Billboard Advertisement and Racial Perception in Ghana
Pauleson A. Utsu 
Issue: Vol.3 No.3 March 2022 Article 3 pp. 54-65
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022333 | Published online 25th March, 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This paper examines why business people in Ghana prefer using images of white people on their billboard outdoor advertisements. To attain the study’s objective, a cross-sectional survey was used. Data was collected from only a section of retail and wholesale businesses within the Ejisu and Juaben districts in the Ashanti Region of Ghana which use images of white people on their billboard outdoor advertisement. The survey findings show that retail and wholesale businesses use images of white people on their outdoor billboard advertisements because they are more attractive than images of black people. Also, the use of images of white people indicates a seal of professionalism, desirability, and quality services. The survey’s discovery reveals the racial perceptions of the white race in comparison with the black race by most African business people. The usage of the images of white people as the symbolic representation of ideal beauty, attractions, quality products and services, and model of authentic marketization has unfolded some of the factors that stymie the utilization of the images of the black people on an outdoor billboard advertisement. This paper contends that there is a necessity for a balanced moral reasoning and constructive racial perception of images of black people and self-identification.
Keywords: advertisement, billboard advertisement, racial perception, people of colour.
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Pauleson A. Utsu is a graduate student of Philosophy from Spiritan University, Ejisu, Kumasi-Ghana which is affiliated to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Social Sciences and Religious Studies. He has published a book on ‘Africa’s Underdevelopment: Whom to Blame,’ and other research papers. He has research interests in African Studies, Development and Philosophy of Religion.
Utsu, P.A. “Billboard Advertisement and Racial Perception in Ghana,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 3, no.3 (2022):54-65. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022333
© 2022 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
