The Effects of Actors' Race in Commercial Advertising: Review and Extension

Abstract

Previous research examining the influence of actors' race on viewers' attitudes and purchase intentions indicates that, although white subjects do not react extremely negatively to black actors, reactions are not as positive as to white actors. Blacks show better recall of content, and more positive attitudes toward advertisements that feature black, rather than white, actors. Unfortunately, this now-outdated body of research focuses primarily on outcome measures (e.g., purchase intentions, advertisement and product evaluation), while neglecting psychological processes (e.g., thoughts, source and message evaluation) that might mediate these effects. Results of two recent studies are presented to provide understanding of viewers' psychological processes following exposure to advertisements containing actors of different races. An attempt is made to interpret these findings in light of Chaiken's (1980) systematic/heuristic framework, and Kelman's (1961) identification model of opinion change.

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