We can define an ethnic group as a social group that has a common cultural tradition, a common history and a common sense of identity and that exists as a subgroup in a larger society. Consequently, members of an ethnic group differ with respect to some cultural characteristics from other members of their larger society. The ethnic group may have its own distinctive language, religion, and other cultural customs. Extremely important for members of an ethnic group is their (positive) feeling of identity as a traditionally distinct social group. The term is usually, but not always, applied to minority groups. Ethnic groups should not be confused with or taken as synonymous with racial groups, although it is possible for an ethnic group to also be a racial group (e.g., African Americans). The concept of ethnicity is a complex process with multiple stages and multiple outcomes. It all starts with contact, when newcomer ethnic groups arrive but seek to maintain their old culture and identity, perhaps as a means of survival, or as a means of living their lives in a familiar way because that's how they feel at ease. They can look for areas to live and work where they can develop a network of friends with the same value systems. Through acculturation, ethnic identities emerge into greater exposure to the larger society and culture. Adaptation sees the group trying to maintain their ethnic identity but slowly giving way to the dominant culture. The decreasing number of foreign-born members of the group are welcomed and gradually integrated, eventually being assimilated into "mainstream" society and culture. Ethnically based cultural traditions manifest themselves in daily life, but above all on significant occasions such as weddings, births, religious holidays and deaths. Many ethnic groups are financially disadvantaged and/or suffer from other forms of prejudice. Categorization of individuals in societies can be achieved in several ways, ranging from a subjective approach (where individuals are asked to decide on their own groupings) to more objective approaches based on factors such as lifestyle, income, etc. The purpose of the traditional marketing approach is to model the structure of different classes or groups because these are ways to determine (predict) buyer behavior. In practice, however, patterns of marketing locations are more complex and, for some businesses and services, social class or income alone may be a more important discriminator than ethnicity. For others, such as low-interest loans, ethnic group may be more important, where the lender benefits from shared capital growth or insurance premium coverage.