Whiteness Theory in Advertising: Racial Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Ads

Abstract

Research has suggested the race of models in advertisements impacts audience attitudes toward these messages, but how does viewers’ race affect attitudes toward advertisements featuring models of the same or a different race? The authors explore the existence of racial identity and color-blind racism across racial groups and examine these constructs as they relate to attitudes toward advertisements and ad models’ race. Although the authors found that racial identity and color-bind racism were present across audiences, they did not find significant relationships between race and attitudes toward ads. They did, however, find color-blind racism was significantly related to non-White audiences’ opinions of ads featuring Black models.

KEYTERMS:

• ad models
• advertising
• color-blindness
• race
• racial identity
• Whiteness