There has been a growing interest in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in corporations over the past 2-3 years. After racial protests that rocked the USA and the world, many companies have committed to making diversity and inclusion the cornerstone of their organizations. While some companies made real progress in this respect (like Microsoft, Target, Intel, and others), many have not yet taken significant steps. And while most of the discussion has revolved around organizational change, it’s less clear how DEI has actually carried through in other areas like advertising.

Historically, many large companies had a multicultural group, mostly dealing with how to better market to different ethnic groups. With the increasing focus on DEI, multicultural marketing must move beyond just ethnic marketing. It must expand to include marketing and advertising that truly and authentically represents the diversity of consumers across all differences - from ethnicity to sexual orientation to differences in ability and more.

To get answers, we conducted quantitative research among 1,000 US consumers, ages 13+, across ethnicities, age groups, abilities, and sexual orientations. We primarily wanted to understand whether they feel authentically represented in advertising. Do ads represent them and their community? Are these efforts seen as authentic? Is it important to them?

Our findings indicate that representation of diversity in advertising has room for improvement, especially when it comes to those identifying as Asian and LGBTQ. Companies and brands that avoid speaking to diverse consumers or that seem insincere or superficial in their efforts could risk losing market share, while those making efforts to better represent diverse communities stand to gain consumer loyalty.

We also incorporated video response feedback for several questions, where our respondents had the opportunity to record themselves, on video, answering the question. This provided us with an unparalleled view into their thoughts where their feedback was not lost in translation. We link to those responses on page 10 of this report.