Inclusive representation of disability in non-profit marketing: reality or manipulated fiction?

The present study focuses on the analysis of four different advertising posters: two Chinese non-profit advertising posters created by two non-profit associations based in Hong Kong and Singapore, and two Italian non-profit advertising posters created Italian non-profit disabled foundation, based in Milan. The available scientific literature appears to be limited in specifically addressing the representation of persons with disabilities in non-profit marketing. Through a bibliometric review and a systematic review of the literature, which consisted of a detailed analysis of 68 articles produced in various countries, including Italy and China, and published between 1985 and 2022, Celestino et al. (2024) confirm that previous studies focused mainly on tourism, services and social marketing, failing to examine other research domains, such as the topic addressed in the present study. The aim of such study is establishing a revolutionary representational model of disability, aimed at overcoming traditional ideological models of representation. The analysis was conducted employing Kress and Van Leeuwen’s model (2006), which focuses on the analysis of both linguistic and visual elements, namely participants, processes, kinesics and proxemics and how their relationship produced Representational, Interactive and Textual Meanings. After such analysis, a questionnaire was administered, in order to understand general public personal perception, concerning the representation of disability in non-profit Chinese and Italian advertising posters. The sample of 33 participants has been recruited through a non-probability sampling procedure. Specifically, the combination of a convenience sampling and a snowball sampling has been adopted. In addition, the selection of the reference sample has been conducted, according to specific socio-demographic variables continuous quantitative variables and nominal and ordinal qualitative variables, that is, age, gender, level of education obtained or about to be obtained, current employment status, retired and the frequency with which the life of the participants is linked to disability. The findings only partially confirm the research question. More specifically, the Chinese posters can be considered real cases of stereotypical representations, while the Italian posters can be considered real cases of inclusive representations, with some elements that recall stereotypical narrative or visual structures. Hence, despite such efforts, there is still a significant link with traditional perspectives, which viewed disability as a condition to be pitied or corrected, rather than as one of the many expressions of human diversity (Hall, 2016). Moreover, without the promotion of a genuine culture of the disability, traditional representations, which are usually regulated by market logics (Foster & Pettinicchio, 2021), cannot be erased from the non-profit marketing.