proofreading of paper, making corrections when necessary
paper is already basically done
professor stated that it should be around 10 pages. My paper is 8. This paper is due within less than 8 hours.
I am looking for two things-
proofreading of paper, making corrections when necessary
possibly being able to extend the paper by a page.
Running head: THE EFFECTS OF MATCHING THE ADVERTISEMENT MODEL’S RACE 1
2
The Effects of Matching the Advertisement Model’s Race to the Target Demographic
Xxx xxxxx
June 12, 2019
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that success in advertising in the United States relies on matching the
advertisement model’s race to the target audiences race. The average representation of blacks in
American advertising is relatively the same as the total black population in the United States,
13%. But why is it that only 3% of blacks in Brazil are represented in Brazilian advertisement
when they comprise nearly 50% of their total population? In this research proposal, a method is
introduced to measure the effects of matching an advertisement’s model’s race to the target
audiences race regarding purchase intentions. Nine hundred Brazilian men are gathered, and
separated into three groups of 300 people, with each group being their respective race: whites,
blacks, and mixed-race. A movie trailer is provided, and is manipulated only in the regard that
the race of the protagonist changes. The three groups are then divided once again into three
sub-categories of 100 each, and for each sub-section of each race are shown each type of movie
trailer. A post-survey is then administered using both open-ended and close-ended questions on a
7-point Likert scale to gauge participant’s purchase intent.
Introduction
As the global population becomes increasingly more diverse, and marketing
efforts now having the ability to spread across multiple countries and cultures, scholars
and practitioners are in search to better understand how social context and individual
characteristics influence consumer’s response to marketing efforts. (Grier, 2001)
Studies have shown that in the United States, matching the advertising’s model race to
the target population is an effective marketing strategy (Jones, 2010). However, there is
limited knowledge on the correlation between advertising persuasiveness and race
outside of the United States. For this study, a country that is similar in diversity is
required. In this paper, we propose a research method that will measure the effect of the
advertisement model’s race on purchase intent in Brazil.
For the entirety of our existence, persuasion has been one of the most
contributing factors of how we have succeeded and advanced as a species. From
primitive times of bartering for food and delegating tasks, to modern times of driving
marketing efforts and advancements in research, persuasion has been key to our
success as an ever-growing society. Persuasion exists everywhere. Although one may
not be aware of it, companies and their respective marketers solely exist to develop
new, efficient and effective ways to persuade the general population, either to influence
and change certain views and beliefs, or to drive sales toward a product. Whether it
may be looking up at the fast food menu, or simply scrolling through one’s social media
feed, persuasion efforts are can be found in nearly every aspect of our daily lives.
Persuasion, or the act or persuading can be explained in many different ways,
but is often synonymous with concepts such as influencing, negotiating, or even
compliance. Persuasion is often defined by the process by which a person’s
attitudes or behavior are, without duress, influenced by communications from other
people (Lotha, 2015). Persuasion is also defined as the symbolic process in which
communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or behavior regarding an
issue through the transmission of a message in an atmosphere of free choice (Perloff, 2017).
From this definition, we can derive some key points that must occur in an attempt of
persuasion. First, it involves a deliberate and intentional attempt to influence another
individual. Secondly, a successful persuasion attempt must be self-persuaded by their
own free choice and not coerced.
The United States has been commonly known to the world as the “melting pot”,
which speaks to the mass amounts of diversity represented by the country. Correlational
studies of advertisement effectiveness and race in the United States have already been
done by numerous researchers, however there is little information regarding the
correlation outside of the United States. Within the United States, the number of blacks
portrayed in advertising was equated to roughly the same percentage of blacks in
America, 13% (Bowen & Schmid, 1997). In Brazil, however, while the black and
mixed-raced population comprise nearly 47%, the number of blacks and mixed-raced
people represented in advertising is only 3% (Subervi-Velez & Oliveira, 1991). Why is it
that in the United States advertisers can find success in matching races, but in Brazil
not? If the Brazilian consumer base reacted the way that the North American population
does, marketers and advertisers could reap significant rewards by segmenting the
Brazilian population and by utilizing racially diverse models in advertisements directed
toward racially matched populations (Jones, 2010).
Race holds a slightly different meaning in Brazil than in the United States. In the
United States, race is generally categorized by genetics and ancestry, which cannot
change, as well as there is a clear separation between white and black. However, race,
is considered in many cases as a social or cultural construct, and not just a biological
classification. In the case of Brazil, being either black or white is compared to where one
would stand on a spectrum (Jones, 2010).
In 2001, researchers from Stanford University sought to study the influence of
social status on group identity and advertising persuasiveness. Central to this study is
the idea of the distinctiveness theory, which states that an individual’s distinctive
characteristics in relation to others in that environment will be more salient to the
individual than more common traits (McGuire, 1984). This theory then implies that
targeted advertisements are the most effective when the targeted population is a
numeric minority (Grier, 2001). A total of 176 black and white South African women
were recruited for the study, with half of the population being from Johannesburg, a
majority black city, and the other half from Cape Town, where white are the majority.
Advertisements were manipulated only by switching the race of the model in identical
advertisements. Dependent variables that were measured included ethnic salience,
racial importance, and personal perceptions of social status. The results showed that
when social dimensions are incorporated into the advertisement, targeted ads can be
effective even in situations when the targeted population is a numeric majority (Grier,
2001). This research has numerous similarities and a number of common goals as our
proposed research topic does, but there are great differences between South Africa and
Brazil, most notably being difference in race population distribution.
But why is it that even with the Brazilian black population nearly amounting to
half of the total population, blacks are represented in only 3% of all Brazilian
advertisements? The relationship between the advertisement model’s race and
consumer purchase intent will be examined by altering the advertisement only in the
fashion of changing the model’s ethnicity. For the proposed research, we predict that by
matching the model race with the sample’s race, purchase intent will be higher than if
the model race was improperly matched with the sample’s race.
Method
Participants
The total amount of participants needed for this study would be 900 male participants,
from Sao Paolo, with the total amount of participants being evenly divided into three groups
based on ethnicity; white, black, or mixed. It is important to note the in this context, mixed-race
denotes a mixture between white and black. The ideal age range for this study would be 25-54
years, which represent the majority of the Brazilian male population. In a best case scenario, all
participants would be middle-class, with no disabilities, heterosexual, have at least completed
high school, and have at least lived in Brazil for 20 years. Participants would be chosen via
internet survey asking to participate in an in-person marketing effort to help promote an
upcoming movie production. It would be clearly stated that completing the in-person section of
the research would result in an incentive, with the participant receiving promotional material in
the form of free admission to any upcoming movie. Correctly classifying the participants is a
necessity; once arrived at the testing location, participants will be asked to fill another brief
survey regarding important demographic material. If the results of the online survey differ from
the brief in-person survey, the participant would carry on with the experimentation process, with
the results being omitted. If by any case any participant chooses a demographic that researchers
decide to be observably and reasonably false, the final results of that specific experimentation
will be omitted as well. Correct participant self-identity is crucial to this study. Research will
continue until total final completed surveys reach 300 for each sample group.
Materials
An online survey must be created to begin the selecting process for choosing participants.
We will work in conjunction with top brands in Brazil in order to have access to their mailing
list. E-mails will be sent to the population of Sao Paolo, Brazil. The e-mail will be designed to
emphasize the incentive in order to successfully fill the needed amount of participants. The
online survey will be structured in a way that promotes the lowest amount of reactivity, but still
allows room for researcher control. The online survey will ask no more than ten questions, all of
which will be closed-ended response forms regarding information of the participant’s
demographics such as race, age, and socio-economic status. The pre-survey will be administered
in-person before exposure to the advertisement material. This survey will likely be an exact
replica of the online survey in order to verify the information regarding the participant. We will
work also in partnership with a local indie short film production company, who will construct a
short, two-minute trailer for one of their upcoming film projects. This, in a perfect environment,
will be exploited only in the manner where the only the protagonist is changed, and nothing else.
Three trailers will be provided by the film company, one with a white protagonist, black
protagonist, and a mixed-race protagonist. Important notes about the model include that the
model face for each race must be easily and clearly identifiable as either white, black or
mixed-race with absolutely minimal racial ambiguity. Secondly, all three models must rate
similarly on a scale of attractiveness, intelligence, and likeableness. A mass pre-test of the
general Brazilian population is necessary in order to gauge this. A post-survey would then be
necessary to document the effect on purchase intent for the participant. This survey would
include both open and close-ended questions, as well as some questions that involve the Likert
scale in order to properly gauge the participants thoughts on the trailer. This survey would also
incorporate some simple comprehension questions in order to ensure that the participant was
cognizant throughout the trailer. The last needed material is the incentives, which will be
dispersed in the form of a physical voucher as stated before provided in conjunction with the
local movie theatre management.
Procedure
This experiment design is 3×3, which required each race group to be exposed to each type
of trailer. Each sample race group would then be further divided into three more denominations,
W1 , W2 , W3 , for the white sample, B1 , B2 , B3 for the black sample, and M1 , M2 , M3 for the
mixed sample. All sub-categories will have an equal distribution of 100 participants. All
subscript “one” groups will be exposed to the trailer with white protagonist, subscript “two”
groups the black protagonist, and subscript “three” the mixed-race protagonist. The sub-groups
that are shown their own race of protagonist will be considered our control, and will serve as our
baseline for comparison of data. The dependent variables include purchase intent, from which we
derive three operational definitions, the desire for more information regarding the film, the
thought of considering to purchase tickets, and the desire of purchasing the ticket if the
participant had the money, all of which would be measured through a series of agree/disagree, or
like/dislike questions using a 7-point Likert scale on the post-survey. The independent variable
would be the model’s race of the trailer. We will attempt our best to avoid confounding variables
such as eliminating pre-existing implicit racial biases (racism) by properly screening through the
online and pre-surveys, matching the race of the participant with the administrator, and
potentially allowing our scheduling process to be extremely flexible in regards to the
participant’s availability. The best case scenario would be the participant to arrive on scene in a
relatively “good” mood.
After the online survey, participants will then arrive to the testing scene where the
pre-survey and post-survey will be administered by a research assistant that is of the same race as
of the participant. Once participants are exposed to the movie trailer, the research assistant will
then administer the post-survey. The post-survey will be mostly comprised of questions with the
intention to properly gauge their attentiveness, comprehension, and thoughts about the trailer. It
is vital that the post-survey strikes the balance between the ability to obtain information from the
participant while the participant is still fully engaged and has not lost interest. At the end of the
post-survey will be included an optional section where open-ended questions are asked in order
to capture potential additional insight on the participant’s thoughts. Participant’s responses to the
additional questions regarding comprehension of the trailer will determine whether or not their
results will be included in the final results. During the end of this phase, we will also employ a
manipulation check, and ask the participants what the potential purpose of this study was. If the
participants guess race and or racial biases, their responses will be omitted from the final
results.
References
Bowen, L. & Schmid, J. (1997) Minority Presence and Portrayal in Mainstream Advertising: An Update. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 74(1), pp. 134-146 https://doi.org/10.1177/107769909707400111
Grier, S. & Deshpande, R. (2010) Social Dimensions of consumer distinctiveness: The influence of social status on group identity and advertising persuasion. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), pp. 216-224. http://dx.doi.org.liblink.uncw.edu/10.1509/jmkr.38.2.216.18843
Johnson, G. & Grier, S. (2013) ‘What about the intended consequences?’: Examining the effect of race-stereotyped portrayals on advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 41(3),
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Jones, V. (2010) It’s Not Black and White: Advertising and Race in Cultural Context. Journal of Global Marketing, 23(1), pp. 45-64 https://doi.org/10.1080/08911760903442143
Lotha, G. (Ed.). (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica
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McGuire, W. (1984), Search for the Self: Going Beyond Self-Esteem and the Reactive Self. Personality and the Prediction of Behavior, pp. 73-120.
Perloff, R. (2017) The Dynamics of Persuasion, Communication, and Attitudes in the 21st Century. Routledge Communication Series
Subervi-Velez, F. & Oliveira, O. (1991) Blacks (and other ethnicities) in Brazilian television commercials: An exploratory study. Comunicacao e Sociedade, 10
