Latinas in the U.S.: Communicating Identity Through Clothing
By Maria-Gracia Inglessis
Marketers in the U.S. are paying more and more attention to Hispanic women because of their increasing purchasing power. This book explores how Hispanic women communicate their identities through clothing, and how navigating between two cultures affects their consumer behavior. Drawing on an in-depth survey of ten Hispanic women, M.-G. Inglessis offers a unique perspective on how clothes embody their enduring cultural values. Those values?regardless of acculturation level?strongly influence the way in which Hispanic women communicate their gender, age, ethnicity, and social class. The book also explains the interconnection between the adoption of new clothing and sensorial experience, fit, and interpersonal influence. Identifying major drivers that influence Hispanic women?s buying decisions, the author offers both theoretical insight and practical recommendations to marketers. The study presents a cross-disciplinary approach?from social psychology to symbolic interactionism, diffusion of innovations, and acculturation. Scholars, students, and professionals in marketing, communication, retail, and merchandising will find this book useful and stimulating.
About the Author Dr. Inglessis is a consumer insights specialist. She has presented at U.S. and international conferences and published articles in Quirk?s and The Journal of Spanish Language Media. Prior to her Ph.D., in Communication, she obtained a Master?s in Linguistics and Semiotics. She speaks English, French, German, and Spanish.
Latinas in the U.S. I came across this book almost by accident; yet it grabbed my attention. I have found it to be both thoughtful and thought-provoking, and ended up reading it twice. In a true spirit of cultural anthropology, the author conducted a series of interviews with Hispanic women, not only asking them about their clothing and shopping habits but also going through their closets. She then analyzed her data using complex research models, but expressed her findings in a simple and clear language. On one level, the book probes into how much the traditional Hispanic values continue to affect Latinas as they go through the acculturation process in the U.S. On the other level, it reveals important tendencies in how women make decisions buying clothes. If the mind of a woman is a luring mystery, this book is a deliciously guilty peek into it. Enjoyable as they may be to us mere mortals, the book's insights should be indispensible to marketers and retailers targeting this segment of the market. (The obvious downside is the price tag, but this is what happens when they publish in Europe rather than the U.S.) Dr. Inglessis, congratulations on a carefully researched and well-written book!
