People with disabilities constitute 16% of the global population but seldom appear in fashion marketing communications. The limited campaigns featuring models with disabilities elicit mixed responses from consumers, and the extant literature also makes contradictory predictions about whether disability representation helps or hurts brands. Ten preregistered field and lab experiments (including four supplemental studies) examine the effect of disability representation on fashion marketing effectiveness. The authors find that featuring people with (vs. without) disabilities improves fashion marketing effectiveness (i.e., click-through rate of ads, brand attitudes, behavioral intent, brand choice) by boosting perceived brand warmth (i.e., worthy intentions) and coolness (i.e., appropriate deviation from norms). On top of mediation results, the studies provide process evidence by showing that the positive effect of featuring models with (vs. without) disabilities attenuates when disability representation is reactive (vs. proactive) or when the brand is a follower (vs. first mover) in adopting this practice. Additionally, the findings demonstrate that compared with plus-size representation, disability representation more effectively enhances marketing effectiveness, as well as brand warmth and coolness. This research offers theoretical and practical insights into disability representation and highlights the importance of nuanced investigations in understanding various diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
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