainthe behaviour, on a daily basis, of ethnic consumers, whether ‘visible minorities’ in Paris, bi-nationals in Berlin orethnic Chinese in Kuala Lumpur. The spatial identity semiotic square highlights how they manage their feelingsof belonging to here and to there. It allows managers to handle this identity challenge, and consequentlyprovides new managerial perspectives on how to respond to the common existential concerns of a growingnumber of consumers living away from home. Consumption is thus a powerful way for them to express thesemultiple cultural affiliations and the kaleidoscope of their identities.

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About the authors

Virginie Silhouette-Dercourt is associate professor at Sorbonne Paris Cité University (CEPN) and associateresearcher at Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin. Her research centres around the relationship between immigrationprocesses and consumption behaviours and more specifically on the symbolic dimensions of material culture forimmigrants (and their children). She conducts ethnographic studies on beauty consumption of second-generations in Paris and Berlin: identity issues, inside-family transmission processes, spaces and rituals ofconsumption.

Christel de Lassus is associate professor of marketing at the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, where sheteaches consumer behaviour and luxury brand marketing and directs the masters course ‘Innovation, Designand Luxury’. She started her career as product manager with the Nestlé Company. She studied at the Institutd’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and received her PhD in Marketing from the University of Paris-Dauphine. Her research interests focus on the luxury brand consumer and the marketing of luxury brands.

Address correspondence to: Virginie Silhouette-Dercourt, Sorbonne Paris Cité University, CEPN ResearchCentre, 99 Avenue JB Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France.

Email: vdercourt@gmail.com

1 According to Berry et al. (2006), ‘cultural identity refers to thoughts and feelings about belonging to one’sethnocultural group (ethnic identity) and to the larger society (national identity)’ (p. 11).

2 ‘Acculturation is a process that takes place following the contact between cultural groups and involveschanges in both groups’ (Berry et al. 2006, p. 11).

3 The spatial identity semiotic square (SISS) used for this three-countries study was created by the firstresearcher.

4 This paper is part of a larger study conducted in three countries to compare cosmetics consumption amongdifferent minority groups, experiencing ‘dominated’ and ‘non-dominated’ ethnicity.

5 See, for example, Jun et al. 1993; Peñaloza 1994; Ownbey & Horridge 1997; Vijaygopal & Dibb 2012.

6 Defined as ‘children of immigrant parents, born in the country of destination’ (The Integration of the SecondGeneration, INED, http://www.tiesproject.eu).

7 France and Germany are the leading consumer markets for cosmetic products in Europe, and are ranked fifthand sixth worldwide, behind the United States, Japan, Brazil and China. In Europe, the maturity of the markethas led manufacturers to focus on segments previously viewed as ‘niche’, such as ‘seniors’, natural or organicproducts, and ethnic consumers. Offerings targeting this last segment are developing very rapidly. Malaysia, bycontrast, is an emerging country where the cosmetics market is growing by more than 6% a year.

8 A list of brands, retail outlets and ingredients was presented to each informant, with each (brand, retail outletsand cosmetic ingredients) being able variously to be ‘from here’, ‘from there’, ‘not from here’ or ‘not from there’.Multiple choices were allowed: a brand could be seen as ‘from here’ and ‘from there’ simultaneously. There wasalso a ‘don’t know’ (DK) option offered. The interviewer then successively presented the packaging of differentcosmetic products and noted the spatial location given by the informant on the basis of the same protocol as forbrands, retail outlets and ingredients (multiple choice allowed, plus DK).

DOI: 10.2501/IJMR-2015-066

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