Consumer Behavior

This research paper examines the topic of ethnic minority advertising in order to contribute managerial insights to the business field of marketing. In an experiment, we examined the causal relationship between featuring an ethnic minority model in an advertisement and the increased likeability towards that advertisement by congruent ethnic consumers. Likeability was measured in terms of attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the model and purchase intention. The focal unit was the Turkish ethnic minority consumer, from the first as well as the second generation, in the Netherlands. We found that Turkish ethnic consumers react more favourably towards advertisements that display a Turkish model, than to advertisements that display a Dutch model. This effect is larger for first generation Turkish consumers than for second generation Turkish consumers. We can thus conclude that there is a positive causal relationship between displaying a congruent ethnic actor in an advertisement and a more favourable reaction of congruent ethnic consumers. This relationship is stronger for first generation consumers when compared to second generation consumers.