The role of a model's race in influencing Chinese consumers' product perception

摘要

Previous studies indicate that consumers generally favor ads featuring racially similar models. However, distinctiveness theory suggests that people in a homogeneous society may not treat race as a similarity trait. On the basis of stereotype activation and country-of-origin theory, we find the use of Western models in ads may enhance Chinese consumers' product-attribute beliefs and attitudes. Our work also extends knowledge of gender differences in information processing by showing that the model race effect is stronger in males; this is attenuated when the product is utilitarian rather than hedonic, providing an explanation of why some product categories in China are more likely to feature foreign models in ads.