Wilkie, DeanDolan, RebeccaBurgess, Amelie Jay2022-06-242022-06-242022https://hdl.handle.net/2440/135612Across many fields, diversity has received significant attention from scholars and practitioners in recent years due the role it plays in facilitating an open-minded society and the anticipated outcomes for organisations. Despite significant interest, the marketing literature in diversity remains complex, fragmented and arguably less developed than in other disciplines. Particularly, literature has largely overlooked diversity, failing to consider its multidimensional nature, focusing on singular dimensions. Similarly, extant discourse lacks a solid definition of diversity and its place within marketing. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding behind the different ways brands can integrate diversity in to their marketing efforts, and how we may categorise different approaches. It is well noted that consumers are increasingly sceptical of brands who are seen as simply chasing the business case of diversity, and research often follows suit, focusing on brand-related outcomes, despite scholar attention signposting the importance of social impact of brands integrating diversity. Considering these factors, this thesis focuses on the need to better understand the nuances and intricacies of diversity beyond the existing singular focus of specific types, and to discover the differing social impact of approaching diversity. The research within this thesis centres on diversity approaches within marketing and delves into how marketing decisions can contribute to connectedness in audiences. The variable of connectedness was chosen due to the critical and increasing need to understand the social impact of diversity initiatives. The importance of being connected is well recognised due to its implications on wellbeing and contributions to a less segregated society. Despite this, diversity scholars have given scant attention to these social impacts in the examination of diversity and its related concepts. To address these knowledge gaps, this research presents three distinct but interrelated papers. The first paper outlines an account of marketing diversity initiatives and their role in building connectedness with audiences. Aware of divergent success and reactions from audiences, a thorough review of a wide literature examining diversity is used to constitute a framework for effective diversity initiatives. In doing so, we propose three factors essential for success in terms of establishing audience connectedness: a) how marketers tactically approach diversity, with emphasis on which and how many diversity characteristics are represented and the visual/non-visual cues utilised to signal diversity; b) how these actions are perceived by audiences; and c) the level of belief congruence achieved. The following of the explicated framework assist marketers in resonating with a broader audience. Namely, the importance of an intersectional approach is stressed, explicating how audiences have many identities, all of which can lead to oppression in one form or another. Thus, failure to represent multiple identities may instigate tokenism. The results suggest that audience and marketers factors must converge to build connectedness, providing a comprehensive list of research propositions and exemplars to highlight this. The second article explores differing manifestations of brands approach diversity, addressing the variance observed in literature and practice. Through a typology and model approach, supported through a literature background and practical exemplars, findings show that there are four types of brand approaches to diversity. These types are categorised on the basis of their level of depth and order of entry, underpinned by intersectionality, tokenism and order of entry theories. The paper delineates these types with a set of propositions which indicate their capability of enhancing connectedness, additionally providing a comprehensive future research agenda. This paper contributes to the diversity literature by being the first to formulate a typology to constitute a Brand’s Approach to Diversity within the boundaries of level of depth and order of entry. Building on these insights, the third article employs a survey methodology to empirically examine the impact of perceived diversity on audience’s connectedness, outlining to critical mediator mechanisms of belief congruence and self-congruence. The findings illustrate that in order to connect with a diversity initiative, audiences must see similarities between their identity and beliefs, providing marketers with two routes of connecting. Importantly, we instate how multidimensional considerations of identities and beliefs are important, as they provide higher degrees of similarity and more opportunities to connect and reduce disconnectedness. The findings illustrate both the bright and dark side implications of diversity marketing practices. As such, the article provides insights into how audience reactions are not static, but unique, and marketers must understand align their diversity initiatives with audiences in order to connect sufficiently. In summary, this research offers unique and meaningful theoretical and practical implications by emphasising the importance of building connectedness in audiences, providing a framework to categorise different approaches to diversity, as well as understanding factors within audiences which impact their disposition to (dis)connect.enDiversityInclusionDiversity marketingConnectednessTokenismIntersectionalityThesis