The use of black models in specialty catalogs

Although there are a wealth of studies which examine the use of minority models (particularly African American models) in advertising, we found no research that addresses the use of black models in direct marketing vehicles, that is, specialty catalogs. We conducted a content analysis of 111 clothing and gift catalogs to determine benchmarks on the use of black models in catalogs. Generally, we found that black models in specialty catalogs tend to be used in similar proportions to magazine advertisements and less than the proportion of black models in television advertisements. The average proportion of black models in catalogs is roughly 4 percent. While this percentage does not reflect the proportion of African Americans in our society (12%), it is close to the proportion of black Americans that shop from specialty catalogs (7.5%). Other findings were that black models are shown with relatively high-price/value merchandise; medium-brown completed models tend to be used more than models who are very dark or very light in complexion; and nine percent of models on catalog covers are black. We compare our findings to those in the advertising literature and offer implications for direct marketing management and strategy.