Memo to Woke Advertisers: Don't Try Too Hard

After this past summer39s backlash against performative allyship many brands were left wondering how to craft corporate social responsibility CSR messaging for millennials and Gen Z consumers since a brand39s commitment to social good and their transparency and sincerity in pursuing it can be a differentiating factor for purchase decisions But it can be tricky for corporations to strike the right balance between authenticity and profitabilityTake quotPride collectionsquot In 2020 over 50 brands ranging from Nike to Versace released rainbowcovered limitededition products created for lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer LGBTQ Pride month And while some were embraced and celebrated others were criticized for quotrainbow washingquot since their superficial symbolic and performative gestures of support suggested the brands39 commitment to social change was overshadowed by their drive to exploit LGBTQ symbols in pursuit of the powerful pink dollarIn study recently published in the International Journal of Strategic Communication Dr Minjie Li pictured below took a closer look at the risks and opportunities of Pride collections and what kind of LGBTQ issue messaging might produce the most positive consumer response Li and his coauthor Dr Sara Champlin set up an experiment where they showed over 700 millennial heterosexual and LGBTQ participants two sets of virtually identical print advertisements for a quotPride collectionquot fashion brandWhile both ads noted that quotproceeds go to the Rainbow Home Foundation to end LGBTQ homelessnessquot one ad gave 100 of the proceeds and the other ad only 1 And surprisingly the researchers found that less is more young consumers consistently reported more positive attitudes toward the 1 contribution How could this beAccording to Dr Li public communication platforms such as social media have likely made millennials more skeptical of any given brand39s authenticity and motive of engaging in cause marketing with corporate social responsibility CSR such that a large donation smacked of quotrainbow washingquot while a smaller contribution seemed more trustworthy and realistic In other words don39t try too hardIn an even more recent study published in the Journal of Digital Journalism Li examined the potential synergies between solutions journalism CSR advertising and doing social good while avoiding the appearance of exploitation and thereby risking backlash from consumers Just as brands increasingly incorporate social issues in their campaigns and even publicize their financial contributions towards those causes quotsolutions journalismquot seeks to avoid consumers39 negative news fatigue by focusing less on society39s problems and more on the people trying to fix themSo given journalism and advertising39s existing financial interdependence which has only intensified in the digital era there would appear to be great potential for CSR advertising to work alongside solutions journalism After all placing relevant advertisements next to related news content quotcontextual advertisingquot has been found to increase positive attitudes toward the brandBut Li found something slightly different After conducting an online experiment with over 200 participants he discovered that a CSR advertisement that compliments rather than mirrors the news content works best for creating a less negative affective state for the audience When I asked Li why he theorized that it could be because highly relevant advertisements risk triggering a consumer39s suspicion that they are being manipulated by an unethical adeditorial collaboration that violates journalistic values of objectivity and independence Lowrelevance CSR advertisements might hit a sweet spot that makes the audience perceive the brand to be socially conscious as opposed to being manipulativeexploitive profitdriven or indifferent to social issuesOverall Dr Li39s research suggests that CSR advertisers should care not only about the commercial outcomes but also the social and affective ones Thus in order to be effective and authentic brands should craft realistic messages placed next to positive yet distinct contentIn short the ad should tryamp8230but not too hardABOUT DR LIDr Minjie Li locates his research at the intersection of multicultural and prosocial advertising and media psychology with an emphasis on LGBTQ issues His work contributes to a better understanding of 1 the shifting media representation strategies of marginalized social groups and 2 the media effects of multicultural and prosocial advertising strategies on peopleamp8217s attitude change and cognition within the context of the growing media economy of digital activism commodified diversity and corporate social responsibilityClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Memo to Woke Advertisers: Don't Try Too Hard

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Christopher Boulton

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