Impact of Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Relevance of Health Information on Asian Americans' Preferences for E‐Health Agents

Ethnic identity tends to predict same-ethnicity preference. However, very little research has tested the impact of ethnic identity across messages that bear distinct relevance with different groups. In Experiment 1, Asian American participants read 4 pieces of disease-related information presented by 2 Asian and 2 White agents on a computer. Both strong and weak ethnic identifiers gave higher credibility ratings of the agents when the agents' ethnicity matched with ethnic relevance of the information. Experiment 2 assessed ethnicity preference by allowing participants to choose agents for 4 healthy-food Websites and also found the agent–information matching pattern. Ethnic identity did not have an effect. The findings are discussed within a framework that contrasts a social-identity orientation and an external-content orientation.

[1]  Roobina Ohanian.  Construction and Validation of a Scale to Measure Celebrity Endorsers' Perceived Expertise, Trustworthiness, and Attractiveness , 1990 .

[2]  S. Kiesler,et al.  A Prisoner's Dilemma Experiment on Cooperation With People and Human-Like Computers , 1996 .

[3]  Dana E. Mastro,et al.  Representations of Race in Television Commercials: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Advertising , 2003 .

[4]  G. Yancey,et al.  Racial and Nonracial Factors That Influence Spouse Choice in Black/White Marriages , 1997 .

[5]  W. Mcguire,et al.  Salience of ethnicity in the spontaneous self-concept as a function of one's ethnic distinctiveness in the social environment. , 1978, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[6]  Li Gong,et al.  Ethnic identity and identification with the majority group: Relations with national identity and self-esteem , 2007 .

[7]  M. E. Bernal,et al.  The Development of Ethnic Identity in Mexican-American Children , 1990 .

[8]  E. Aries,et al.  Ethnic Identity and Change in Social Context , 1999 .

[9]  Rohit Deshpandé,et al.  A Tale of Two Cities: Distinctiveness Theory and Advertising Effectiveness , 1994 .

[10]  Magnus Haake,et al.  Design of animated pedagogical agents - A look at their look , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[11]  K. Deaux,et al.  Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat. , 1994 .

[12]  J. Phinney.  The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure , 1992 .

[13]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  The Intensity of Ethnic Affiliation: A Study of the Sociology of Hispanic Consumption , 1986 .

[14]  C. Nass,et al.  When a Talking-Face Computer Agent Is Half-Human and Half-Humanoid: Human Identity and Consistency Preference. , 2007 .

[15]  M. Verkuyten.  Ethnic group preferences and the evaluation of ethnic identity among adolescents in The Netherlands. , 1992, The Journal of social psychology.

[16]  D. Reitzes,et al.  The Importance of Racial-Ethnic Identity and Social Setting for Blacks, Whites, and Multiracials , 1999 .

[17]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  Hispanic coupon usage: The impact of strong and weak ethnic identification , 1992 .

[18]  Doreen Rosenthal,et al.  The Nature and Stability of Ethnic Identity in Chinese Youth , 1992 .

[19]  Mary Beth Oliver,et al.  Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in “reality‐based” police shows: A content analysis , 1994 .

[20]  Susanne van Mulken,et al.  The impact of animated interface agents: a review of empirical research , 2000, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[21]  Y. Y. Kim.  From Ethnic to Interethnic , 2006 .

[22]  Kelly A. Brennan,et al.  When Birds of Different Feathers Flock Together: A Preliminary Comparison of Intra-Ethnic and Inter-Ethnic Dating Relationships , 1998 .

[23]  Osei Appiah,et al.  Effects of Ethnic Identification on Web Browsers’ Attitudes toward and Navigational Patterns on Race-Targeted Sites , 2004, Commun. Res..

[24]  Colin M. Macleod.  Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: an integrative review. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[25]  B. Greenberg,et al.  The changing faces on TV: A demographic analysis of network television's new seasons, 1966–1992 , 1997 .

[26]  C. Nass,et al.  Are People Polite to Computers? Responses to Computer-Based Interviewing Systems1 , 1999 .

[27]  Travis L. Dixon,et al.  Race and the Misrepresentation of Victimization on Local Television News , 2000, Commun. Res..

[28]  Richard M. Lee.  Do Ethnic Identity and Other-Group Orientation Protect against Discrimination for Asian Americans?. , 2003 .

[29]  J. Phinney.  Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: review of research. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[30]  S. Sundar,et al.  Multimedia Effects on Processing and Perception of Online News: A Study of Picture, Audio, and Video Downloads , 2000 .

[31]  Miriam J. Metzger,et al.  Internet use in the contemporary media environment. , 2001 .

[32]  C. Brookins,et al.  Ethnic identity and its relationship to self-esteem, perceived efficacy and prosocial attitudes in early adolescence. , 1999, Journal of adolescence.