Arab Americans

Arab-American Subculture & Consumer Behavior

by Jose Vazquez

Introduction

Being younger, better educated, and more affluent than average Americans, the Arab-American subculture in the United States is one that should not be ignored by marketers. While a smaller demographic group in the US, they are growing in numbers, and more likely to be entrepreneurs in the US, or hold executive or managerial positions with corporations (El Badry 2003).

The Arab-American subculture is actually quite diverse and is comprised of several different nationalities, including Saudi Arabians, Palestinians, Egyptians, Iraqis, Syrians, Jordanians and many other middle-eastern countries. While from different nations, Arab-Americans are united in some significant ways. A shared Arabic history and heritage, as well as the Arab spoken language often unite them in terms of cultural similarities (Hawkins et al. 2001).

Arab-Americans do have varying preferences, values, and attitudes towards specific products marketed in the US. Arab-Americans also exhibit many different and unique purchasing patterns. Arab-American purchasing decisions, much like the rest of the US market, are influenced due to different levels of education, income, and status (Arab-American Business).

Explanation of the Topic

While accurate data is hard to find with this sub-group, Arab-Americans possess an estimated collective purchasing power exceeding $150 billion. In addition, the Arab-American population has been at 1 million people and rising (Census 2000). Arab-Americans are a rapidly growing minority groupin the US, trailing only Hispanics and Asians in terms of growth. The Arab-American consumer also tends to be younger than the average U.S. consumer. According to Census figures, Arab-Americans are one of the youngest consumer segments (Census 2000). This means that the average consumer within the Arab-American community is one that is about to start, or has started their own family, likely college educated, as well as possessing a greater amount of discretionary income.

Fortunately for companies wishing to market to them, Arab-Americans can be reached relatively easily. Nearly half (48%) are concentrated in only ten US metropolitan areas, with the largest percentage in two cities in Michigan: Dearborn and Detroit. This shows how Arab-Americans, much like many other ethnic groups when they first immigrate, tend to locate together to create communities that serve their specific needs (Vecoli). This does not mean however that they wish to disconnect from the rest of American society. However, it helps to create a sense of community and family, which are paramount to the Arab-American cultural ideal.

This community ideal is reflected in their home family environment. In Arab-American society, two or three generations of family members will often live in the same home or family compound. Other elderly relatives often further complete the household equation. These older adults will be gentrified, which mean they are used in helping to raise the children and manage the household. Arab-American life often revolves around a patriarchal framework, being a married adult male and the families of his sons. (Vecoli 1995). While many Arab-American families have become more assimilated into the US culture, most still hold on to patriarchal frameworks as the basis of the household unit.

Because family and family opinion is so important to Arab-Americans, word-of-mouth recommendations are of heavy importance. This is especially the case for this group when marketing efforts often don’t target Arab-Americans directly. Often, Arab-Americans don’t see themselves in US-based advertising on network and most cable TV. As was mentioned before, family has a heavy effect ion buying patterns in this demographic. Much like the Hispanic demographic, parents and grandparents have extreme influence on the products their family will buy (Parker 1994). Simply put, if your mom said you should buy Tide, then you buy Tide.

It is only within the last 10 years that we have seen single family households grow in this demographic. And often it has been with either recent immigrants, or long term acculturated and assimilated Arab-American families (Auerbach 1994). Even with this trend however, buying patterns are still similar to those still living within a larger family framework.

Cultural Persistence/Suspicious of Aspects In American Society.

The Arab-American community often chooses to maintain an identity distinct from the rest of American society, even while embracing certain aspects of it. Often, mass media overseas will portray American society as amoral and extremely secular. Immigrants usually look favorably on the freedom provided by the United States in terms of politics, commerce, and personal choice. However, they separate what they see as freedom, from the sacrilegious vibe they often perceive to exist in American culture (Levinson and Ember 1997). But looking at the demographic a bit more carefully, one will see that while Arab-Americans stand out, even in the diverse culture of America, many have the same tastes, needs, and desires as much of the US.

One of the largest misconceptions held by most people, is that they all share a common religion, most notable of which is Islam. This however is not the case. Roughly half of Arab-Americans identify themselves as Christians, while the other half are Muslims, with a few of the Jewish faith (Hawkins et al. 2001). To take it further, the Kurds and the Druze have different religious beliefs altogether having nothing to do with Monotheistic (one-god) based beliefs.

From a marketer’s perspective, the unique culture of Arab-Americans can be seen in the advertisements of specialized foods and other products. “These often range from middle-eastern foods, books, crafts, jewelry. Like any other immigrant group, Arab-Americans want to enjoy America's riches while preserving the important parts of their native culture.” (El Badry 2003). Marketers would do well to understand that when marketing to Arab-Americans, culture is an integral part of their lives. Most Americans don’t bring religion to work or into the public. This is because of our view that religion is a personal matter not to be forced onto others. Arab-Americans aren’t usually as separated from religion in daily living (Anonymous 2003).

Stereotypes are often common in regular media

According to Samia El-Badry, “Arab-Americans are affluent, numerous, and often misunderstood. Much like the gay and Asian-American demographics, they suffer from marketing stereotypes and bad press” (El-Badry 1994). While comprising only less than 1% of the U.S. population, this is a market proud of its ethnicity and is responsive mainly to messages and images emphasizing family, heritage, and overall value.

Unlike the stereotypes in the media, most Arab-Americans are friendly, and do not always attempt to bargain and barter for goods and services (Levinson & Ember 1997). As was mentioned before Arab-Americans are for the most part either in executive positions, or self-employed. With the rising number of Arab-Americans immigrating here to the US, even in the post 9/11 environment, marketing opportunities for business-to-business companies shouldn’t be ignored.

Examples

The Huntington Bank in Dearborn, Michigan, actively markets to Arab-Americans. The bank decided to advertise in both English and Arab language publications, as well as the web in order to reach its customers. Understanding however that word of mouth is the most important form of advertising with Arab-Americans, Huntington has worked toward making its services as easy to use as possible. The bank went so far as to open a small business service center at Wayne State University, in order to reach the Arab-American business community. The services they offer take into account “the fact that practically all of the Dearborn branches customers are self-employed, and are doing a cash business.” Another current program they are running also takes into account their cash based business practices. Huntington chose to market limited lines of credit that help make capital issues easier for independent businessmen. However, the line of credit percentage is slightly higher than normal, which is to help to manage the bank’s risk of working with all cash operations. This program is of course open to all groups, but is advertised heavily to the local Arab-American market as well. The focus of the campaign, is to communicate to Arab-American business that they can still maintain independence and control over their businesses, while allowing the bank to help manage the cash flow aspects of operations. More importantly, it works to change the attitudes of recent immigrants concerning the trustworthiness and usefulness of banking institutions. Being that Huntington Bank is positioning itself where great deals of Arab-Americans are located, they have therefore placed among the evoked set of banks that Arab-Americans associate with trust and flexibility.

Understanding that Arab-Americans are often more educated, and more likely to pursue collegiate educations, the growing test prep markets have been sure to place them selves on websites targeting Arab-American and Asian-American youth, through ethnic but English and Arab language websites. Studyworks, a company that focuses exclusively on SAT preparation material, classes, workshops and sample testing, has made sure to target this market aggressively. By utilizing advertising and site images that show Arab-American students, Study Works has made sure to connect with students by portraying them as potential clients. Even as the college preparatory material market expands, Studyworks knows that the Arab-American community will continuously provide them with a steady stream of revenue, due to their focus on education. Culturally, Arab-Americans place a great deal of importance on education for their young if it is available. To take the effort a step further, Studyworks went so far as to hire an Arab-American to market directly at schools, and in different places in and around Dearborn Michigan. This missionary work for the company has paid off in terms of increased revenue from that areas for the company, and good word of mouth advertising from prior users. Culturally, what one member of a family does in an Arab-American family is seen as a reflection on the entire family unit. Therefore Studyworks marketed to the idea that the success of a child in school reflects on the family. Studyworks understood this fact when creating their marketing campaign that included website- direct mailings, and other forms of direct based advertising.

Conclusion

For marketers and business wishing to expand their services to new markets, it is important to understand that the Arab-American market, while unique, is one that is educated, affluent, and is willing to spend a great deal of money for products they want. They also hold education and the entrepreneurial spirit in high regard. Therefore, companies that market business-to-business services would be advised to understand the entrepreneurial and independent spirit of this subculture when attempting to market services or products.

Relevant Websites

Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/
US Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov
The Arab-American Journal http://www.arabamerican.com/
The Arab-American Chamber of Commerce http://www.arabchamber.org/
Studyworks Test Prep http://www.studyworks.com/
Huntington Bank http://www.huntingtonbank.com/

Test for Understanding

1) According to the US Census of 2000, what is the current population of Arab-Americans in the US?
a) 1 Million
b) 1.5 Million
c) 3.2 Million
d) 750,000

2) In which US state would you find the greatest number of Arab-Americans?
a) California
b) Michigan
c) Florida
d) Illinois

3) What is the most common religion observed by Arab-Americans?
a) Islam
b) Druze
c) Judaism
d) Christianity

4) What is the most common career path for Arab-Americans?
a) Medical field
b) Self-Employed
c) Executive Positions
d) Education

5) What types of service or product would be best marketed to Arab-Americans?
a) Single living apartments
b) Amusement parks
c) Compact cars
d) Educational related products

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Answers:

Bibliography

Hawkins, D., Best, R., and K. Coney (2001). Consumer Behavior: Building Market Strategy, 8th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

El-Badry, S. (1994), "The Arab-American Market," American Demographics, 16(1) 22-30.

Parker, T. (1994). "Dearborn Michigan," American Demographics, 16(1), 30 32.

Anonymous, (2003), "Arab-American Business Demographics," Arab-American Business. Retrieved March 23, 2003 online from http://www.arabamericanbusiness.com/February%202003%20/index_feb2003.htm.

Vecoli, R.J. (Ed). (1995). Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. New York: Gale Research Inc./Thomson.

Auerbach, S. (Ed). (1994). Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism. New York: Marshal Cavendish.

Levinson, D., & M. Ember (eds.) (1997). American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.

Anonymous (2003), "100 Questions And Answers About Arab-Americans: A Journalists Guide," Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 15, 2003 online from http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/