High-profile instances of brands accused of cultural appropriation suggest that even the most prominent brands fail to fully understand the complexities of this phenomenon. This work experimentally unpacks consumer perceptions of cultural appropriation and its impact on brand attitudes and purchase interest. The authors begin by developing and validating a scale for measuring perceptions of cultural appropriation. Next, a series of studies demonstrates that viewing this phenomenon through a historical lens can help determine when and why the use of cultural elements is viewed as appropriative. Specifically, an emphasis on historical power imbalance explains why liberal consumers are more likely to recognize cultural appropriation and why commercializing disadvantaged cultures is considered appropriation, whereas using elements from advantaged cultures may be more acceptable. The conceptualization further identifies brand actions and interventions that influence perceptions of cultural appropriation, including externally emphasizing historical power imbalance, how brands obtain cultural elements, and how brands represent the culture in their product offerings and marketing. These findings help marketers (1) avoid launching products that can be damaging to the brand and offensive to consumers and (2) understand how to better promote products in a way that prevents rather than amplifies these negative perceptions.

When Diversity Backfires: The Asymmetric Role of Multicultural Marketing on Brand Perception
Journal of Consumer Research, forthcoming
with Julian Saint Clair, Mitch Hamilton, Americus Reed II

More brands are now expanding their market to new consumers by displaying cultural diversity in marketing campaigns—but the risks are unclear. This article explores the role of the brand’s characteristics in multicultural marketing. Our findings suggest that when brands launch a new multicultural marketing campaign, it may be well-received if the brand’s original focus was on the needs of nonmarginalized consumers. However, for brands with a focus on the needs of marginalized consumers (i.e., marginalized-focused brands), such a campaign may be perceived as selling out, thereby negatively impacting consumers’ reactions. Six studies with Black and White U.S. consumers explore this novel “sellout effect” across various product categories and for consequential behaviors. Inclusion is identified as a key mechanism, mitigation strategies are explored, and implications for theory and practice are discussed. Findings highlight the importance of diversity marketing, understanding marginalization for consumers and brands, and the need for research that considers race and ethnicity.

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Room For Error: The Effect of Minority Ownership Awareness on Brand Evaluations

Journal of Marketing, forthcoming

with Aaron Barnes

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​Recent social movements, such as Black Lives Matter, have prompted brands and
retailers to increase the use of minority ownership labels (e.g., Black-owned or woman-owned).
The current research examines when and why minority ownership awareness influences
consumer behavior, particularly for brand failures. When a brand failure occurs, minority
ownership awareness can result in higher brand evaluations and greater willingness to pay, a
phenomenon referred to as the minority ownership awareness effect. This effect and its boundary
conditions are demonstrated through five experiments and analyses of over 27,000 Google
reviews for Black-owned restaurants. The authors propose that minority ownership awareness
invokes a type of underdog effect which is pronounced in situations involving product (vs.
moral) failures, among people with low (vs. high) social dominance orientation, and among those
people with a high (vs. low) internal motivation to respond without prejudice.​​