Transcultural identity development among third generation minority consumers

Abstract

This study explores how global and local forces influence the processes of consumer re-acculturation amongst third-generation British Sikhs in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Data is collected over a three-year period using multiple methods that focus on the experiential consumption of shaadi.com by third-generation British-born Sikhs. Data is analysed using thematic analysis, and findings reveal three transcultural identity patterns: accommodating, re-acculturating, and resisting Sikh culture. We argue that the emergent identity patterns are fluid, as our participants feel neither wholly British, wholly Sikh, nor wholly British-Sikh, positioning themselves beyond, rather than against, Sikh or British culture. We uncover the connectedness between the traditional cultural practices of arranged marriages and the space of shaadi.com, a matrimonial website. We interpret this website as a medium through which transcultural identities are constructed. We contribute to theory by showing the development of transcultural patterns of consumption and consistent transcultural identity construction in non-migrating ethnic communities.