The empty signifier in ethnic identity negotiation: a constructionist view of identity

This chapter challenges the ethnic identity understanding as a homogenic construct that group members share based on their position in the acculturation process. The authors claim this understanding is based on a false notion of individual identity. Taking a cue from Hall and Laclau and Mouffe, the authors claim that ethnic identity is not a reflection of a fixed, natural state of being, but a process of becoming. Therefore, drawing on components of identity as a means of market segmentation, beyond the level of the individual consumer within a given the moment, becomes a redundant exercise. To illustrate the argument, they share with the reader research with a second-generation British-South Asian and describe their identity negotiation and self-perception. They make a call to marketers to avoid the reliance on fixed concepts of identity and shift their focus to strategies that accommodate more complex and fluid understandings of identity construction.