15279: How Brands Might Determine The Value of Values.

 

Advertising Age reported on a Numerator study showing Black consumers are more influenced than other groups—including Whites—to make purchase decisions based on a brand’s values, its corporate parent’s values, or its commitment to diversity and social justice. Imagine if Blacks learned about the exclusivity of White advertising agencies servicing brands—not to mention the systemic racism present at the firms… It might lead to data measuring the financial impact of inequality on a brand’s profits.

 

Black Consumers Are Group Most Swayed By Brand Values And Diversity Practices, Study Finds

 

Numerator rates AT&T top for using diverse talent in ads, with Geico and Progressive making the biggest buys in Black and Hispanic media

 

By Jack Neff

 

Black and African-American consumers are more likely than others to base purchase decisions on a brand’s values, the values of its corporate parent, or the brand’s commitment to diversity and social justice, according to new research by Numerator.

 

Overall, Numerator found almost 22% of Black consumers say a brand’s values are important in purchase decisions vs. under 18% for the general population. Black consumers were almost twice as likely as the general population (31% to 16%) to say a brand’s commitment to diversity, equality and social justice is important when choosing a product or service.

 

Numerator bases the findings on more than 200,000 responses to what it calls MicroSurveys, which are short surveys conducted among its panel of U.S. consumers, some of whom also provide online and offline purchase data.

 

Hispanic and Asian consumers were also more likely than white consumers to base purchase decisions on brand values or diversity and justice commitment, but Black consumers were the most likely to have their purchase decisions swayed by these factors, according to the Numerator survey.

 

Brands likely to benefit from values and diversity include Amazon and the several insurance and automotive industry brands, according to separate Numerator data tracking of spending on ads featuring diverse talent or placed in Black or Hispanic media.

 

The top brands running ads featuring diverse talent included AT&T, Amazon, State Farm, Gilead’s Descovy prescription drug, and the NFL for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 30, according to Numerator. Geico and Progressive led all brands for spending in both Black and Hispanic media, with Amazon also in the top five for both. Reese’s and corporate sibling Hershey were among other top spenders on Hispanic media.

 

The listings don’t consolidate brands with similar corporate parents, and marketers such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever would rank higher in the listings if all their brand spending were consolidated. P&G for example had Gillette, Bounty, Swiffer and Pampers among the top 30 brands for spending on ads with diverse talent. Consolidating the spending for just those four brands would put P&G at the top of the list, ahead of AT&T.

 

Outside of Hershey, the packaged-goods players and mass retailers didn’t rank high in spending on African-American or Hispanic media. However, executives of P&G, Unilever and Walmart since last summer have all said they plan to step up spending in minority-owned media.