5 insights about Asian American acculturation

From Issue 34 / September 2008 of interTrend Communication’s Tidbits monthly e-newsletter that brings Asian American consumer insights and market trends:

interTrend’s Acculturation Study Reveals Insights into an Emerging Market

interTrend Communications has just completed phase one of its pioneering Knowledge Center Asian Acculturation Study, with pan-Asian groups and multi-generational families. The study aims to understand the differences in lifestyle, media consumption, self-identification and attitude between, among other things, Asian Americans of varying acculturation levels. Some highlights from the qualitative portion of the study:

1. Food is the number one factor that ties more acculturated Asian Americans back to their Asian roots
2. The majority of respondents self-identified as ‘more Asian than American’ or ‘half Asian and half American’
3. Retro-acculturation (the process of becoming reacquainted with one’s cultural background) mostly occurs during high school and college, and is prominent among Asian Americans of various locations and backgrounds
4. Advertisements that poke fun at or break through Asian/Asian American stereotypes and portray Asian Americans in diverse situations are well-received by acculturated Asian Americans
5. For younger respondents, watching in-language programming is typically a multi-generational family activity and something they would be less likely to do on their own