• Ad Age , Thursday, August 28, 2008 10:30 AM

A scholarly article finds disparities in marketing to black consumers which create an environment that contributes to obesity. The article in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health examined marketing and advertising studies conducted between 1992 and 2006 that looked at foods and beverages marketed to blacks vs. whites.

Sonya Grier, lead researcher on the project and associate professor of marketing at American University's Kogod School of Business, also notes that in some black neighborhoods, it's easier to find a fast-food restaurant than it is a grocery store.

Grier and Shiriki Kumanyika are primary investigators on a five-year, $4.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study obesity prevention in black children. The pair is now gearing up for their own full-fledged study. While there are a number of factors, particularly economic and cultural, contributing to the situation, Grier emphasizes that marketers have gone to great lengths to change their positioning for other demographics. The research does not single out specific marketers.

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