Exploring Persuasion Knowledge, Identity-Related Media Use, and Ad Skepticism of Black Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents

Abstract

In the United States, where Black and Hispanic youth are disproportionately targeted by marketers, persuasion knowledge (PK) has not been thoroughly studied among underrepresented groups. The extent to which Black immigrant/refugee adolescents understand persuasion tactics and develop coping skills is explored in this mixed-methods study. Adolescents were aware of persuasion tactics on social media, relying on visual cues to identify sponsored posts. Media use was positively related to PK, and African American media use was associated with skepticism. Although there remains a need to further develop PK, adolescents demonstrated generally skillful coping strategies for influencers’ persuasion tactics.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the students and families in the participating communities of the Food, Culture, and Health Study (Cunno, Caado, and Caafimaad Study), on which this paper is based.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interests were reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a 2020 Research Acceleration Developmental Project seed grant (PI: Dr. Gail M. Ferguson) through the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and in collaboration with University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and University of Miami.