Brand love and ethnic identification: the mediating role of brand attachment among African American consumers

Purpose From a distinctiveness theory and elaboration likelihood model (ELM) perspective, this study aims to investigate the determinants, the direct and indirect effects of ethnic identification on brand attachment, brand love and behavioral outcomes. The authors examine two types of products (high- vs low-involvement). Design/methodology/approach In a survey, participants were randomly assigned to four conditions consisting of two high-involvement (i.e. a smart watch and a car) and two low-involvement (i.e. a soda/soft drink and a shampoo) stimuli. A total of 192 respondents participated in this study; 39% were male, 61% were female and 90% were 18-22 years old. Findings In line with ELM, the authors offer evidence that ethnic advertising is more effective for low-involvement products targeted at African American consumers. Results also showed that brand attachment partially mediates the effect of ethnic identification with the ad (EthIdenAD) and brand love. In summary, the structural equation modeling (SEM) results support the efficacy of ethnic-targeted ads for developing brand attachment, brand love and behavioral outcomes. Practical implications Using ethnically targeted ads to target minority groups may not be sufficient to increase the efficacy of ads. According to distinctiveness theory, African Americans with different levels of ethnic identification will respond differently to ad attitudes, brand attachment, brand love, identification with the model in the ad and varying degrees of belief that the ad was targeted toward them. Originality/value This study examines the effect of ethnically targeted advertising on brand love, and behavioral outcomes with the mediation effect of brand attachment and moderation effect of product involvement. The results of this study suggest several theoretical and practical implications for marketing and brand management, including directions for advertising strategy and consumer–brand relationships.