ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH
Labovitz School of Business & Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth, 11 E. Superior Street, Suite 210, Duluth, MN 55802
Inter-Racial Couples, Household Decision-Making and Contextual Influences on Consumer Acculturation
Wakiuru Wamwara-Mbugua, Wright State University, USA
This research examines household decision-making among immigrant inter-racial couples in a developing country. Prior research
demonstrated that as a country becomes more developed, husband dominance in household decision-making decreases. Our findings
demonstrate that immigrants from more developed countries integrate traditional modes of household decision-making when they
immigrate to less-developed countries.
[to cite]:
Wakiuru Wamwara-Mbugua (2012) ,"Inter-Racial Couples, Household Decision-Making and Contextual Influences on
Consumer Acculturation", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 40, eds. Zeynep Gürhan-Canli, Cele Otnes, and Rui
(Juliet) Zhu, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 999-1000.
[url]:
http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1012765/volumes/v40/NA-40
[copyright notice]:
This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in
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Inter-Racial Couples, Household Decision-Making and
Contextual Influences on Consumer Acculturation
Wakiuru Wamwara-Mbugua, Wright State University, USA
Extended Abstract
This research examines household decision-making among
inter-racial couples where one or both of the partners is an immigrant. Spousal decision-making is a culturally situated phenomena
(Webster 2000) and it is increasingly clear that household decision
making models developed for western “deciders” are inadequate
when the “deciders” are non-western. (cf. Webster 2000; WamwaraMbugua 2007). Additionally, contextual influences (Schwartz et al.
2010) on immigrant acculturation highlight the need for research on
spousal decision-making in non-western cultural contexts. Gendered
patterns of behavior are extremely important in household decisionmaking. Qualls (1987) noted the impact of sex role orientation in
household decision-making, while Webster (1994) highlighted the
general consensus by researchers of the traditional role specialization
in decision-making. For example, males were found to be dominant
in decisions such as automobile purchase (Green et. al 1983), insurance (Davis and Rigaux 1974), while female dominant decisions
included appliances (Green et al. 1983); groceries (Davis and Rigaux
1974) and washing machines (Woodside and Motes 1979). The female dominant decisions have been associated with the women’s role
as homemakers.
Prior research (Green et. al 1983) suggested that as nations
become developed, that household decision-making becomes lesshusband dominant. However, in the case of grocery shopping (a
predominantly female preserve), a country’s increased development
should result in increased husband involvement in grocery shopping.
In a study of Singaporean husbands, Piron (2002) found that husbands had lower levels of involvement with grocery shopping and
that the wives were the principal deciders. This was attributed to
Asian males and families being more traditional and less open to
modern behaviors than their western counterparts (Piron 2002). Ethnicity has been found to be an important influencer of decision-making (Maldonaldo and Tansuhaj 1999; Webster 1994). Immigration
presents immigrants with numerous decision-making opportunities
and Berry (1980) has suggested that the immigrant experience is influenced by whether the immigrant wants to retain his/her culture of
origin or whether s/he desires to have positive relations with the host
culture. Answers to this yes/no questions results in a typology with
four outcomes: integration, separation, marginalization and assimilation: with integration being the best strategy for immigrants’ mental
health. Food is central to our identity and oftentimes displays our
cultural heritage. Consequently, food consumption and acquisition is
an excellent area in which to investigate immigrant household decision-making processes among inter-racial couples in a non-western
context.
Method: The data for this study is drawn from a larger study of
thirty-three immigrants. Twenty one of these immigrants were married and eleven individuals were in interracial marriages. Research
informants were recruited using the snowball method. The informants are from many different regions of the world, namely: Europe,
North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle
East. Consistent with research practices in Kenya, a government research permit was obtained before the research commenced. All interviews were conducted in English, in Nairobi, Kenya. Informants
were assured of confidentiality and anonymity. The interviews were
audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed by means of coding patterns
and the constant comparative method (Glazer and Strauss 1967).
Findings: In most cultures, women have primarily been responsible for food acquisition and preparation. Therefore, it would
likely follow that since the women were doing most of the food
preparation that they would have a strong influence on the type of
food consumed within the home. Nonetheless, in our research we
found that with one exception, all food consumption and acquisition
decisions were husband dominant. Berry (1980) suggested that for
the best mental health that immigrants should integrate aspects of
their own culture with that of their host culture. In this case we see
an integration of the dominant culture in Kenya by making this decision husband dominant. In general, in Kenya, (a patriarchal society)
women are overly concerned with ensuring that their husbands’ food
needs are met.
Six out of the ten informants were married to Kenyan men; two
respondents were married to Kenyan women and three were in interracial-inter-country marriages while eleven were in same-race-samecountry marriages. With one exception, informants ate food aligned
with the husband’s culture and more often than not completely ignored the “food culture” of the woman. The women adjusted and
learned how to consume the food associated with the husbands’ cultures while the men in general did not learn how to eat or appreciate the food associated with the women’s cultures. One explanation
for the observed findings is that the immigrants have integrated the
“male dominance” culture evident in Kenya. Although a country’s
level of development has been shown to be correlated with increased
wife dominance in decision-making, our research suggests that the
reverse can happen. We find that when individuals from highly developed countries immigrate to a less developed country, they begin
to adopt the behaviors and attitudes of those around them. Another
possible explanation for the “husband dominance” in food consumption can be attributed to the availability of cheap labor. In Kenya,
most middle-class families have “live-in house-help. Consequently,
in spousal dyads where the husband was Kenyan, then the “cook/
maid” would prepare the local foods. In instances where the husband
was non-Kenyan, then the couples hired and trained a maid to cook
the non-Kenyan foods. Nonetheless, the preferred non-Kenyan food
was aligned with the husband’s culture.
Conclusion: This research highlights some important issues: a)
the development of a nation can indeed influence gendered patterns
of decision-making. While researchers have demonstrated the movement of decisions towards less husband dominance as the nations develop, we demonstrate that when immigrants from more developed
countries immigrate to less developed countries, their decision making patterns may return to more husband dominant decision-making.
We attribute the return to husband dominance to the following: a)
the integration of dominant culture’s values and decision making patterns; b) the existence of cheap labor in these countries may mitigate
these decisions and may facilitate the dominance of one decisionmaking pattern over another. Additionally, this research highlights
the need to engage in research outside of western cultural contexts
particularly with non-western deciders.
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