Socializing the Ethnic Market: A Frame Analysis

Abstract

The Mexican-American population has experienced a dramatic increase in ethnic entrepreneurship over the last several decades. In an attempt to explain this development, 25 Mexican-American entrepreneurs were interviewed in the Chicago area. These interviews focused upon the specific ethnic strategies used by these entrepreneurs to bridge the gap between the opportunity structures for entrepreneurship in the United States economy and the unique group characteristics or capacities for entrepreneurship characterizing the Mexican-American population. Based upon these interviews, we found that the favored ethnic strategy used by Mexican-American entrepreneurs involved attempts at socializing the economic encounter between co-ethnic customers and entrepreneurs. These socializing activities were examined using Goffman's frame analysis, with particular attention devoted to the collective organization of customer and entrepreneur experience in terms of an ethnic frame.

Citation

Corsino, L. and Soto, M. (2005), "Socializing the Ethnic Market: A Frame Analysis", Keister, L.A. (Ed.) Entrepreneurship (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 233-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-2833(05)15009-2