| Abstract | Recent market trends around diversity and inclusion have pushed many companies to deliver inclusive products to their consumers. There is, however, a lack of research on how consumers are responding to these new inclusive product line launches. Thereby, the purpose of this thesis paper is to identify consumer responses to companies that are expanding their pre-existing product lines to be more inclusive. This research examines how feelings of representation and product fit skepticism affect brand attitude, specifically for skin-tone inclusive products. It also tests the impact of a product sampling marketing intervention on increasing brand attitudes for those who feel less represented. The results found that those who felt less represented in the market had a higher level of product fit skepticism which yielded lower brand attitudes. Lastly, the marketing intervention of product sampling proved effective in increasing brand attitude, particularly for those who feel less represented. |
