Mobility-disabled people in advertising: what do consumers really think?

Diversity has become a popular topic in the past decade (Sulik et al., 2022). Specifically, it has become a popular public opinion for businesses to increase their representation of diverse people in advertising. This idea has slowly grown since Ikea featured an openly gay or same-sex couple in an advertisement (Figure 1) and American Eagle's Aerie line featured a model with Down Syndrome (Figure 2). Social media has been an additional key factor for increasing overall awareness of differences in personal abilities (Pearson & Trevisan, 2015). Brands have followed suit by specifically focusing on utilizing models with visible disabilities in their advertising.