Examining the Use of Leisure for the Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth in Out-of-School Time Programs

Abstract

The current social and political climate in the U.S. requires a reexaminationof how marginalized groups shape their leisure around political identity development and resistance. This paper will first provide a brief introduction to the concept of sociopolitical development (SPD) and its role in culture specific out-of-school time programs that serve Black youth. Next, using a multiple case study approach, the authors examined how leisure informs the SPD of Black youth. Results identify SPD as a critical component of these recreational program’s theoretical approaches, leadership structure, staff selection and training, and curriculum design. Study results inform the ways recreational agencies can serve as sites for SPD and activism for marginalized groups like Black youth.     

Advertising to the beat: An analysis of brand placements in hip-hop music videos

Hip-hop is a multi-billion-dollar industry influencing everything from fashion to advertising. The current study documents the overwhelming presence of brands in hip-hop music videos. Through the use of content analysis, we capture not only the branded products and their associated categories, but also the execution and connotation of those placements. Findings indicate that over 93% of all hip-hop videos contained some reference to branded products varying in prominence, prestige and consumption. Further, brand managers have many opportunities available with respect to brand placement in hip-hop – several of those opportunities are highlighted herein.     

Playing While Black

Abstract

In the United States, black youth face unique challenges that shape “where” they recreate, “who” they participate with, and “how” they engage in recreation. Recent events around the country have highlighted the potential of racial profiling in leisure settings. As a result, black youth and parents remain aware of the potential dangers of participating in recreation activities in public spaces. As black youth and their families are forced to navigate these realities, our field is presented with opportunities to explore unanswered questions about the relationship between Race and leisure, especially in the area of youth development. Using multiple contemporary examples to demonstrate the impact of Race on the recreation of black youth, three theoretical frameworks are presented that may help advance the discussion on race, recreation, and youth development. Warning: This article includes videos that contain graphic content and may be upsetting to some.     

Development and validation of scales to measure attitudes influencing monetary donations to charitable organizations

Charitable organizations are under increasing financial pressure to attract and retain private donors. However, scales measuring consumer attitudes toward giving to charity have yielded ambiguous results in the past. Scales to measure consumer attitudes toward the act of helping others and toward charitable organizations are developed and tested for dimensionality and internal consistency using advocated procedures. The resulting measures are important to academicians, policymakers, and practitioners in the development of theory, public policy, and marketing strategy. Deborah J. Webb is a visiting assistant professor of marketing in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. She received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Her research interests are consumer behavior, marketing and society, and social marketing. Her work has been published in theJournal of Public Policy & Marketing and theJournal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing. Corliss L. Green is an assistant professor of marketing in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. She obtained her Ph.D. from Florida State University. Her research interests include advertising and promotion, ethnic consumer behavior, and social marketing. Her research has appeared in such journals as theJournal of Retailing, theJournal of Advertising, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Services Marketing, and various other journals and proceedings. Thomas G. Brashear is an assistant professor of marketing in the Eugene M. Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University. His research focuses on international marketing management, sales management, and research methodology.     

Must be the Music: Examining the Placement Effects of Character-Brand Association and Brand Prestige on Consumer Brand Interest within the Music Video Context

First introduced as a way to promote an artist's music, the music video now serves as a communication tool that influences viewers’ consumption patterns across a variety of product categories. Through the use of a quasi-experiment, the effects of the artist-brand relationship and brand prestige on consumer brand interest are examined. Findings indicate that characteristics of the focal brand as well as the brand's link with an individual in the video may especially impact a consumer's interest in owning a brand. Managerial and scholarly implications are also advanced.     

Black Spaces/White Spaces: Black Lives,Leisure, and Life Politics

Racial neutrality does not exist within digital and virtual spaces. Our racialized identities are imported into these spaces, as are the ideologies of our respective societies. This reality begs the question, how do Black people situate themselves in digital White leisure spaces, especially when these spaces maintain and replicate off-line spaces of racial discrimination and overt racism? This article presents a background on Black Internet users and highlights how Black people have used digital spaces to counter and disrupt messages that perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes and social inequalities. Examples are offered to support this claim. This article underlines how behaviors of Black people in digital spaces can demonstrate the presence of Black leisure and highlight the realities of Black life. Finally, critical technocultural discourse analysis will be introduced as a technique for advancing this discussion within the context of race and leisure.     

Skin color shades in advertising to ethnic audiences: The case of African Americans

Two experimental studies were conducted to examine African Americans' (AA) perceptions and attitudes toward light-skinned and dark-skinned AA female models in print advertisements. Using convenience student samples from three universities in the southeastern USA, the first study examined the perceptions and attitudes of 299 AA males toward the advertising stimuli, while the second study explored the perceptions and attitudes of 251 AA females to the same stimuli. In Study 1, consistent with marketplace, evolutionary and reinforcement theories, AA males evaluated light-skinned AA female models higher on physical attractiveness and more favorably on ad- and brand-based evaluations than dark-skinned AA female models. The exploratory results of Study 2 found that AA females evaluated dark-skinned AA female models higher on physical attractiveness than light-skinned AA female models, but no significant differences on ad- and brand-based evaluations were reported. The authors discuss the findings, limitations and directions for future research.