Racial Identity Among African American Advertising Professionals

As mainstream advertising firms have sought to capture the growing racial and ethnic consumer market, the demand for black representation in the industry has increased. Sociologist Corey Fields will examine the context and salience of black identity among advertising industry professionals, examining both firms with a minority focus and mainstream firms. He will investigate the extent to which turning “blackness” into an economic good strengthens or inhibits African American advertising professionals' sense of racial identity. He will also examine the extent to which working in advertising affects the meaning and importance of race in workers’ personal and professional identities and in the general workplace culture.