There’s a lot of conversation in marketing about diversity. What gets talked about less is the science behind it — the research that tells us what tends to work, what tends to backfire, and why patterns keep repeating themselves.
At Vaquero, we live in that intersection every day. So when peer-reviewed research from the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science publishes a comprehensive review of how consumers respond to diverse representation in advertising, we pay attention. And we want you to. Because the findings aren’t just academic. They have direct implications for every brand trying to connect with Latino and Hispanic audiences — and they reveal why so many get it wrong.
What the Research Actually Tells Us About Diverse Representation
Let’s start with the data.
- A landmark review of 337 articles on diversity representation in advertising found that advertisers tend to overrepresent majority groups and underrepresent minority communities. And even when minority groups do appear, they are often depicted in ways unequal to those of their majority counterparts (Campbell et al., 2023). Hispanic consumers make up 18.7 percent of the U.S. population, yet, according to the study’s analysis of advertising data, they account for only 10.6 percent of models in ads (Campbell et al., 2023).
That gap matters — not just as a representation issue, but as a strategic signal about where brand investment is and isn’t going.
The study also identifies a concept called identification, defined as the effect of seeing oneself represented in advertising, and notes that identification is consistently associated with positive outcomes across the diversity research literature, including stronger brand attitudes and deeper engagement. (Campbell et al., 2023) For Latino audiences, who have historically been either absent from mainstream advertising or reduced to stereotypes, this mechanism is worth understanding closely.
What the Research Suggests Brands Can Apply to Latino Marketing
The study’s findings offer several practical takeaways for how brands can approach Hispanic marketing more thoughtfully. These aren’t prescriptions — they’re patterns observed across a large body of research that brands should consider seriously.
1. Authenticity is associated with more positive outcomes.
One of the most consistent findings across the diversity advertising literature is that perceived authenticity — how genuine or real an ad is perceived to be — is associated with more positive consumer responses (Campbell et al., 2023). Conversely, when diversity efforts are perceived as performative, the study’s framework points to reactance and negative outcomes as likely responses. The researchers specifically note the risk of what they call “diversity washing” — diversity efforts criticized not for their intent but for lacking genuine cultural grounding (Campbell et al., 2023).
For brands targeting Latino consumers, the implication is clear: campaigns built with Latino creatives, directors, and storytellers — rather than around them — tend to read as more authentic. That process difference matters to audiences who have seen their culture misrepresented for decades.
2. Accuracy of representation is identified as a key moderator.
The study identifies accuracy of representation — whether a diverse group is depicted in a manner consistent with their lived experience — as one of the most important moderators of consumer response to diverse advertising (Campbell et al., 2023). When representation is accurate, the research notes that positive effects of diversity depictions tend to be enhanced.
For Latino marketing specifically, accuracy means moving beyond surface-level visual representation. The Latino community is not a monolith. Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, Cuban-American, and Central American experiences carry distinct cultural nuances. The research suggests that the more accurately a depiction reflects a community’s actual lived experience, the more strongly that identification mechanism is likely to activate.
3. Culture is identified as a significant moderator of consumer response.
The study’s framework highlights culture as an important moderator that shapes how viewers perceive and respond to diversity in advertising (Campbell et al., 2023). This finding has direct relevance for Hispanic marketing. Language, family dynamics, community values, and generational identity are not peripheral details — they are the cultural fabric through which Latino consumers process brand communication.
Content created in Spanish, or that authentically blends both languages, sends a different cultural signal than a translated English campaign. It reflects an understanding of identity, not just demographics. According to the Hispanic Market Guide, language-inclusive campaigns are associated with stronger emotional resonance among U.S. Latino consumers (Hispanic Market Guide, 2025) — a finding that aligns with the cultural moderator identified in the broader diversity research.
4. The research flags both under- and over-representation as potential problems.
One nuance that tends to get lost in brand conversations about diversity is this: the study suggests there may be a relationship between the degree of diversity representation in advertising and its effectiveness — with both underrepresentation and overrepresentation potentially associated with negative consumer responses (Campbell et al., 2023). When diversity representation reads as tokenistic or overdone, the research indicates that it can be perceived as opportunistic.
For Latino marketing, this reinforces the case for year-round, culturally integrated presence rather than campaigns that concentrate diversity visibility in a single month and disappear for the rest of the year. Consistency tends to read as genuine. Seasonality tends to read as strategy.
5. Intersectionality is identified as an under-researched and high-opportunity area.
The study calls out intersectionality — the ways multiple identity elements come together to shape individual experience — as one of the most important and least-studied areas in diversity advertising research (Campbell et al., 2023). The researchers specifically note that most existing work examines a single diversity dimension, missing the layered complexity of real consumer identity.
For Latino audiences, this is particularly relevant. Gender, generation, sexual orientation, national background, and socioeconomic status all intersect within the community in ways that shape how consumers relate to brand messaging. Brands that acknowledge this complexity — rather than flattening it — are better positioned to build the kind of nuanced connection the research associates with identification and trust.
The Broader Context Makes This Urgent
The research on diversity representation in advertising is pointing in a consistent direction: authentic, accurate, and culturally grounded representation tends to be associated with stronger commercial outcomes, including attention, brand attitude, and behavioral intentions (Campbell et al., 2023).
NielsenIQ’s 2026 market predictions report adds further context, noting that authenticity, transparency, and brand storytelling are now among the primary drivers influencing consumer decisions — and that the brands positioned to win in the next five years will be those that proactively build relevance across diverse consumer segments (NielsenIQ, 2026).
Latino audiences are young, digitally engaged, and deeply influential in shaping cultural trends. The research suggests that when brands show up for them accurately and consistently, the association with positive brand outcomes is strong. When they show up superficially or not at all, the research suggests the opposite tends to follow.
At Vaquero, we take the science seriously because our clients deserve strategies grounded in evidence and driven by cultural understanding. That combination is what we do.
Works Cited: Campbell, C., Sands, S., McFerran, B., & Mavrommatis, A. “Diversity Representation in Advertising.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 53, published online 26 Dec. 2023, pp. 588–616. | Hispanic Market Guide. 2025. | NielsenIQ. “The New Rules of Relevance: Eight Predictions That Will Redefine CPG Growth in a Rapidly Shifting Marketplace.” nielseniq.com, 10 Mar. 2026.