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A new paper co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scholar who studies how authenticity and aesthetics intersect with branding found that interracial couples featured in advertisements enhanced brand outcomes relative to white couples, but also decreased brand outcomes relative to Black, Hispanic and Asian couples.

The findings point to such effects being driven by the perception of the couple's "warmth," which is either strengthened or weakened by the presence of other dominant or nondominant racial group members, said Rosanna K. Smith, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business at Illinois and a co-author of the research.

"We found that the perceived warmth of the couple in the ad drove brand outcomes," said Smith, who is also a John. M. Jones Faculty Fellow and the co-coordinator of the Gies Business Research Lab. "Interracial couples increased brand evaluations and the desire to purchase from the brand relative to white couples, but interracial couples decreased brand outcomes relative to minority couples."

The paper was co-written by Nicole Davis of the University of Kentucky and Julio Sevilla of the University of Georgia and published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

The researchers started from the premise that the representation of interracial couples in marketing appeals likely influences brand perceptions.

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