Empirical evidence of the effect of colorism on customer evaluations

Abstract

Skin tone is a known influencer of earnings and social status. Its role in marketing has been primarily studied within the context of advertising while focusing on differences between Whites and Blacks. Three experiments were conducted to determine the effect of skin tone on customer evaluations of Black, Hispanic, and White males and females across two industries. In Studies 1 and 2, the Hispanic male was deemed less competent, professional, and worthy of repatronage compared to other service providers. In Study 3, the Hispanic male received higher evaluations when portrayed with a darker skin tone than lighter skin tone. Skin tone identity, ethnic identity, and colorism are found to influence the observed relationship. The research demonstrates that ethnicity matters, gender matters, and skin tone matters when evaluating service providers.

Bikini or Burkini? The role of swimwear and age as determinants of beach interaction with others

“…As established in prior research (e.g. Cowart & Lehnert, 2018;Levy, 2010), the choice of a student sample is appropriate because the service experience was suitable for them and they were qualified on the basis of having a recent service experience (Delcourt, Gremler, De Zanet, & van Riel, 2017). Consistent with prior research (e.g.…”

Stereotypes in Services - A Systematic Literature Review to Move from Scattered Insights to Generalizable Knowledge

“…Times cited (Percent) Customers stereotype employees Alvarez et al 2017;Ang et al 2018;Arndt et al 2017;Ashforth and Kreiner 1999;Ashforth et al 2007;Babin et al 1995;Cowart and Brady 2014;Cowart and Lehnert 2018;Dean 2010;DeShields et al 1996;Fischer et al 1997;Gill et al 2017;Guo and Main 2012;Harrison-Walker 1995;Hekman et al 2010;Hopkins et al 2005;Jones et al 1998;Koernig and Page 2002;Luoh and Tsaur 2009;Mai and Hoffmann 2011;Mai and Hoffmann 2014;Matta and Folkes 2005;McGee and Spiro 1991;Mende et al 2018;Mikolon et al 2016;Mohr and Henson 1996;Moshavi 2004;Pinar et al 2017;Poddar et al 2015;Rao Hill and Tombs 2011;Ruggs et al 2015;Rule et al 2016;Scott et al 2013;Shao et al 2004;Sharma et al 2009;Sichtmann and Micevski 2018;Snipes et al 2006;Stafford 1998;Stafford et al 1995;Sundaram and Webster 2000;Thelen et al 2010;...…”

“…Customers stereotype themselves Alvarez et al 2017;Baker et al 2008;Lee et al 2011 (3) Employees stereotype customers Ainscough and Motley 2000;Alvarez et al 2017;Ayres and Siegelman 1995;Burgess and Greaves 2013;Cowart and Darke 2014;Kim et al 2017;King et al 2006;Mai and Hoffmann 2014;Roth and Voskort 2014;Ruggs et al 2015;Sharma et al 2009;Summers et al 2018;Zolfagharian et al 2017;Zolfagharian et al 2018 14 (16) Employees stereotype employees Arndt et al 2017;King and Ahmad 2010;Mai and Hoffmann 2014;McElroy et al 2014;Rule et al 2016 (6) Employees stereotype company Homburg et al 2011;Wieseke et al 2012 (2) Employees stereotype professions Ashforth and Kreiner 1999;Ashforth et al 2007;Gaucher et al 2011 Ahmed et al 2002;Arndt et al 2017;Cowart and Lehnert 2018;Dean 2010;Fischer et al 1997;Gill et al 2017;Jones et al 1998;Kim et al 2017;King and Ahmad 2010;Koernig and Page 2002;Lee et al 2011;Matta and Folkes 2005;…”

“…Willingness to pay Word-of-Mouth Intention to hire Likelihood to help Ahmed et al 2002;Arndt et al 2017;Berentzen et al 2008;Harrison-Walker 1995;Jones et al 1998;Kim et al 2017;King and Ahmad 2010;Koernig and Page 2002;Lee et al 2011;Mende et al 2018;Otnes and McGrath 2001;Pecotich et al 1996;Roth and Voskort 2014;Rule et al 2016;Scott et al 2013;Shao et al 2004;Swinyard 1981;Thakor et al 2008 Ang et al 2018;Babin et al 1995;Baker et al 2008;Burgess and Greaves 2013;Chung-Herrera et al 2010;Cowart and Brady 2014;Cowart and Lehnert 2018;DeShields Jr. et al 1996;Gaucher et al 2011;Gill et al 2017;Guo and Main 2012;Hekman et al 2010;Homburg et al 2011;King et al 2006;Luoh and Tsaur 2009;Mai and Hoffmann 2011;Matta and Folkes 2005;McGee and Spiro 1991;Mikolon et al 2016;Mohr and Henson 1996;Moshavi 2004;Pinar et al 2017;…”

“…(1) The numerous studies were conducted in a variety of research disciplines, such as marketing, management, psychology, hospitality and services (Hekman et al 2010;Kim et al 2017;Wieseke et al 2012). ( 2) They investigated a variety of stereotypes, ranging from gender (Fischer et al 1997) and race (Cowart and Lehnert 2018) to sexual orientation (Rule et al 2016) or tattoos (Dean 2010). (3) The several articles have taken different perspectives within the service encounter.…”