Race and AdvertisingOctober 8, 2014Group 5

Christina CotsakisMeera DesaiMary Brooks GallagherColleen HughesChloé OkeloCharles Vanden Heuvel

Racially Exclusive Real Estate Advertising

Fair Housing Act-Created in 1968 under the US Department of Housing and Urban Development -According to the act “no one may take any of the following actions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap: Refuse to rent or sell housing

Refuse to negotiate for housingMake housing unavailableDeny a dwellingSet different terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rentalProvide different housing services or facilitiesFalsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale, or rentalFor profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting) orDeny anyone access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale or rental of housing.”

Housing Act and Advertising-In 1980, HUD reissued guidelines for real estate advertisements-They required models used in display advertising campaigns to be clearly definable as reasonable representing majority and minority groups in the metropolitan area in which the advertising campaign is targeted-Discriminatory advertising may have the potential to dissuade minority residents from applying for housing in certain neighborhoods or buildings. It also sends a discriminatory message which violates the fair housing act

Overview of Research1. Does racially exclusive advertising signal

racially exclusive messages?2. Do differences in ethnic identification

affect African American’s perceptions of models in racially exclusive real estate advertising?

3. Have fair housing legislation and recent court decisions, with the aim of preventing discriminatory advertising, affected with racial composition of real estate advertising?

Research Methodology-There were two levels of viewers (black and white), two levels of models (all-white and integrated), and two levels of strength of ethnic identification-Sample: mail survey of black and white households generally in a middle income bracket or higher-The dependent variables were measured by scale: advertising campaign: appealing not appealing; message: believable/not believable; product: prestigious/not prestigious; behavioral intentions: likely to visit/not likely to visit; models: likeable/not likeable-The survey also included demographic questions including income, education, occupation, ethnic background, and level of ethnic identification

Advertisements-Respondents were also asked to evaluate three advertisments-Each advertisement had three photographs with people doing various activities in each-The advertisements were either all white models or integrated

Findings of Research- Overall, it was found that a large percentage of both black and white groups

found that factors such as safe neighborhoods, good school districts and proximity to shopping centers was very important.

- However, there was a higher percentage of African Americans who also considered access to public transportation to be an important factor when seeking out new places to live

- The results generally showed that both racial groups viewed the integrated advertisement as more favorable than the advertisement that showed strictly caucasian people

Findings of Research Cont’d.-There was a percentage of African Americans that were sensitive to the racial exclusiveness of the all-white ad however,and they responded negatively to the ad.-Many blacks, are in fact sensitive to racial exclusiveness in advertising, and tend to notice when ads don’t include models of the same ethnic background-But, for the most part, African americans were not influenced by the all white ad unless they were consciously identifying with the fact that they were racially exclusive.-The results of this study showed that there were flaws in the methodologies of real estate advertisements, however we did not find evidence that these advertisements actually dissuade African Americans from seeking out housing in said areas.

Updates-Chilling effect: rather than all-white ads being replaced by multiracial ads, they might be replaced by ads that have no models at all

Discussion-Since the models in advertisements only affect a small portion of the decision making process in regards to housing, should they even be used?

-This article only mentions the effects of racially exclusive vs racially inclusive ads for African Americans, do you think that this needs to be addressed for other minorities as well? What are some methods of marketing/advertising that Real Estate agencies can use to appeal to a broader spectrum?-How much do you think segregation in housing has changed?-Because there are a range of factors people are looking for with housing, do you think models have a huge affect on their decision?

Unhealthy Lifestyle Article

Background- Previous studies had shown that unhealthy products are disproportionately

advertised to African-Americans and Latinos via television, magazines, and point-of-sale advertising

- Latinos and African-Americans are already at higher risk for diseases like diabetes, kidney failure, stroke, congestive heart failure, and alcoholism

- Searching for ways to curb the new obesity epidemic- In California, tobacco-related diseases declined significantly since

controlling ads

Overview of Research- Study conducted in 2009- 4 cities: Los Angeles, Austin, NYC, Philadelphia

- To examine whether African-Americans, Latinos, and people living in low-income neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to advertisements for unhealthy foods and sedentary activities

- Compared outdoor advertising content to area income and ethnicity in each city

Research Methods- Zip codes were to contrast race/ethnicity (predominantly African-American, Latino, and white)

and household income- Used GPS receivers and digital cameras to record the outdoor advertising

- Included ads that could be seen from the street or sidewalks- Billboards, bus benches, sidewalk “sandwich” signs, murals on buildings, window posters

- Collected data on types of ads, number of ads, size of ads- Detailed assessment of each zip code’s ads- Coding based on type of product/service in ad, and also other visual or text information

- Two different measures to assess ad coverage:- Number of ads- Sheetspace

Findings of Research● Low income areas had twice as many ads as did high income

areas and three times as much sheet-space● Low-income Latino zip codes had the highest prevalence of

advertisements featuring high-calorie/low-nutrition products● Ads related to sedentary behaviors were most prevalent in

low-income Latino and white zip codes● Ads featuring physical activity were most common in high-

income white neighborhoods and low-income Latino neighborhoods

● Only 9 ads featuring fresh fruit and salads were observed

High-Calorie/Low-Nutrient Product Ads

DiscussionWhat are the ethical implications of marketing unhealthy products to a certain group?

Is this any different than marketing these products to the general population?

What does this mean?