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Abstract
Racial minority consumers have been growing in both numbers and buying power. Although the importance of marketing to a diverse audience is being recognized by a few companies who promote ethnic marketing in specialty media, there has been ample evidence that mainstream advertising is lagging behind in a multicultural society by portraying minority models in stereotypical ways. This study will examine magazines from 2004 and 2005 to provide an update of the portrayals of minority models in advertising. In addition to the traditional factors that past studies have measured to determine the existence of minority stereotypes such as product categories and settings, this study will further look at subtler and newer stereotypes that can be found in images in advertising. Social implications of negative stereotyping and implications for advertisers on how to best depict minority models will be provided.