Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Mariea G. Hoy

Committee Members

Ronald Taylor, Eric Haley

Abstract

This study extended the Cohen's experiment (1992) to assess white consumers' cognitive, affective and behavioral responses towards print advertisements with Asian models. The three independent variables in the experiment included the congruency between the product and the model in the advertisement (congruent vs. incongruent, as determined by stereotyping the product as "Caucasian" or "Asian"), the model ethnicity (Asian or white), and the subjects' familiarity with Asians. The five dependent variables comprised product claims credibility (cognitive responses), attitudes towards the advertisement, attitudes towards the product, attitudes towards the model (affective responses), as well as intention to purchase (behavioral responses). They were manipulated in a 2 x 2 factorial design with model ethnicity (Asian and white) and product congruency (congruent and incongruent) as the main factors. The two products featured in the test advertisements were pizza and rice. The experiment was conducted in May-June, 1998 with 134 students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Subjects were selected by convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to the four experimental groups (Asian model/product congruency; Asian model/product incongruency; white model/product congruency; white model/product incongruency). Regarding the effects of model ethnicity, the study found that the use of Asian models in advertisements generated less favorable cognitive responses than using white models but the responses were still favorable. Besides, it was found that subjects who saw a white model were more likely to view the model to be more like themselves than those who saw an Asian model. On the other hand, although the pretest of this study has indicates that white consumers do have stereotypes in relation to products, product congruency did not show any positive effect on the subjects' responses in this study. As for the interaction effect between model ethnicity and product congruency, the only significant effect was found in the ratings for model likeability. Furthermore, familiarity with Asians was found to be related to the subjects' responses. Subjects' cognitive responses were associated with whether or not they have had Asian classmates whereas their affective responses were associated with whether or not they have Asian friends. The number of personal Asian friends the subjects had was positively correlated with model likeability, ad favorability and product expectations. The findings suggest that the U.S. advertisers targeting Asian-American consumers can advertise their products/services with Asian models without having to worry about a backlash from white consumers. Moreover, since no positive effect of product congruency was found on the white subjects' responses, this implies that the advertisers can have the flexibility to promote their products/services with models whose ethnicity may not be considered to be congruent with the products/services. Finally, the positive relationship found between familiarity with Asians and the white subjects' responses indicates to the advertisers that areas where Asian-Americans are concentrated are especially suitable for using Asian models to appeal to the Asian population. As the number of Asian-Americans continue to escalate, white consumers will become increasingly familiar with Asians and U.S. advertisers should have even more confidence in using Asian models to promote their products/services.

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