A recent study co-authored by a scholar from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who specialises in the intersection of authenticity and aesthetics in branding has revealed that featuring interracial couples in advertisements can enhance brand perception compared to ads with white couples. However, these advertisements yield less favourable outcomes than ads featuring Black, Hispanic, and Asian couples.

The study, conducted by Rosanna K. Smith, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business in Illinois and a John M. Jones Faculty Fellow, alongside Nicole Davis of the University of Kentucky and Julio Sevilla of the University of Georgia, was published in the Journal of Consumer Research. According to their findings, the key factor influencing this outcome is the perceived “warmth” of the couple, which can be either amplified or diminished by the racial composition of the couple featured in the advertisement.

Professor Smith explained that their research began from the observation that interracial couples are becoming increasingly prevalent in U.S. advertising, possibly even exceeding their actual representation within the U.S. population. This trend prompted the researchers to explore the exact impact of such representations on consumer behaviour. Their inquiry investigated whether advertisements featuring interracial couples instead of monoracial couples affected consumer perceptions and behaviours differently.

Historically, interracial marriages in the U.S. were only legalised in 1967 following the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which deemed anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. Since then, the percentage of interracial marriages has increased from 3% in 1967 to 19% in 2019. Despite the growing representation of interracial couples in marketing, this marketing strategy’s effectiveness remains uncertain.

The researchers conducted six laboratory-controlled studies with nearly 5,000 participants and a field experiment on Facebook to test consumer reactions to ads featuring interracial couples consisting of one white and one minority individual (Black, Hispanic, or Asian) versus those featuring either white couples or monoracial minority couples.

Their findings indicate that consumers perceive interracial couples in advertisements as warmer and more approachable than white couples, yet less so than monoracial minority couples. This suggests that interracial couples elicit mixed responses, positioning them somewhere between monoracial minority and dominant racial group couples in terms of consumer evaluations. The study posits that this intermediate level of perceived warmth could be attributed to the mixed social status of the couple’s racial groups, where nondominant groups are often viewed as warmer due to their lower social hierarchy status.

Moreover, the study discovered that consumer responses could vary significantly based on individual factors such as “social dominance orientation”, a psychological preference for maintaining the status quo of the current social hierarchy. The inclusion of other nondominant characteristics, like a gay couple, also influenced perceptions. For instance, the research highlighted that a gay white couple could elicit a level of warmth and favourable brand outcomes similar to those of a heterosexual, same-race minority couple, surpassing both heterosexual interracial and white couples in terms of positive consumer reactions.

This research offers a nuanced insight into how consumers perceive diverse advertising representations, demonstrating that responses to interracial couples are complex and multifaceted. Smith’s study provides valuable guidance for marketers, emphasising that while including interracial couples in advertising does not universally enhance brand outcomes, it does not detrimentally affect them. Instead, it prompts a varied response from consumers who are attentive to the specific nuances of diversity presented within marketing campaigns.

More information: Nicole Davis et al, Mixed Couples, Mixed Attitudes: How Interracial Couples in Marketing Appeals Influence Brand Outcomes, Journal of Consumer Research. DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucae047

Journal information: Journal of Consumer Research Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau