Customers of place: Exploring interregional migrant collectivities

Purpose – The aim of this research is to explore how and why different migrant groups see different values in places they move to. Understanding these values and also the conditions in which these values are shaped will help in targeting marketing effort. Design/methodology/approach – The hierarchical and K/means cluster analyses were instrumental in identifying different migrant clusters. Planned contrasts were employed to compare related pairs of clusters. The logistic regression analysis identified several determinants of cluster membership likelihood. Findings – Four different internal migrant clusters are identified in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. These are Material Success Seekers, Community/Environment Folks, Apathetics, and All/rounders. The former two express a fragmentalist lifestyle. Material Success Seekers emphasise regional business opportunities while being indifferent to social and natural resources. In contrast, Community/Environment Folks emphasise social and natural resources while maintaining indifference to business opportunities. In turn, the latter two clusters make up a holistic lifestyle: All/rounders consider all three major characteristics of the region to be important while apathetics totally deemphasise these characteristics. The planned contrasts show that demographics are instrumental in predicting differences between related clusters but not helpful in distinguishing the identified lifestyles. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this investigation is that the important constructs used to cluster migrants are not well calibrated, although the reliability scores appear to be satisfactory. Moreover, the use of four/point importance scales does not allow attaining a greater level of construct sensitivity. The research method is unique in a sense that the cluster analysis and the planned contrasts are applied to examine contrasting values of migrant collectivities. Practical implications – A number of specific practical challenges need to be resolved by the regional decision makers in order to enhance place satisfaction by internal migrant collectivities. First, the regional and city councils will need to tailor different services, facilities, and public spaces to appeal to different requirements of migrant clusters. Second, the region's settlement support agency should provide migrants with relevant, focused, and differentiated information about available services and resources to suit their various life goals, aspirations, and values. Originality/value – This investigation tackles the problem of lacking theoretical and empirical research foundation on internal migration as a marketing phenomenon. Moreover, it is unique in its approach of conceptualising migrant segments as cultural phenomena, that is, interdependent collectivities that form on the basis of contrasting values. © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited