Blending identity-specific depiction and activism advocacy in Black-centric health advertising on social media: intersectional health communication targeting Black cisgender heterosexual and Black LGBTQ populations

Abstract

Health disparity disproportionately impacts people of color, intersectionally marginalized Black LGBTQ members in particular. To effectively communicate with these populations on issues and biomedical advancements impacting them, health advertising has started applying identity-specific approaches and integrating political activism in their strategies. The present study examines how different identity-specific sex-positive depictions (i.e., heterosexual, queer) in a Black-centric health advertising campaign on the HIV-preventative drug, PrEP, interact with the audience’s identity to influence the Black cisgender heterosexual and Black LGBTQ-identified Americans’ (N = 630) responses to PrEP and the campaign. Moreover, the study examines whether such joint effects are moderated by how the campaign incorporates activism (i.e., intersectional, non-intersectional, no activism). The findings demonstrated that identity-specific sex-positive depiction indeed interacted with audience identity to impact perceived susceptibility to contracting HIV, response efficacy, intention to adopt PrEP when offered for free, and positive attitudes towards the campaign. Especially, groups with various levels of intersectional marginalization responded differently to the effects of identity-specific depiction.