Purpose - Given that global advertising often originates in the West,
this study aimed to investigate whether the same racial cues in
advertising had different effects on US and Chinese readers who belonged
to the majority group in their own country but occupied varied
positions in the global racial hierarchy. Design/methodology/approach -
The study included two experiments that used US and Chinese college
students as participants to test the effect of model race on model
likeability, ad attitude, and brand attitude. Findings - The experiments
confirmed that model race affected the effectiveness of advertising,
though the nature and extent of its effects were mediated by factors
such as country and product category. The effects of model race were
much more pronounced for the Chinese data than for the US data, and for
computer than for beer. Practical implications - The findings illustrate
the inadequacy of the center-periphery approach to global advertising
planning, expose the limitations of the social identity theory in
predicting racial attitudes in international settings, and outline the
ethical challenge for global advertisers to develop effective
multicultural advertising. Originality/value - To date, most studies on
racial cues in advertising have focused on the USA, and very few have
explored the topic in the context of other markets. As an initial
cross-country comparative investigation, this study suggests that
multicultural advertising does not have the same effect in international
markets.