A theory-based measure of acculturation: The shortened cultural life style inventory

This paper describes a model of acculturation for classifying minority consumers into distinct categories depending on their attitudes and behaviors toward their minority culture and toward the majority culture. These categories are assimilation, segregation, and integration. The model differs from previous models of acculturation in consumer research in that it does not assume a linear progression toward assimilation. The acculturation categories identified by the model can be used to segment minority markets. A reduced version of a previous scale based on that acculturation model is developed and validated in two empirical studies in a consumer research setting. Our scale can be used by managers to segment minority populations.