Understanding the Consumer Behavior: A Study on the Grocery Shopping Preferences, Challenges And Adaptations of the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Finland.

The paper explores grocery shopping preferences, challenges, and adaptations of the Sri Lankan diaspora in Finland to fill one of the critical gaps in consumer acculturation theory by exploring a small, non-Western diaspora community in highly concentrated Nordic retail markets. The study uses a sequential explanatory mixed-method design, which will involve quantitative survey data of 103 Sri Lankan residents in Finland and qualitative interviews of 5 families in Vaasa, which will be conducted using semi-structured interviews, and with the aim of providing a comprehensive analysis of both the quantitative consumption behavior and qualitative cultural experience. The research formulates and confirms the Diaspora Consumer Acculturation and Adaptation Model (DCAAM) and finds that there are five interdependent dimensions that affect consumption behavior, namely, Cultural Identity Maintenance, Market Integration Capability, Community Social Capital, Transnational Connectivity, and Economic Resource Accessibility. Three different typologies of consumption strategies appear: Integration-Adaptive (41.7%), Transnational-Connected (29.1%), and Market-Integrated (29.1%), with each typology having its own pattern of usage of the shopping channel and coping strategies. Important discoveries are that culture identity is highly maintained in the face of market limitations with 61.2% cooking traditional food every day and 73.8% altering recipes frequently under the influence of ingredient unavailable. The strongest predictor of consumption satisfaction is Community Social Capital (b=.269, p=.013) which is a strategic indicator of the diaspora networks. Market Integration Capability ( r=.327, p) and Consumption Satisfaction (r=.259, p=.008) exhibit positive correlations with Cultural Identity Maintenance, making the models of cultural preservation and market adaptation seem to be at cross purposes. Theoretically, the study also applies the acculturation theory to Nordic settings and small non-Western Diasporas, defies the time-based acculturation theories, and provides a synthesis of various frameworks (DCAAM, DCCF, and MRSF) in the form of a unified approach. In practice, researchers have found that, culturally responsive product assortment, community partnerships, and quality improvement have proven to offer business opportunities to retailers. To the policymakers, findings indicate that retail access is an integration dimension that should be given consideration by supporting ethnic entrepreneurship, and ensuring retail diversity in the urban planning. The limitations of the research are limited sample size, cross-sectional, and geographic focus which can be utilized in future research directions such as comparative studies, longitudinal follow-ups, and second-generation research.