THE IMPACT OF ETHNOMARKETING ELEMENTS ON CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISIONS IN THE BALKANS: THE CASE OF MACEDONIA

Abstract Ethnomarketing defined as marketing segmentation approach that clusters consumers on the basis of ethnicity is slowing gaining traction in marketing in multicultural environments, particularly in countries or regions inhabited by consumers from different ethnic backgrounds, who though live together, still communicate in different languages. This study aims to find whether such marketing practice has any effect on consumers’ purchase decisions in the Balkans. It focuses on consumers in Macedonia with the understanding that this is a preliminary exploratory study whose results will form basis for a large study on the Balkan region. The study used a structured questionnaire with the Likert Scale and the sample selection was done non randomly. One hundred, forty-eight responses were received and analyzed using the SPSS statistical software. The results of the analysis show that Albanian consumers in Macedonia agree that ethnomarketing is important and ethnomarketing elements such as a company’s advertisement and promotion in their ethnic language instead of a national language are taken into consideration when they make their purchase decisions. Furthermore, results reveal that symbols, cultural elements as well as the information dissemination inside the stores and outside seem to be very important for consumers. On the basis of this study, a larger study that covers the different countries in the Balkan region to determine how consumers in the different countries in the region relate to ethnomarketing is strongly recommended.