Ethnicity in advertising and millennials: the role of social identity and social distinctiveness

Abstract

Underpinned by the social identity theory and distinctiveness theory, the research examines the effects of mono- and multi-ethnicity advertising on brand evaluations among millennials. We conducted two experimental studies with Asian and Caucasian millennial consumers in Australia to test our hypotheses. The objective of Study 1 was to test the effectiveness of ethnic marketing among millennials using six different advertisement copies for a lipstick brand. In Study 2, we aimed to substantiate our predictions using another type of product (i.e. soap) and ascertain the impact of the product context on ethnicity marketing. Overall, the results of this study support that millennial consumers prefer multi-ethnic advertising to mono-ethnic advertising. The effect of body image is not significant in multi-ethnic advertisements. Social identity can influence the attitudes of socially distinctive consumers toward mono-ethnic advertisements. Finally, multi-ethnic advertising is an effective strategy for both publicly and privately consumed products, while mono-ethnic advertising is more applicable for privately consumed products.

Keywords:

• Ethnicity
• advertising
• body image
• social identity
• social distinctiveness
• advertising

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wei Shao

Wei Shao is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. Her research interests include consumer psychology, branding, tourism marketing, and corporate communications. She has published in journals such as Australasian Marketing Journal, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and European Journal of Marketing on these topics.

Yunen Zhang

Yunen Zhang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Marketing, Griffith University Business School. His research interests include destination marketing, consumer neuroscience, technology in marketing, and consumer behaviour. His research articles can be viewed in the high-quality outlets such as Australasian Marketing Journal and Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics. His research has also been accepted by and presented in Australian & New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC) and Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress (AMSWMC).

Anni Cheng

Anni Cheng is a PhD Candidate at Monash University, Australia. She is a consumer behaviour researcher that is primarily interested in the areas of sustainable marketing and social marketing.

Sara Quach

Sara Quach is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing, Griffith University, Australia. Her research interests are in the areas of relationship marketing, services marketing, consumer behaviour and digital marketing. She has published over 50A and A*-ranked journal articles since 2015. Her research has been published in leading marketing journals including but not limited to the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Sara has been recognised as the Rising Star in the Marketing Discipline by The Australian in 2020, Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC)’s 2022 Emerging Marketing Researcher Award, and Griffith Business School PVC’s Research Excellence Award (ECR) in 2022.

Park Thaichon

Park Thaichon is an associate professor of marketing in Faculty of Business Education, Law and Arts, School of Business, University of Southern Queensland. His research articles can be viewed in the leading outlets such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, California Management Review, Industrial Marketing Management, European Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Business Research. Park is an Associate Editor of the Australasian Marketing Journal and Journal of Strategic Marketing. He is also a member of Griffith Asia Institute.