For Us, by Them?: A Study on Black Consumer Identity Congruence & Brand Preference

Abstract

Nielsen reports Black buying power is expected to increase to nearly $2 trillion by 2021. Thus our research is rooted in offering intellectual support to exploring that economic contribution and filling existing gaps in academic literature on the relationship between Black female consumers and personal care brands. In 2018, Black consumers spent millions on personal care products, but a good deal, $473 million, was spent on hair products. This work tests a proposed model on brand-consumer identity congruence between Black female consumers and hair care brands. The model purports a direct connection between identity congruence and purchase intentions. When confronted with the choice of deciding between products from Shea Moisture, a Black founded brand that is perceived to still be Black-owned or the Pantene Gold Series Collection, a mainstream hair care collection that targets Black women, this study found that Black women gravitated toward Shea Moisture. In spite of Pantene’s attempt at communicating authentic connection with consumers, the women in this study expressed a preference for Shea Moisture because its image and projected identity was perceived to appeal more to their ethnocentric sensibilities. These findings support our hypotheses and update contemporary branding literature to be more inclusive of Black women.