A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research has examined how consumers respond to advertisements featuring interracial couples compared to same-race couples.
The authors asked a sample of 4,956 participants to review several ads on Facebook that featured interracial couples made up of one White individual and one individual that was either Black, Hispanic, or Asian, compared to ads that featured White couples and same-race minority couples. Overall, the participants rated interracial couples as more approachable and friendly than White couples, but less approachable than couples where both individuals were Black, Hispanic, or Asian.
However, the authors discovered some exceptions to these findings. Among participants who had a high social dominance orientation – the desire to maintain current society hierarchies – were less likely to view interracial or same-race minority couples as more approachable than White couples. Separately, the authors found that when White couples had other underrepresented characteristics, such as those with LGBTQ+ identities, their perceived warmth increased.
The research team consisted of scholars from the University of Kentucky, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Georgia.
