Targeted marketing and African American millennial consumers

Abstract

PurposeWith African American Millennials being the most intense users of the internet in the USA, based on length of time and frequency, this is a group that should be of particular interest to advertisers investing in online campaigns. The current marketing literature states that minorities respond more favorably to media and imagery that is targeted to them. However, this generalization has not been extended to make sure that this new generation and new medium follow the previous findings. The purpose of this paper is to examine how advertising performance is affected by the use of targeted marketing to African American Millennial consumers online.Design/methodology/approachUsing the McGuire's Distinctiveness Theory as a framework, this study investigates the role of race in online advertising to determine if having a targeted vehicle (a race‐specific website) and or targeted imagery (featuring a race‐specific model) has an influence on an individuals' perception of a product, perception of an advertisement, and intent to purchase a product.FindingsThe findings provide interesting insight into the differences present between previously accepted generalizations and what is found when using a new medium with a new generation. Having a racially targeted media vehicle (website) did not have a significant effect on the resulting marketing outcomes (attitude towards the ad, attitude towards the product and purchase intent) but having targeted imagery (ethnic models) did. This shows that extending the current literature regarding targeted marketing to include the medium of internet and include this new consumer group of Millennials may not be a sound strategy.Originality/valueThe accepted practice of using Black models to target African American consumers is still valid in the online environment, even when the audience is a member of the newer generation. However, according to the findings of this study, media buying practices should be examined in order to identify where targets can be reached beyond racially targeted websites. As this study suggests, the location being racially targeted is not as significant a predictor of success as having advertising images that mirror the self‐identification of the audience.