A multi-contextual lens on racism and discrimination in the multicultural marketplace

Abstract

This article highlights the generative properties of context for consumer experiences of racism and discrimination. Drawing from conceptualizations of context in social anthropology and human geography, it develops a framework to systematically catalogue intersections of various micro- and macro-social contexts that configure within and across marketplace geographies and inform racism and discrimination. The framework is applied to an integrative review of studies on marketplace racism and discrimination. The review illuminates that: 1) application of intersectional perspectives varies significantly across cultural difference dimensions; 2) knowledge is clustered within specific micro-social context expressions of cultural difference dimensions; 3) studies intersecting micro- and macro-social expressions commonly reveal underexplored discrimination instances; and 4) knowledge on macro-social contextual forces significantly lacks non-western perspectives. Drawing on the review findings, a list of areas of advancement for future scholarship is presented, along with recommendations for marketing practitioners acting towards identifying, understanding, and counteracting racism and discrimination.