Diaspora Marketing Revisited: The nexus of entrepreneurs and consumers

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the role of diaspora as a business network and an opportunity window for foreign market entry following the concept of diaspora market entry or transnational market entry mode. As sources of information on both home and host countries, diasporas offer opportunities and enable entrepreneurs and thus serve as a significant social capital resource for foreign investors. For willing or the reluctant, investors may find an easy way to enter mature markets and thus internationalise at relative ease by the facilitating effect of diaspora presence in a target market. Diasporas, among their many characteristics, also known for growing a longing for what is “home” or “homeland”. Thus there emerges demand for those products and services they used to consume prior to migration abroad (i.e. nostalgic consumption). It takes place at a crossroads of passion for national identity and nostalgic consumption. For diaspora entrepreneurs, the social capital they have means business to satisfy the “nostalgia” demand as well as expanding markets for brands from their countries of origin.