Effects of Strength of Ethnic Identity and Product Presenter Race on Black Consumer Attitudes

ABSTRACTThis study examines the relationship between ethnic identity and same- or different-race sources on blacks’ consumer attitudes. Social identity theory provides a theoretical framework to explain black consumers’ decision-making processes. Using structural equation modeling, the authors show that the race of a character used in an ad transversely moderates the relationship between ethnic identity and consumer attitudes. Specifically, they find that as blacks’ strength of ethnic identity increases, they tend to display more favorable consumer attitudes if the product presenter of an e-commerce website is also black and weaker but negative attitudes if the product presenter is white.