Does ‘Inspiration Porn’ Inspire? How Disability and Challenge Impact Attitudinal Evaluations of Advertising

Abstract

Disability community members have voiced concerns about advertising’s representations of persons with disabilities (PWDs). “Inspiration porn” in advertising often takes the form of showing a PWD completing challenging, physical tasks. Utilizing a 2 (model: non-disabled vs. disabled) by 2 (challenge level: none vs. high) by 2 (ad replication: male vs. female) between subjects design, an online experiment (N = 472) asked, does a PWD completing a high challenge task increase advertisement effectiveness? Furthermore, it explored whether indicators of inspiration mediated the relationship. Ads featuring PWDs increased effectiveness and this effect was mediated by meaningful affect and physical indicators of elevation.