The dilemma between omni-cultural versus mono-cultural branding in multicultural towns: is appealing to ‘all’ more effective than appealing to ‘one’- the role of visitor’s multicultural identity.

Purpose and design: The purpose of this conference paper is to present a literature review, a theoretical framework, and an initial research design to explain the effectiveness of omni-cultural versus monocultural place branding in attracting visitors to multicultural cities and towns in England. Specifically, we are interested in assessing the role of individual’s multicultural identity, perceived cultural self-congruence, and the need for cognitive closure in the decision to regularly visit a multicultural town centre. This study aims to answer the question of “How to attract a range of monocultural and multicultural citizens to visit a town centre in diverse, multicultural towns and cities in England?” When faced with culturally and ethnically diverse city populations, should towns follow the omni-cultural orientation or mono-cultural orientation when targeting individuals in communication campaigns? Specifically, we focus on a new context of English towns where the majority has become the minority.
Originality: Town centres in English cities and towns have been facing several challenges due to the changing retail landscape and shopping habits. These challenges are exacerbated in cities and towns that are multicultural, such as Luton, Slough, Birmingham, or Leicester, in which the white British are now a minority and other ethnic and cultural groups have become the majority. For example, Luton, a town in Southeast of England has a population of approx. 200,000 people of which 31% are White British, 15% are a mix of other White, and 54% are non-White including 37% Asian (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and other mixed Asian); 14% are Black and Black British. Such towns are inhabited by citizens who were born in England to immigrant parents and by first-generation immigrants from a range of cultures and religions. Such demographic composition presents exciting cultural and business opportunities but also poses challenges. Some of those cultures are similar to English culture and therefore blending of cultures is relatively easy; other cultures are dissimilar and present challenges in how they are represented and attracted to the town centre. For those multicultural towns, attracting town centre visitors is and will be a challenge.