What's Hair Got to Do with It?: An Analysis of Ebony Magazine Hair Advertisements from 2011 to 2015

Abstract

<p>Black hair product advertisements communicate both overt and covert messages to consumers through their phenotypic traits, facial expressions, and body language. The problem with the ads is that the messages communicated sometimes appear stereotypical of Black women. There is no study that inquired: What are the trends and messages communicated by Black hair product advertisements between the years of 2011 to 2015 in Ebony magazine, a time when the natural hair movement gained momentum? Ebony magazine was used, as it is the longest printed Black magazine with the widest distribution. The team of 4 researchers analyzed 474 Black hair advertisements in Ebony magazine between the years of 2011 to 2015 or 15% of the total 3104 ads in this set of magazines. After dividing the advertisements by product type, the researchers discovered that advertisements for chemical, hair-straightening relaxers (n=43) and natural hair products (n=191) differed greatly in number and messaging. Regardless of ad product type, words such as anti-breakage, smooth, moisturizing, strength, and rejuvenate were prevalent. Many messages found in previous studies were still prevalent in the trends found of this study. The research team a taxonomy of themes that emerged along with representative visual examples.</p>