Consumer Behavior

“Shopping While Being Nonwhite”: Looking Through the Lens of Critical Race Theory

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Abstract

While there are many factors attributed to consumers’ unpleasant or unhappy shopping experience, racial minority consumers often have negative experience with casual, covert, or subtle discriminations while interacting with sales associates or other customers in the marketplace (Bennett et al., 2015; Kohan, 2021). However, scholarly work on discrimination directed at racial minority consumers in the marketplace has not been done widely in marketing or consumer behavior studies (Davis, 2018). In particular, no previous research has been found in the field of fashion consumer behavior concerning subtle racism, microaggressions, discrimination, biased treatment, or racial profiling certain consumers experience in various retailing settings. With Critical Race Theory as a framework, further research is needed to understand racial discriminations experienced by racial minority consumers in the marketplace especially related to apparel consumption. 

Keywords: Critical Race Theory, racial minority, retail recism

How to Cite:

Oh, K., (2022) ““Shopping While Being Nonwhite”: Looking Through the Lens of Critical Race Theory”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13542