Racial Diversity in TV commercials: The Consumer Perspective A comparison of Perceptions

Minorities around the world have been voicing their concerns towards the lack of proper representation within the media for decades now. From black communities being stereotypically portrayed as the tireless athletes, to Asian individuals presented as the typical intellectuals, there has been a worldwide uproar against these clichéd ideologies, especially at a time when social media platforms have entered every home. Historically, minorities have been faced with either racist representations of the such, or no representation at all. It is arguable that society has come a long way when it comes to this issue within the media, and advertisements more specifically. Due to this increased interest in the diversification of media, researchers have been exponentially studying the impact of racist advertisements on the brand perceptions of minorities for years, as it is proven that advertisements have a big impact on the consumer's point of view of the brand in question. However, this study aims at comparing the effects of the different uses of diversity within advertisements on Caucasian individuals and People of Color alike, in order to better understand how race within advertisements can impact all segments of society differently and to highlight the power that Caucasian individuals can have if they were to speak out towards the effects of inclusivity on their brand perceptions. It aims at showing the reader that no matter who he is, he can push for accurate inclusivity within advertisements, thus bringing awareness to the still existing race problems all over the world in order to hopefully create more inclusive and appropriate commercials. Additionally, this thesis also incorporates several theories, including that of Social Identity and the Affect Transfer Theory in order to better understand why and how these opinions are formed. Effectively, the research showed that there seems to be no difference in the perception of Caucasians and People of Color when it comes to their perception of the different types of inclusivity in advertisements, meaning that Caucasian individuals tend to generally have favorable opinions towards inclusive brands while maintaining negative emotions towards brands that feature racist commercials. The main differences, however, stem from how the two groups of individuals' Social Identity plays a role in their assessment of the brands. By examining how the level of the participants' Social Identity within their groups reflects on their set opinions, this thesis is able to better understand how one's belonging to their group can alter how they perceive certain phenomena, especially those pertaining to race.