It’s a Match: The Impact of Influencer-Message Congruence and Recipients Identity on Perceptions of Rainbowwashing

Abstract

Companies seek to demonstrate their commitment to social issues, such as supporting the LGBTQ community, through their advertising. When a company engages in advertising that suggests a corporate commitment to the LGBTQ community but does not actually implement it, this is known as rainbowwashing. In two studies, we investigate when individuals perceive this type of woke washing in a social media influencer (SMI) context and the role played by influencer-message congruence and the identity of the recipients. Study 1, an online experiment (N = 113), shows that influencer-message congruence influences the perception of rainbowwashing, which leads to further consequences for the SMIs themselves. In Study 2, a second online experiment (N = 178), we were able to replicate these results and found that members of the LGBTQ community are generally more critical in evaluating advertising that relates to their community, while nonmembers perceive strong rainbowwashing especially when there is a mismatch between influencer and message. Based on our sample, our study provides important insights into the group of people affected by rainbowwashing. Public trust in advertising promises is low due to recent corporate scandals, especially among those directly affected. Companies should provide concrete evidence of their social commitment to restore this trust.