EFFECT OF INCLUSIVE ADVERTISING ON BRAND AFFINITY AMONG DIVERSE CONSUMERS WITHIN KADUNA METROPOLIS

With consumers placing more reputation on diversity and inclusion, inclusive advertising has become a tool for brands to create a deeper emotional connection with the consumer and strengthen brand affinity. This study explores the impact of inclusive advertising on brand affinity of diverse consumers by investigating how marketing representation influences consumer perceptions, attitudes, and loyalty. A quantitative research design was used to collect data from a diverse sample of consumers through structured surveys, and descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and factor analysis were used to analyze the relationship between inclusive advertising and brand affinity. The results indicate that inclusive advertising increases brand affinity, which enhances consumer feelings of belonging, emotional connection, and trust, and leads to higher levels of consumer engagement, positive brand attitudes, and repeat purchase intent for brands perceived as genuinely inclusive, with risks to performative inclusivity, when consumers respond negatively to brands that seem to merely pay lip service to diversity, as evidenced by the results that support current theories on brand identity and consumer behavior.