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A recent study shows that before Floyd’s murder there was a positive link between higher representation of Black actors in commercials and the likelihood of consumers buying from the brands—but only for the ads that were more likely processed peripherally.

“Consumers saw some Black actors [in the commercial] and said ‘Well, the brand is probably thinking about it [racial diversity],’” Bart says. “‘And we want to support it.’”

What surprised researchers the most was that consumers were less inclined to purchase from brands with a higher representation of Black actors in their ads when they engaged in central processing.

Bart and Pauwels hypothesize that the desire of brands to include more Black actors into their ads had potentially backfired. Consumers watching the ads more carefully regarded them as not authentic and genuine but rather motivated by the perceived change in sociopolitical agenda and context.

“Under such increased scrutiny of the TV ads, the impact of racial diversity on consumer purchase intention is less likely to be positive,” the study concluded, “because consumers are more likely to perceive the brand advertisement as an inauthentic, performative or disingenuous attempt to capitalize on public attention to racial inequality.”

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