Date of Award
5-2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Communication
Committee Chair
Dr. Lindsey C. Maxwell
Committee Chair School
Communication
Committee Member 2
Dr. David Davies
Committee Member 2 School
Communication
Committee Member 3
Dr. Fei Xue
Committee Member 3 School
Communication
Committee Member 4
Dr. John Meyer
Committee Member 4 School
Communication
Committee Member 5
Dr. Amonia Tolofari
Committee Member 5 School
Communication
Abstract
Black women are historically marginalized in beauty branding and media advertising in the USA. To address that disparity, Black-Owned beauty brands appeared as a challenge to Eurocentric beauty ideas. This dissertation examines the association between Black-Owned beauty brands’ advertising strategies and consumer engagement on Instagram. Rather than assuming that Black ownership automatically generates higher engagement or more culturally resonant representation, this project systematically analyzes how different advertising elements function within Instagram’s platform environment. The study is guided by three theoretical frameworks, Taylor’s (1999) Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel categorized advertising appeals into ritual (ego, social, sensory) and transmission (ration, routine, acute) message strategies; Carroll’s (1991) CSR Pyramid identified economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic CSR messaging; and Collins’s (1990) Matrix of Domination informed the interpretation of representational patterns, particularly in relation to how Black-Owned brands negotiate visibility and authenticity within historically unequal beauty industries. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 36 Black-Owned beauty brands. Seven research questions examined the relationship between engagement and several advertising characteristics, including message appeals, CSR contents, product categories, product features, model characterization, content format, and message types. Because engagement variables exhibited substantial violations of normality, non-parametric statistical tests were employed for data analysis. The findings suggest that audience engagement is shaped less by individual advertising strategies and more by the interaction between content meaning, platform affordances, and established branding norms. While many statistical tests did not show significant differences, the results remain theoretically meaningful. The prevalence of non-idealized model representation, combined with the absence of engagement differences between model types, indicates that authentic representation has become normalized rather than exceptional in Black-Owned beauty advertising. Additionally, engagement patterns highlight the importance of Instagram’s visual immediacy: visually transformative product categories such as makeup generated significantly higher engagement than categories such as skincare or haircare. Economic CSR messaging also demonstrated a positive relationship with likes, suggesting that entrepreneurship and economic empowerment resonate within digital brand communication. This research is significant for communication and advertising scholars, as well as brands, to understand which strategies might be more effective for evoking engagement for marginalized brands.
ORCID ID
0009-0005-2260-8214
Copyright
Sherin Farhana Moni
Recommended Citation
Moni, Sherin Farhan, "Branding Black Beauty: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Black-Owned Beauty Brands on Instagram to Understand Advertising Appeals, Engagement, and the Identity of Black Women" (2026). Dissertations. 2470.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/2470