Local brands can’t be so gay: the effect of gay imagery explicitness on locally vs. globally positioned brands in China

Brands have been promoting gay-themed ads on Chinese social media to voice their support for gay people over the past few years. However, Chinese consumers’ acceptance of these ads remains unclear. Drawing upon the congruency theory, the present study examined how gay imagery explicitness (implicit vs. explicit) and a brand’s consumer culture positioning (local vs. global) interactively influence Chinese consumer responses. We found that implicit (vs. explicit) gay imagery elicited more favorable ad responses and increased purchase intentions and that Chinese consumers preferred gay-themed ads delivered by a brand with global (vs. local) positioning. More importantly, the superiority of implicit (vs. explicit) gay imagery was salient for a brand with local consumer culture positioning yet was absent for a brand with global consumer culture positioning. Perceived brand-message fit and ethical judgment of the ad served as serial mediators. Our findings contribute to the literature on gay-themed advertising and congruency theory.