Diversity Marketing. The fine line between tapping new customer segments and compromising brand image (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2021 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,7, University of Münster (MCM), language: English, abstract: This work's purpose and contribution is not only to display the positive and negative effects of various diversity marketing strategies but also to point out other ways to tap diversity-based customer segments which have been mostly neglected by researchers.

Diversity marketing is a marketing strategy targeting diversity-based customer segments and deviating from the "traditional" target market (e.g. caucasian and heterosexual individuals) to gain a competitive advantage on the market. Companies trying to tap those new segments oftentimes face the challenges of negative reactions regarding incorrect representation from the individuals targeted or even from the usual target-market because of non-identification. These negative reactions can lead to a compromised brand image and impair the company's competitive ability.

For companies to achieve an advantage on the market and not the opposite, the consumers' behavior concerning different diversity marketing variables has to be studied and analyzed. This work focuses on company- and consumer- related variables and their effect on a diversity marketing strategy's reach and the company's brand image.