Abstract

In an increasingly carbon- and resource-constrained world, alongside traditional determinants of consumption, it is necessary to consider individual migrants’ ethnic culture—known to influence their everyday behaviours—and their acculturation in a host multicultural society. Australia’s increasing ethnic diversity is partly due to the recent continuous stream of migrants from Asian countries such as China. This migration trend has resulted in a more heterogeneous society in terms of ethnic culture and languages spoken. Cultural dissimilarities between China-born migrants and the host society lead to the need to understand whether Chinese migrants change their levels of consumption (as measured by pre- and post-ecological footprints) after settling in Australia. This study explores the influence of cultural contexts such as the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Index and acculturation on everyday living and consumption behaviours among sixty-one China-born migrants in Melbourne. Multivariate analyses of the data revealed that explanatory factors of China-born migrants’ consumption, such as income, conservation behavior, and dwelling size, reinforced well-established determinants. However, the analysis also identified the importance of individuals’ connectedness with their ethnic culture as well as indicators of acculturation such as length of residency and use of English in communication. Individuals who indicated a stronger connectedness to Chinese culture than to the host culture were likely to have larger post- than pre-migration footprints. This shows that to alleviate the environmental impact of these migrants, it is important to consider the extent of the influence of individuals’ ethnic culture and acculturation on their consumption behaviours. The research has also shown that the CALD Index, as a cultural indicator, adds insights into individuals’ lived and cultural experiences and can be applied to gain a greater understanding of migrants’ behaviours and values in relation to consumption and sustainability in a multicultural society.