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How Religiosity Affects Attitudes Toward Brands That Utilize LGBTQ-Themed Advertising

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Abstract

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) inclusion in advertising is important from a marketing ethics perspective and many brands have implemented marketing campaigns that feature LGBTQ-related themes. However, certain segments of society, such as some (but not all) religious consumers, are resistant to LGBTQ-themed advertisements. Does religiosity undermine or enhance support for brands that use these types of advertisements? This research aims to answer this question and reports the findings of two studies that examine the role of religiosity in relation to consumers’ responses to LGBTQ-themed advertising. The results show that, among the various religious orientations, intrinsic religiosity generally leads to negative attitudes for brands that use LGBTQ themes in advertisements. Feelings of disgust mediate these effects. However, not all forms of religiosity are detrimental to the efficacy of LGBTQ-themed advertising. Quest religiosity leads to positive attitudes for brands that use these types of advertisements. Furthermore, the negative impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumers’ responses to LGBTQ-themed advertising can be mitigated by portraying gay and lesbian individuals in inspiring roles in advertisements. Such ‘inspirational’ LGBTQ advertisements generate feelings of awe leading to positive brand attitudes among both intrinsic religiosity-oriented consumers and quest religiosity-oriented consumers. Hence, the findings provide managerial insights on how to develop LGBTQ-themed advertisements that promote inclusivity, are consistent with societal trends of greater acceptance of sexual orientation diversity, and concurrently appeal to both intrinsic religiosity-oriented consumers and quest religiosity-oriented consumers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bond Business School, Bond University, Robina, QLD, 4226, Australia

    Rafi M. M. I. Chowdhury

  2. Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Denni Arli

  3. UQ Business School, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Felix Septianto

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  1. Rafi M. M. I. Chowdhury
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  2. Denni Arli
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  3. Felix Septianto
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Correspondence to Rafi M. M. I. Chowdhury.

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The first author is a member of the editorial board of JBE. The authors have no other relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Study 1 Advertisements

  1. 1.

    Gay-Themed Ad Condition

Recently, an ice cream company released its new campaign supporting LGBT rights and marriage equality.

figure a
  1. 2.

    Lesbian-Themed Ad Condition

Recently, an ice cream company released its new campaign supporting LGBT rights and marriage equality.

figure b
  1. 3.

    Heterosexual-Themed Ad Condition

Recently, an ice cream company released its new campaign.

figure c

Appendix 2: Study 1 Assessing Convergent Validity

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with the items for brand attitudes, intrinsic religiosity, quest religiosity, and disgust loading on their respective factors (using the data from all conditions). The four-factor model revealed acceptable fit (χ2/df = 2.69; CFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.07; SRMR = 0.04). The average variance extracted (AVE) of all the scales were above the cutoff of 0.50 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981), while the composite reliabilities (CR) of all the scales were well above the cutoff of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978).

Study 1 Assessing Divergent Validity

Discriminant validity was assessed using two methods with the data from all conditions. First, the Fornell-Larcker criterion (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) was applied, which demonstrated that the square root of each construct’s AVE was higher than the construct’s correlation with any other construct. Second, discriminant validity was assessed using the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations (Henseler et al., 2015). The highest HTMT ratio was 0.68, which was lower than the prescribed cutoff of 0.85 (Kline, 2011). Thus discriminant validity was not an issue.

Study 1 Assessing Common Method Bias

Common method bias was assessed using Harman’s single factor test by conducting a CFA with the data from all conditions where the items for brand attitudes, intrinsic religiosity, quest religiosity, and disgust loaded on a single factor. The model fit was very poor (χ2/df = 17.64; CFI = 0.57; RMSEA = 0.23; SRMR = 0.17). Common method bias was not an issue.

Appendix 3: Study 2 Advertisements

  1. 1.

    Gay-Themed Inspirational Ad Condition

Recently, a famous sports clothing company released its new campaign supporting LGBT athletes.

Story: John Sullivan growing up in a poor family. His dad works two jobs to feed the six children in the family. Despite his struggle past, John Sullivan won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic games for weight-lifting. Just a year later, the weightlifter made headlines again when he came out. He tweeted a picture of himself on the cover of ESPN magazine with the words, “I am gay.” His accomplishment is an inspiration to many.

figure d
  1. 2.

    Control Condition Ad

Recently, a famous sports clothing company released its new campaign supporting athletes.

Story: John Sullivan growing up in a poor family. His dad works two jobs to feed the six children in the family. Despite his struggle past, John Sullivan won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic games for weight-lifting. His accomplishment is an inspiration to many.

figure e

Appendix 4: Study 2 Assessing Convergent Validity

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with the items for brand attitudes, intrinsic religiosity, quest religiosity, and awe loading on their respective factors (using the data from both conditions). The four-factor model revealed acceptable model fit (χ2/df = 1.95; CFI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.06; SRMR = 0.04). The average variance extracted (AVE) of all the scales were above the cutoff of 0.50 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981), while the composite reliabilities (CR) of all the scales were well above the cutoff of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978).

Study 2 Assessing Divergent Validity

Discriminant validity was assessed with the data from both conditions using both the Fornell-Larcker criterion (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) and the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations (Henseler et al., 2015). The Fornell-Larcker criterion was satisfied, as the square root of each construct’s AVE was higher than the construct’s correlation with any other construct. The highest HTMT ratio was 0.66, which was lower than the prescribed cutoff of 0.85 (Kline, 2011). Thus discriminant validity was not an issue..

Study 2 Assessing Common Method Bias

Common method bias was assessed using Harman’s single factor test by conducting a CFA with the data from both conditions where the items for brand attitudes, intrinsic religiosity, quest religiosity, and awe loaded on a single factor. The model fit was very poor (χ2/df = 13.08; CFI = 0.56; RMSEA = 0.22; SRMR = 0.17). Common method bias was not an issue.

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Chowdhury, R.M.M.I., Arli, D. & Septianto, F. How Religiosity Affects Attitudes Toward Brands That Utilize LGBTQ-Themed Advertising. J Bus Ethics (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05578-8

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