How multi-acculturation impacts the identity of circulating consumers

Consumer acculturation research has focused on understanding adaptation processes and identity work of consumers who have moved from one country to another. To extend current models beyond the dual-context territorially-based perspective, we investigate the consequences of the multiple acculturative processes of circulating consumers, individuals who move constantly through different national cultures and who do not identify with a single culture. Focusing on interview data, we analyzed the oral histories of these consumers. We found particularities about the consequences of multi-acculturative processes that are not discussed in previous acculturation literature. In terms of cultural identity management, we observed the development of high cultural reflexivity, a reversal of ethnic and national belonging, and the simultaneous multiplication and weakening of allegiances to nation-states. We also observed the development of new and more stable cultural identities (meta-identities). In addition, we also found an idiosyncratic spiral notion of time, which is cyclical and progressive at the same time. We discuss the implications of multi-acculturation to the understanding of consumer behavior in conditions of mobility.