The Impact of Ethics Diversity Marketing on Consumer Attitudes

Abstrakt

Brands are increasingly deploying good causes for advertorial purposes and consumers are increasingly expecting brands to take a stance in the sociopolitical climate. Large global brands are allocating greater resources towards the inclusion of gender, sexuality and ethnicity, also known as diversity marketing. However, there is a lack of research on the direct impact of diversity marketing on consumers’ attitudes, and therefore it is becoming more important to have guidelines on how to navigate diversity marketing. This thesis aims at investigating the effect of diversity marketing on consumers’ attitudes towards a brand, examined in the context of Arla Foods Amba and ethnic diversity marketing in Denmark. Theoretical literature lays the ground for hypotheses supporting that ethnic diversity marketing will increase brand love, brand-self connection and cognitive experiences, and supporting that values and socio-demographic characteristics will play a fundamental role in such increases. By the use of a survey experiment, the attitudes of 159 respondents was examined depending on one of two claim manipulations: an ethnic diversity claim and a control claim. The findings provided evidence that ethnic diversity marketing does not increase brand love and that high values towards ethnic diversity do not affect consumers' brand-self connection. Moreover, findings displayed a positive relationship between the use of ethnic diversity marketing and cognitive experiences, and underlined that cognitive experiences positively affect brand evaluation. It was confirmed that consumers' socio-demographic characteristics do have an influence on ethnic diversity values. The findings provide clarity on consumers' attitudes towards ethnic diversity marketing and equips brands with a better understanding of the risks and rewards associated with the use of sociopolitical marketing efforts. The study contributes to the theoretical literature on brand activism and provides guidelines for managers wishing to engage in ethnic diversity marketing.