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Viewers' processing of Actor's race and message claims in advertising stimuli
Author(s) -
Whittler Tommy E.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.4220060405
Subject(s) - heuristics , psychology , white (mutation) , race (biology) , advertising , social psychology , prejudice (legal term) , product (mathematics) , sociology , computer science , gender studies , biochemistry , chemistry , geometry , mathematics , business , gene , operating system
This study examines the impact of white and black actors' race and viewers' racial attitudes on advertisement evaluation, A total of 160 white and 140 black participants rated an advertisement featuring a white or black actor promoting a portable word processor or a liquid laundry detergent. An assessment of racial attitudes (i.e., whites' racial prejudice and blacks' identification with black culture) followed product, advertisement, and actor ratings. The findings indicated that, when the black actor promoted the relatively inexpensive liquid detergent, viewers with stronger racial attitudes were more likely to employ racially focused heuristics than viewers with weaker racial attitudes. The data did not support the notion that viewers with less defined racial attitudes would be more likely to consider the message claims than viewers with firmly established racial attitudes. These findings provided partial support for the heuristic versus systematic processing distinction.