Your ethnic model speaks to the culturally connected: Differential effects of model ethnicity in advertisements and the role of cultural self-construal

Abstract

This paper examines self-construal and consumer self-referencing as a mechanism for explaining ethnicity effects in advertising. Data were collected from a 2 (participant ethnicity: Turkish versus Kurdish)x2 (model ethnicity: Turkish versus Kurdish)x2 (self-construal: independent versus interdependent) experiment. Results show that (i) individuals with interdependent self-construal display more positive evaluations towards an in-group ethnic ad model than do individuals with independent self-construal; (ii) ethnic minority individuals (Kurdish people) self-referenced more advertising portrayals of models of a similar ethnicity than models of a different ethnicity, as did ethnic majority individuals (Turkish people); (iii) ethnic minority individuals who experienced high levels of self-referencing exhibited more favourable attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the brand and a higher purchase intention than ethnic minority individuals who experienced low levels of self-referencing; and (iv) self-referencing is found to partially mediate the relationship between culturally constructed self-concept (self-construal) and ethnicity on consumer evaluations for interdependent subjects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.