dentity development and ultimately affect marketplace behavior include family influences and interactions related to church, school, and community (Thompson, 1995). With all the studies conducted concerning using Black models to advertising to Black consumers (e.g., Ortizano, 1989; Unger, 1987;Whittler, 1991; Wilson, 1995; and Zinkhan,1990), the question of does the increase of black images in advertising reflect a greater commitment to Black consumers is still questionable. Some African Americans do not feel the same way just because they see an African American in an advertisement. Some darker-skin African American women get upset when they constantly see lighter-skin African American women in advertisements. Women of Color, in particular, have been less prevalent than White women in ads, and they are often pictured with light skin, straight hair, and other White features (Brown, 1993). Also, Fears (1998) study found that most media studeis that investigate the colorism phenomenon have focused on advertising content and have concluded that typically Eurocentric-looking (lighter-skin African American) black models are more popular than typical Afrocentric-looking looking (lighter-skin African American) black models. Colorism is just another avenue to understanding African Americans. Taylor (1995) Minority portrayal in such advertising form has raised questions on stereotyped characterizations. Indeed, it has shown that blacks display more positive attitudes toward the advertisement and the product itself when black models are portrayed (Pitts, 1989). Similarly, some findings indicate that white consumers rate ads featuring white models more favorably than ads featuring black models (Kerin, 1979). Barban (1969) raised the following questions: Do blacks’ reactions to ads in general media differ from there reactions to ads in black media? What about the use of white models in black media or black reactions to white mode...
