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Immigrant Grocery-Shopping Behavior: Ethnic Identity versus Accessibility

Author

Listed:
  • Lu Wang

    (Department of Geography, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada)

  • Lucia Lo

    (Department of Geography, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate in the ‘new’ economic geography over the dialectic between the cultural and the economic, and in which the study of the geography of consumption is a prime example. The consumer behavior of culturally distinct immigrants is an intriguing and complex economic and cultural inquiry. In this paper we explore the grocery-shopping behavior of suburban middle-class Chinese immigrants in Toronto, where the group's ethnic economy has become full-fledged. Using a mixed approach combining focus groups and logistic modeling, we examine the preferences of Chinese immigrants between the fast-growing Chinese supermarkets and competing mainstream supermarket chains. Attention is focused upon the interplay of ethnic identity and accessibility in determining store patronage. The findings suggest a stronger effect of ethnic affinity on immigrants' choice of shopping venue than that of economic rationality. Grocery shopping, a most mundane and taken-for-granted activity, is practiced with sociocultural meanings by immigrants, and the social use of ethnic shopping spaces indicates that immigrants are not only consumers in ethnic shopping places but coactors in producing the unique ethnic retail environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Wang & Lucia Lo, 2007. "Immigrant Grocery-Shopping Behavior: Ethnic Identity versus Accessibility," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(3), pages 684-699, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:3:p:684-699
    DOI: 10.1068/a3833
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Webster, Cynthia, 1994. "Effects of Hispanic Ethnic Identification on Marital Roles in the Purchase Decision Process," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 21(2), pages 319-331, September.
    2. D Martin & H C W L Williams, 1992. "Market-Area Analysis and Accessibility to Primary Health-Care Centres," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 24(7), pages 1009-1019, July.
    3. Stayman, Douglas M & Deshpande, Rohit, 1989. "Situational Ethnicity and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(3), pages 361-371, December.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ottensmann, John R. & Lindsey, Greg, 2008. "A Use-Based Measure of Accessibility to Linear Features to Predict Urban Trail Use," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 1(1), pages 41-63.
    3. Qingfang Wang, 2010. "Immigration and Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study in the United States," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 430-458, September.
    4. Huang, Arthur & Levinson, David, 2017. "A model of two-destination choice in trip chains with GPS data," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 51-62.
    5. Hu, Lingqian, 2017. "Changing travel behavior of Asian immigrants in the U.S," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 248-260.
    6. Wang, Lu & Rosenberg, Mark & Lo, Lucia, 2008. "Ethnicity and utilization of family physicians: A case study of Mainland Chinese immigrants in Toronto, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1410-1422, November.

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