Adverts that feature people with a disability greatly enhance consumer attitudes towards brands and their products, according to new research co-authored by Bayes Business School that also shows the effectiveness of diversity regulations and the benefits of compliance.
One in seven people across the world have a form of visible or invisible disability, yet people with disabilities remain heavily underrepresented in advertising.
The research, co-authored by Zachary Estes, Professor of Marketing at Bayes Business School with academics from the University of Amsterdam and Bocconi University, tested advertisements across a range of products and services, and types of disability in both hypothetical and in-person settings. Six studies involving more than 2,000 participants demonstrate that consumers respond very positively to brands that include people with disabilities in their adverts, and reveal factors that enhance and mitigate this positive response.
Key findings show:
Each study presented participants with edited versions of adverts for brands, featuring photos modified to make the model appear with or without a disability.
Benefits of disability inclusion were proven throughout all studies across both recorded and anonymous choices of brand preference, and more formal industries like financial services. Moreover, participants for later studies were also provided with news briefs to provide additional context about a brand’s motivations for including people with disabilities in its adverts, as well as conspicuous and inconspicuous information about models’ visible and invisible disabilities.
Participants in two initial studies demonstrated a preference for brands featuring people with a disability in their adverts for shower gels and energy drinks, even when choosing anonymously without social pressures.
A third study measured perceptions of adverts for a financial services firm, which removed brand ‘warmth’ and ‘coolness’ as potential explanations of the disability inclusion effect.
Remaining experiments tested the benefits of featuring people with disabilities in contexts which may be viewed as a box-ticking exercise or tokenism. When participants received contrasting information about why a fictitious restaurant was including a man in a wheelchair in their advert, there was very little difference in perception of inclusivity whether a brand was acting voluntarily or through compliance with regulations.
Participants then viewed contrasting images of models accompanied by written profiles and stereotype labels, where messages focussing on social integration scored significantly higher for perceived inclusivity than when a model with a disability was portrayed as vulnerable. Similarly, explicit mention of a disability within adverts themselves, using autism as an example of an ‘invisible’ disability, was viewed less favourably to the point where the disability inclusion benefit and positive attitude towards an advert disappear altogether.
Professor Estes said:
“Around 15 per cent of the world’s population have some form of disability, whether visible or invisible, permanent or temporary. Yet, people with disabilities remain woefully underrepresented in advertising campaigns.
“Our survey of marketing managers revealed concerns that including people with disabilities in adverts may alienate ‘mainstream’ consumers and risk accusations of tokenism and exploitation. However, results from our experiments strongly indicate that any consumer backlash for including models with a disability is not only unfounded, but commercially naïve.
“More than 80 per cent of participants across our studies responded positively to disability inclusion, with strong values for social inclusivity. However, we also show that disability inclusion needs to represent people with disabilities as capable advocates for a product or service rather than vulnerable members of society.
“We hope this research results in greater and more accurate representation of individuals with disabilities in marketing, and helps managers support employees with disabilities more broadly without risking consumer backlash.”
‘Beyond Visibility: The Disability Inclusion Effect in Advertising’ by Dr Martina Cossu, Professor Zachary Estes and Professor Joachim Vosgerau is published in the Journal of Marketing .
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Notes to Editors
Journal of Marketing
People
Beyond Visibility: The Disability Inclusion Effect in Advertising
24-Apr-2026