Acculturation Scale for Consumer Research

What it measures

Measures the degree to which immigrant and minority consumers have acculturated to a host culture while maintaining heritage cultural identity. Consumer acculturation affects product preferences, media use, brand choices, and responses to culturally-targeted advertising. High acculturation predicts adoption of host-culture consumption patterns; low acculturation predicts preference for heritage products.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

Language Use (Likert 1–5, only [heritage language] to only English/host language)

• What language do you usually speak at home?
• What language do you usually think in?
• What language do you usually speak with your friends?
• What language do you usually read in?

Social Interactions

• My close friends are mostly from my heritage culture.
• My neighbours are mostly from my heritage culture.
• I prefer to socialise with people from my heritage culture. (R for host-culture acculturation)
• My social activities are mainly with members of my heritage cultural group.

Cultural Identity

• I am proud of my heritage cultural background.
• I consider myself to be a member of my heritage culture.
• It is important for me to maintain my heritage cultural traditions.
• I feel that I belong to my heritage cultural group.

Media and Food Consumption

• I prefer to watch TV programmes in my heritage language.
• I prefer to eat the traditional food of my heritage culture.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Two subscale scores. Acculturation is bidimensional — assimilation and heritage maintenance are independent dimensions, not opposites. Berry's acculturation framework (integration, assimilation, separation, marginalisation) provides the theoretical basis.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Laroche, M., Kim, C., & Tomiuk, M.A. (1998). Italian ethnic identity and its relative effect on the consumption of convenience and traditional foods. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 15(2), 125–151.

Keywords