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Language Choice in Advertising for Multinational Corporations and Local Firms: A Reinquiry Focusing on Monolinguals
Journal of Advertising
Abstract
This research involved conducting two studies to investigate whether the asymmetric language effects observed by Krishna and Ahluwalia (2008) among bilinguals can be replicated among monolinguals. In Study 1, we observed asymmetric language effects for local firms but not for multinational corporations (MNCs), which differs from Krishna and Ahluwalia's observations. Based on Study 1's results, Study 2 further proposes and tests two routes (language expectation and language-based association) that lead to consumer slogan evaluations. The findings of Study 2 suggest that slogan evaluations for MNCs were determined via the language expectation route, whereas evaluations for local firms were determined via the language-based association route. This research provides evidence that monolinguals have different responses to language choices in advertising than bilinguals do. Possible explanations and implications are discussed, and future research directions are outlined for this underexplored area.
... To help managers with the standardization/adaptation dilemma and global/local brand positioning, international marketing literature has acknowledged the role of product category as a determining factor in advertising language preference (e.g. Lin & Wang, 2016). On the other hand, given the paramount importance of age for market segmentation strategies (Josiassen et al., 2011;Rašković et al., 2016), it has gained significant attention as a critical factor for national/global identity formation (e.g. ...
... A number of studies have shown that product categorization in terms of necessity (Huddleston et al., 2001;Javalgi et al., 2005;Lin & Wang, 2016), and technology intensity (Cleveland et al., 2016) moderates the relationship between CET and a number of constructs such as quality perception (Huddleston et al., 2001), attitudes toward foreign products (Javalgi et al., 2005), and purchase and consumption intention (Cleveland et al., 2016). Yet, contradictory results produced in different studies necessitate further investigation of this area of research. ...
... It is well documented that, especially in developing countries, English, as the dominant foreign language in advertising (Gerritsen et al., 2007;Lin et al., 2017), evokes a sense of sophistication (globalness, cosmopolitanism and professionalism), superiority, reliability and modernity (Khan & Lee, 2020a, 2020bLin & Wang, 2016), while a local language is usually associated with a sense of belonging, closeness, protection and personalization (Khan & Lee, 2020a, 2020b. In evaluating necessary products, a sense of belonging is a more important criterion than sophistication, whereas for luxury products, the impression of sophistication is more important (Lin & Wang, 2016). ...
... Such as by signalling certain symbolic characteristics (Lin and Wang 2016), appealing to self-identity (Alcántara-Pilar et al. 2017b), or evoking affective responses (Carnevale et al. 2017), effective linguistic strategies can boost marketing strategy. Given the current gaps in packaging research highlighted above, a key applied contribution of this study is to inform the practice of packaging, as a marketing communications tool, in non-Western bilingual markets, where English is commonly used even though it is not the vernacular language. ...
... Based on the sociolinguistic perspective of associations between a language and social attributes, research has linked English, particularly as a foreign language in non-Western countries, with modernity (Hornikx and Van Meurs 2017;Lin and Wang 2016). In the context of a Scandinavian firm implementing an English-only communication policy, Lønsmann and Mortensen (2018) draw on the notion of language commodification to contend that the language policy had enabled the company to foster a 'global mindset' culture because English is ideologically viewed as the natural language for global business. ...
... By contrast, among bilingual populations, the local language is inextricably linked to culture, and serves as a common bond for self-identity (El Banna et al. 2018). Consequently, the local language is contrasted with the foreignness of English to symbolise unity and sense-of-belonging (Koslow et al. 1994;Krishna and Ahluwalia 2008;Lin and Wang 2016). According to Micu and Coulter (2010), the link between a message in the local language and one's self-identity arises because the local language is likely to evoke self-referencing by relating the message to the person's background. ...
Packaging is an important element of brand management. For a large swath of the bilingual non-Western world, it is important to consider the effects of English versus local language on packaging evaluation. This study draws on the sociolinguistic theory of the Markedness Model to explain what underpins the effects. First, pretests identified suitable Western and local brands, the expected language for the brands, and attributes associated with English and with Urdu (the local language of Pakistan, this study’s context). A mall-intercept survey (n = 209) found that Urdu (English) was strongly related to sense-of-belonging (modernity). For the Western brand in Urdu packaging, sense-of-belonging mediated the effects of language on packaging evaluation because Urdu was unexpected for the Western brand. Similarly, for the local brand in English (the unexpected language) packaging, modernity had strong mediating effects. Also, consumer ethnocentrism moderated the effects by accentuating the effects of sense-of-belonging and attenuating the effects of modernity. Collectively, the results point to the interactions of country-of-origin (COO) and language on packaging evaluation and call into question COO studies that derive findings from ‘made in country-x’ cues. Cue language may bias the reported COO effects depending on whether the language is expected or unexpected for a particular country.
... A second theoretical consideration is that foreign language, particularly English, expresses globalness and prestige (Martin 2019;Piller 2003). For example, English advertisements were more effective for multinational brands and luxury products, enhancing brand perception and ad favorability, but local brands and necessity products saw less impact from the language used in India (Krishna and Ahluwalia 2008), Romania (Micu and Coulter 2010), and Taiwan (Lin and Wang 2016). Similar effects were observed in Ecuador and Chile, where English advertising were reportedly more persuasive in (Alvarez, Uribe, and León De-La-Torre 2017). ...
... Pulcini (2023) highlights that English terms have seamlessly integrated into Italian, often being perceived as part of the native lexicon rather than foreign intrusions. Since monolinguals and bilinguals may differ in their responses to language choices in advertising (Lin, Wang, and Hsieh 2017;Lin and Wang 2016), it is unclear whether language choice effects using a different language in advertising can be extended to using anglicisms in the same language. This lack of empirical evidence strongly warrants a more tailored approach for anglicisms to gain a more nuanced understanding of which consumer attitudes are susceptible to change. ...
This research investigates the influence of anglicisms on the Product Appeal in Italian print advertising. Despite the pervasive use of anglicisms in the Italian advertising industry, little is known about their impact on the precursors to Product Appeal. Two original studies were conducted involving potato chips (convenience product) and stereo speakers (shopping product). The results showed no effect of anglicisms on the relationships between Perceived Product Differentiation, Perceived Price Fairness, Perceived Product Globalness, or Perceived Product Modernity and Product Appeal. However, Anglicisms consistently altered the relationship between Perceived Product Risk and Product Appeal. Specifically, while anglicisms decreased Perceived Product Risk for potato chips, they increased Perceived Product Risk for stereo speakers, suggesting the impact of anglicisms on Perceived Product Risk can operate in an independent mechanism and be product-dependent. This research provides a novel insight on how anglicisms can affect consumer psychology and adds a more nuanced understanding to previous literature regarding language choice in advertising.
... However, the effect of language use varies with product types. In their study with marketing students in Taiwan, Lin and Wang (2016) revealed that participants prefer English slogan to Chinese slogan for luxury products, whereas Chinese slogan is preferred for necessity goods. A tourism product has its own characteristics in which customers need to travel to the destination for consumption. ...
... Hornikx & van Meurs, 2017), English as a global language (e.g. Lin & Wang, 2016), and ethnic (i.e. local) language (e.g. ...
... The English language has been documented to be used frequently in countries on all continents where English is not the native language of consumers (see Hornikx & Van Meurs, 2020, chapter 4). For non-English speaking consumers, English has been found to evoke success and internationalness, more so than their own native language (Krishna & Ahluwalia, 2008;Lin & Wang, 2016). Some experimental studies found that English use yields better consumer evaluations for global compared to local brands (Lin & Wang, 2016;Micu & Coulter, 2010). ...
... For non-English speaking consumers, English has been found to evoke success and internationalness, more so than their own native language (Krishna & Ahluwalia, 2008;Lin & Wang, 2016). Some experimental studies found that English use yields better consumer evaluations for global compared to local brands (Lin & Wang, 2016;Micu & Coulter, 2010). ...
Given the multilingual nature of global business, language influences international business (IB) in almost all areas. IB scholars have studied the complex influence of language with manifold theoretical lenses, but have not systematically integrated linguistic theories. Aiming to broaden IB's theoretical repertoire, we draw on a field that has integrated a rich array of linguistic theories with business perspectives: research on foreign languages in advertising. We review the theories linguists and advertising scholars have applied to their joint topic and apply content analysis to organize them in three theory clusters: 'language as a symbol', 'language in the mind', and 'language as means of accommodation'. These theoretical lenses provide novel insights into the meanings and mechanisms of language, which open new avenues to scrutinize the role of language in IB. For example, theories on language as a symbol may add new perspectives to research on foreignness in IB or to emerging markets research. Theories on language in the mind can explain hurdles to the strategic use of language in foreign locations and support a more sophisticated view of translation in IB. Theories on language as a means of accommodation can advance research on cross-border legitimacy and on countercultural practices in IB.
... The idea that judgments we make regarding those we communicate with are affected by the language they speak becomes particularly relevant in the multicultural marketing environment, where marketing practitioners are forced to make decisions about the language employed to communicate with bilingual consumers. The prevalence of marketing advertising and stimuli in languages other than the dominant language, has increased not only in the United States (Alvarez et al., 2017a), but also in Europe (Gerritsen et al., 2010;Hornikx et al., 2010), South East Asia (Lin & Wang, 2016;Lin et al., 2017), and across Latin America (Alvarez, 2017b). ...
... Communication in a language other than the dominant language has resulted in less comprehension of the ad content among the general market (Gerritsen et al., 2010), and less favorable ad and brand evaluations (Pagani et al., 2015) within the target market. On the other hand, the use of English is likely to gather customers' attention and be associated to a perceived image of modernity, sophistication, internationality, and prestige (Lin & Wang, 2016). However, no prior research has evaluated the impact that language has on the communication source and the products and brands they endorse. ...
Esta investigación examina los efectos del lenguaje e identificación con la cultura estadounidense sobre la credibilidad de la fuente de información y persuasión entre hispanos bilingües. Los resultados revelaron que participantes que no se identifican con la cultura estadounidense perciben que la fuente tiene más experiencia, y las actitudes son más positivas hacia las marcas anunciadas en inglés comparadas con marcas anunciadas en español. La experiencia de la fuente y las actitudes no variaron entre participantes que se identifican altamente con la cultura estadounidense. Las fuentes de información que mezclan los dos idiomas fueron percibidas menos expertas y las actitudes fueron menos favorables en comparación con fuentes que usan inglés o español. No se reportan efectos significativos para la confiabilidad y el atractivo de la fuente.
... English was found to be linked more strongly with success associations ('exclusivity', 'prestige') and with internationalness associations ('cosmopolitan', 'globalness'). In a replication of this study with Taiwanese participants, Lin and Wang (2016) found similar results: English was linked more strongly with success associations ('prestige') and with internationalness associations ('cosmopolitan', 'globalness'). Finally, Zhiganova (2016) asked her German-speaking participants to write down the associations they had with the English words in an English-German slogan. ...
... For local firms, the expected relationship between language use and product sophistication was not observed. In a conceptual replication of Krishna and Ahluwalia in Taiwan, Lin and Wang (2016) found support for the expected relationship in the case of local firms but not in the case of multinational companies. For a local firm, an English-language slogan was evaluated better than the local language (Chinese) for the luxury product ice cream, while the local language was appreciated better than English for the necessity product soap. ...
This chapter deals with the second language strategy distinguished in this book: the use of English to highlight globalness. It presents content analyses showing that English is widely used in advertising across the world, and experiments and surveys showing that English evokes globalness associations, relating to three subdimensions: modernity, success, and internationalness. Finally, the chapter systemically reviews experiments testing the effects of using English in advertising on consumer perceptions of modernity, success, and internationalness.
... Krishna and Ahluwalia (2008) indicated that the use of CS ads among bilinguals involves social stereotype concerns. However, Lin and Wang (2016) show that monolinguals do not evaluate the foreign language more favorably than the local language as bilinguals do. ...
... For example, traditional Chinese characters, which are a symbol of Taiwanese culture, represent Taiwan as the brand origin. Thus, for local brands in Taiwan, consumers are likely to evaluate the ad more favorably when the brand name and ad copy are written in Chinese rather than partially in a foreign language (Lin and Wang, 2016). In other words, consumers evaluate a brand advertized in their native language more favorably than a brand advertized in a mixture of two languages (i.e., native and foreign). ...
This study investigates the influence of brand origin and foreign language familiarity in code-switched (CS) ad effectiveness for monolingual consumers. CS ads refer to ads containing foreign words or phrases in an advertising copy (e.g., headline and slogan), resulting in a mixture of native and foreign languages. In this research, we conducted a pilot study to show the increasing trend of using code-switching in ads, regardless of whether the brands are local or foreign, in a monolingual market. We further examine if the effectiveness of CS ads is contingent on the brand origin among monolinguals. Study 1 showed that non-CS ads were perceived more favorably than CS ads for advertising a local brand. However, not all of the CS ads were perceived more favorably than non-CS ads when a foreign brand was advertized. The results of Study 2 showed that when a foreign brand was advertized, CS ads using a high-exposure foreign language were evaluated more favorably than CS ads using a low-exposure foreign language. Foreign language familiarity played a mediating role in the observed effects. We provide evidence that the research findings on CS ads among bilinguals cannot be applied to monolinguals. We discuss implications for international marketing and suggest advertising strategies for practitioners.
... Linguistically structural components of advertising slogans and taglines can also differentially impact a bilingual individual's ease of processing information. This impact extends to factors such as a smaller receptive vocabulary size, comprehension, and production of words, better executive control, and linguistic performance as compared to monolinguals (Lin & Wang, 2016). ...
Linguistic relativity (linguistic patterns influence perception and cognition) is crucial for marketing communication effectiveness. The argument is that linguistic relativity enablers in marketing communication may assist marketers, communicators, and creators achieve the desired “effectiveness” more successfully. Based on this premise, prior research in consumer studies has examined language's mediation role in consumer perception and cognition. However, the question of identifying these enablers and the plausible existence of any structural relationship among them persists. This article, therefore, seeks to examine the identification and interrelationship of linguistic relativity enablers in the context of social marketing communication. We examine the query through in‐depth interviews with specific respondents with a strong and influential relationship with the subject. This study presents the analysis conducted through Fuzzy‐ISM and Fuzzy‐MICMAC and presents relative findings by providing a structure with the potential to be used in longitudinal studies.
... The respondents preferred that news were written and recorded in English language. The use of English is likely to gather audiences' attention and be associated to a perceived image of modernity, sophistication, internationality, and prestige [35]. ...
Over the years, social media has quickly changed information andcommunication technologies. More people are utilizing social mediaas a tool not only for communication but also to receive and spreadthe news about politics, business, and society. The purpose of thisstudy is to determine the combination of attributes in deliveringcredible news information on social media that are most preferredby the Filipinos using a Conjoint Analysis Approach. A total of193 respondents voluntarily participated in this study and rated25 combinations of attributes created from the orthogonal designusing SPPS 25. Specifically, this study utilized different attributessuch as the social media platform, delivery accounts, delivery type,language, and level of information. The results showed that socialmedia platform was the attribute most considered by the respon-dents (38.019%), followed by delivery accounts (30.508%), the levelof information extent (14.623%), the language used (8.907%), andthe least considered were delivery type (7.943%). The result of thestudy will benefit the government, news media firms, and otherprivate sectors. It might aid in providing reliable news content onsocial media and reduce the country’s high misinformation anddisinformation rates.
... Thus, Krishna and Ahluwalia (2008) only focused on Hindi and English, demonstrating that in this bilingual culture, English is associated with sophistication and modernity, and Hindi is associated with belongingness. Such findings were also confirmed in Lin and Wang's (2016) study reinvestigating the asymmetric language effects on advertising effectiveness in a monolingual culture such as Taiwan, where Chinese is the dominant language. Their findings demonstrate that English in print slogans evokes stronger associations with sophistication and modernity, whereas the local language evokes stronger associations with belongingness. ...
While accent effects have been studied in Western advertising contexts, there are contradictory findings on accent effects, and the moderating role of country‐of‐origin (COO), in other contexts. Few studies extended such accent effects to non‐English‐speaking cultural settings, particularly in emerging countries. This article fills this knowledge gap by examining accent and language effects on consumers’ perceived effectiveness of a spokesperson in Chinese advertising contexts. We explore how Chinese consumers evaluate spokespersons with standard and non‐standard accents, whether these accents are associated with belongingness, sophistication, and modernity, and whether COO moderates such accent and language effects on the perceived effectiveness of spokespersons. Across three studies, the findings demonstrate that compared with a spokesperson with a non‐standard accent (i.e., English‐accented Mandarin), spokespersons with standard accents (i.e., standard Mandarin and standard English) are perceived to be more effective. Furthermore, Chinese consumers associate standard Mandarin with belongingness, and standard English with sophistication and modernity, whereas English‐accented Mandarin has the lowest degree of these associations among the three accents. Although the moderating effect of COO is observed in Study 3, standard English is preferred for both advertised domestic and foreign products.
... English is widely used in code-switching ads in the non-native English-speaking market to increase brand and product attractiveness, and then enhance consumers' perceived value and social status (Eckhardt, 2005;Lin and Wang, 2016a;Zhou and Belk, 2004). Luna and Peracchio (2005b) set Spanish as a minority language and set English as the primary language, confirming that the switching from English to Spanish would evoke associations with the basic patterns and perceptions of minority languages because consumers would change the product evaluation according to their perceptions of the minority language. ...
Purpose
Netizens refer to citizens of the internet, and code-switching refers to the use of more than one language, style or form of expression to communicate. This study explores the advertising communication effectiveness of using netizen language code-switching in Facebook ads. Moreover, if a brand is with negative brand images, using positive brand images as a control group, this study investigates not only the advertising communication effectiveness of netizen language code-switching but also its effectiveness of remedying the negative brand images.
Design/methodology/approach
Online experiments were conducted, and data were analyzed using independent sample t -test, MANOVA and ANOVA.
Findings
The results indicate that netizen language code-switching can enhance advertising communication effectiveness in Facebook ads. Furthermore, under a negative brand image, netizen language code-switching has significant effects on improving Facebook advertising communication effectiveness.
Originality/value
This study takes netizens as the research subjects to explore the advertising communication effectiveness of netizen language code-switching in Facebook ads. This study provides further insight into the effect of netizens' culture on Facebook advertising and enriches the existing literature on social media advertising, as well as expanding the application of code-switching. The results of this study provide enterprises a new perspective on the copywriting content design of Facebook ads.
... A third limitation is the operationalization of FL display in the current study as slogans. Although this is a common choice in advertising practice (e.g., Gerritsen, et al. 2007;Raedts, et al. 2015) as well as in experimental studies (e.g., Ahn, Le Ferle, and Lee, in press;Lin and Wang, 2016;Puntoni et al. 2009), it would be worthwhile to conduct follow-up studies using operationalizations in other forms, such as headlines and body copy. ...
Brands can position themselves as belonging to a foreign culture by using foreign languages (FLs) in advertising. FLs in ads have been suggested to be implicit country-of-origin (COO) cues. This paper examines the expectations that FLs operate through the COO effect (Study 1), and that they evoke associations (Study 2) and generate persuasive effects (Study 3) similar to COO mentions. The findings of the studies, employing different language slogans for different products, lend support to these expectations. Thus, FLs in advertising derive their effectiveness from the COO effect, and practitioners can use them to benefit from this effect.
The gender-job satisfaction paradox, i.e., women reporting higher levels of job satisfaction while facing worse working conditions, has been hotly debated by scholars. This article studies the moderating role of national gender ideology in this paradox. In particular, the focus on Anglo-Saxon countries as well as the lack of attention towards the role of national gender ideology have received criticism. National gender ideology moderates the relationship between gender and job satisfaction: in more egalitarian countries, the gender gap of job satisfaction (to the detriment of women) is more important than in countries with more traditional gender ideologies. These results allow us to discuss expectation theory and the transitory nature of the gender-job satisfaction paradox.
In many non-English-speaking countries, English loanwords in job ads seem to be very common. The question is whether this linguistic choice is advantageous, especially when the job advertised does not involve working in an international environment. Previous research of English loanwords in job ads has revealed that their effect in terms of the evaluation of the company, the job and the ad is limited if effects can be shown at all. Suggestions that English loanwords draw readers’ attention because this language choice deviates from what readers expect and, in addition, take more processing time (because they are foreign) lack empirical evidence. The eye-tracking and behavioural data of our experiment did not provide any empirical evidence for the attention-drawing function of English loanwords nor an influence on their effectiveness in job ads geared to graduate students in Germany. We suggest that loanwords need a certain amount of processing to be identified as foreign. This means they are different from other salient cues that were shown to draw readers’ attention because they are not subject to automatic processes. In addition, our participants were sufficiently proficient in English so that differences in processing time were not reflected in their eye-movement data.
Günümüzde küreselleşmenin etkisiyle sınırlar ortadan kalkmış ve şirketler ulusal pazarın ötesinde faaliyet göstermeye başlamıştır. Yeni pazarlara uyum sağlama ihtiyacının artması, kültürler arasındaki farklılıkları anlamayı gerekli hale getirmiştir. Uluslararası pazarda rekabet avantajı elde etmeye çalışan her firma bu farklılıkları analiz etmeli ve pazarlama stratejisini bu çerçevede belirlemelidir. Bu çalışmada uluslararası pazarlamada kültür bileşenlerinden dil faktörünün reklam ve pazarlama faaliyetlerine olan etkisi incelenmiştir. Pazarlama mal ve hizmet ihtiyacı olan kişilere ulaşan ekonomik bir faaliyettir. Son zamanlarda kültürel faktörlerin pazarlama faaliyetlerinde belirleyici bir rolü olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ülkeler arası kültür farklılıkları pazarlama sürecinde oldukça etkilidir. Kültür farlılıkları ne kadar az ise ürünlerin kabul görme durumu da o kadar çok olacaktır. Bu çalışmada araştırma yöntemi olarak bütünleşik literatür taraması yöntemi kullanılmış olup sonuç olarak, kültürel faktörleri göz ardı eden şirketler, farklı pazarlarda geri dönüşü olmayan başarısızlıklarla karşı karşıya kalmaktadır ve kültürel faktörler, tüketici davranışlarını önemli ölçüde etkilediği için uluslararası pazarlama üzerinde çok güçlü bir etkiye sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir.
Environmental sustainability is a common practice of global brands, with 90% of the top 100 Interbrand global brands making statements about environmental efforts on their websites. In this research, we explore how a consumer’s global-local identity can affect consumer engagement with a global brand’s environmental sustainability initiative. Specifically, we examine consumer engagement in response to environmental messaging based on regulatory focus, spatial construal, and temporal construal. We theorize and find, across six experimental studies, that consumers with a strong global identity are more engaged with environmental sustainability initiatives when messaging includes frames congruent with their global identity, specifically promotion frames coupled with distant spatial frames and with proximal temporal frames. For consumers with a local identity, these regulatory and construal messaging frames do not impact consumer engagement with environmental sustainability initiatives. Consumer environmental mindset mediates the effect of global-local identity on consumer engagement with environmental sustainability initiatives when such congruent frames are used, and consumer eagerness to act provides additional process explanation for the asymmetric spatial (distant) and temporal (proximal) construal effects. Our findings have significant implications for the design of global brand and environmental policy messaging, particularly for consumers with a strong global identity.
Foreign Languages in Advertising: Linguistic and Marketing Perspectives Jos Hornikx and Frank van Meurs (2020) Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 253 ISBN: 9783030316907 (hbk) ISBN: 9783030316938 (pbk) ISBN: 9783030316914 (ebook)
English is widely used in advertising in countries all over the world where English is not an official language (Piller 2003), including countries in Hispanic America (e.g. Chile: Gerding and Morrison and Kotz 2012, p. 142; Instituto Chileno 2016, pp. 13–14; Mexico: Baumgardner 2008). To date, consumers’ response to the use of English in advertising in countries where English is not an official language has been measured by exposing young highly educated consumers to ads in the national language (the consumers’ mother tongue), and the same ads with English. Some studies found partial evidence that English led to better response than the consumers’ native language, for instance for ads from multinational companies (versus local companies) and for ads promoting luxury products (versus necessity products) (e.g. Taiwan: Lin and Wang 2016; Romania: Micu and Coulter 2010) effect.
This study takes the product ethnicity perspective to investigate how monolingual Taiwanese consumers respond to products from developed countries when the consumer culture positioning (CCP) is global versus foreign versus local. Our experiment has a 2 (high vs. low fit of product ethnicity) × 3 (global vs. foreign vs. local ad appeal) design. Two mediating mechanisms are introduced to explain how ad fluency and brand information credibility impact ad effectiveness. These findings provide insights regarding the impact of a product’s country of origin and have implications for international marketing and advertising strategies.
Aim
This paper examines bilinguals’ retention of a television (TV) advertisement in their second language (L2) to test whether L2 competence, liking for the advertisement, and involvement with the advertised product cause a change in L2 retention.
Methodology
An experiment exposed 304 Chinese–English bilinguals to audio-visual advertisements that were technically (e.g. similar executions) and linguistically alike (e.g. discourse with similar ratios of ‘content words-to-grammatical lexicon’) in their native language (L1; control) and L2 (treatment).
Data and analysis
Content analysis of four unstructured items operationalised L2 advertisment memory by ranking retention scores from 0 to 4. We performed t-tests (with Cohen’s d) and F-tests to compare retention across the levels of independent variables.
Findings
L2 proficiency did not facilitate meaning-deduction from within context, but the length of bilinguals’ residence did, indicating that subjects linguistically adapt to their L2 environment in time. Content features (e.g. message clarity) increased liking for the L2 advertisment while execution (e.g. music) increased L2 advertisement memory. Involvement with the advertised product did not affect L2 retention.
Originality
Print stimuli use has limited the utility of earlier findings from research on advertising to bilinguals for exercising one language skill (i.e. L2 reading). The use of audio-visual stimuli to exercise concurrently L2 listening and reading skills have been rare despite the increased consumption of TV advertisements through online video-sharing platforms.
Implications
When designing audio-visual inputs for bilinguals, ‘what’ (i.e. content) hardly matters in relative to ‘how’ (i.e. execution) unless bilinguals orient themselves to the natural contexts of their L2 settings. Firms in bilingual markets can optimise their communicative (e.g. belief reinforcement or creating awareness) and behavioural objectives (e.g. sales) by provoking the peripheral processing of their straightforward messages using appeals (e.g. music, emotional, and animated visuals) for longer retention among their non-native-speaker targets.
This study investigates the important managerial issue of whether the packaging language of the Western consumer packaged-food (CPF) products should be adapted for emerging markets. An experiment using a 2 (Western vs adapted packaging) x 2 (product categories) design was conducted instore with real products to enhance the study’s external validity. With Pakistan as the contextual emerging market, Pakistani shoppers (n = 188) were exposed to the English and adapted (Urdu) packaging of the two products, and rated their quality perception, packaging likability, and attributes associated with the packaging. They also tasted and rated their overall satisfaction with the taste, and chose their preferred packaging. Underpinned by standardisation and adaptation literature and symbolic perception theory, the findings show that consumers rated and preferred the English packaging more than the adapted packaging. Also, while the English packaging was associated with attributes including elegance and trustworthiness, the adapted packaging was viewed as more personalised. Furthermore, the findings hold across demographic variables of income and English language literacy. These findings run contrary to the prevailing strategy of Western global brands in emerging markets, where the usual practice is to localise the packaging of the brands as they enter the markets. The findings provide both theoretical and practical insights into the implications of localisation strategy of Western brands in emerging markets.
This chapter deals with the first language strategy distinguished in this book: the use of foreign languages to express foreignness. It argues that the primary function of foreign language display is to link the advertised product to a specific country of origin. The chapter reviews research showing that a foreign language works better for products that are congruent (versus incongruent) with the language, and that it evokes ethnocultural stereotypes. We also review theories and empirical research on the role of comprehension, showing that better comprehension of foreign languages in advertising has a favourable but limited effect on consumer evaluations. Finally, we present psycholinguistic theories and experimental studies regarding the effects of foreign languages on curiosity, attention, and recall.
English is used extensively in advertising in countries where it is not an official language (Gerritsen et al., 2007; Piller, 2003). One of the reasons advertisers use English is the assumption that this language has a symbolic value for consumers (Kelly-Holmes, 2000; 2005).
http://www.springer.com/la/book/9783658187309
A fast growing number of studies demonstrates that language diversity influences almost all management decisions in modern multinational corporations. Whereas no doubt remains about the practical importance of language, the empirical investigation and theoretical conceptualization of its complex and multifaceted effects still presents a substantial challenge. To summarize and evaluate the current state of the literature in a coherent picture informing future research, we systematically review 264 articles on language in international business. We scrutinize the geographic distributions of data, evaluate the field’s achievements to date in terms of theories and methodologies, and summarize core findings by individual, group, firm, and country levels of analysis. For each of these dimensions, we then put forward a future research agenda. We encourage scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to draw on, integrate, and test a variety of theories from disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to gain a more profound understanding of language in international business. We advocate more multi-level studies and cross-national research collaborations and suggest greater attention to potential new data sources and means of analysis.
Local and global brands alike have increasingly used code-switching to enhance advertising persuasion. Although this tactic is widely used, previous studies have focused on bilinguals but not monolinguals. Because of the emerging use of code-switching in advertisements in monolingual markets, more research efforts are required to understand its effectiveness and boundaries among monolinguals. This study investigated whether the consumers' local–global identity plays a moderating role in the effectiveness of code-switched advertisements among monolinguals. The consumers' local–global identity refers to the combination of local and global identities possessed by individuals that affect how they define themselves in relation to the social environment. Study 1 (manipulating consumers' local–global identity) demonstrated that the local–global identity moderated the effect of code-switched advertisements. The results indicated that the congruence between code-switching and the consumers' local–global identity enhanced persuasiveness, and that advertising involvement mediated this effect. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 by using a local–global identity measure. These findings provide implications for branding and advertising strategies.
Extending previous findings regarding the effects of the use of English as a Lingua Franca in advertising, an experiment tested the effects of the use of English, Arabic or mixed language and the role of product price category in product advertisements on Egyptian consumers’ response (N = 132). Purchase intention was significantly higher for the English than for the Arabic and mixed language version. No differences between English and Arabic were found for the evaluation of the advertisement and product, while the mixed language advertisement was evaluated significantly lower. There were no significant major influences of product price category.
"Code switching" in advertising refers to the alternation between two languages in a single advertisement. This research investigates (1) how the direction of code switching and the placement of a code-switched advertisement in an English or Spanish medium influence bilinguals' attitudes toward code-switching (A(cs)) and (2) how A(cs) influence common advertising objectives. An experiment was performed among 107 Mexican-American young adults. Path analysis using structural equation modeling disclosed that placing a code-switched print advertisement in an all-English medium resulted in more positive A(cs) than placing it within an all-Spanish medium. Additionally, A(cs) positively influenced advertisement involvement and, subsequently, service-quality expectations and patronage intentions.
While previous research has examined code-switched ads viewed in isolation (Luna and Peracchio 2005a, 2005b), this study makes a unique contribution by investigating the crucial role that medium context plays in responses to Spanish/English code-switched ads among bilingual consumers. A model is developed based on neuroscience and sociolinguistic theories of information processing. Among 122 bilingual Mexican Americans, path analysis showed that when a code-switched ad primarily written in Spanish (English) was placed within an all-Spanish (all-English) medium, increased ad recall and perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity occurred. In turn, increased perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity led to greater cognitive ad involvement and persuasion. Based on these findings, the main language of a code-switched ad should match that of its medium to increase favorable advertising responses.
As the inclusion of foreign languages in advertisements is a growing global trend, this research examines how language choice may influence important advertising outcome measures within a South Korean advertising context. Specifically, the study aims to explore how foreign and local languages influence recall and recognition for brand name and body copy messages. The interaction of using two languages in an advertisement, to convey different elements of the ad may secure varied levels of attention and comprehension. The findings suggest that recall and recognition are significantly affected by the language presented. An ad presenting a brand name in the foreign language (English Roman alphabet) with the body copy message in the local language (Hangul) is an effective strategy to enhance recall and recognition of the brand name and the ad message within the Korean youth market. The results of this study expand linguistic theory within an advertising context while also providing international advertisers with useful tips when operating in a multinational marketplace. Future research avenues are discussed.
Adopting a global look has been an important strategy for marketing in multinational and local markets. This research explored the use of two global-look strategies in Taiwanese advertising: the use of Western models and English brand names. First, a content analysis revealed that Western models were used to promote products in 46.81 percent of magazine advertisements, whereas English brands were featured in 53.90 percent of the advertisements. Variables such as distribution area and product categories were shown to influence the use of these strategies. Second, an experiment examined the advantages and disadvantages of adopting global-look strategies in advertising. The use of Western models and English brand names enhanced the perceived globalness of the brand and encouraged participants to infer that the product originated from a developed Western country. However, a global look is not always persuasive. On the one hand, using Western models enhanced the perceived quality of the product. On the other hand, participants showed an "in-group bias" by rating products with Chinese brand names, as opposed to English brand names, higher on brand friendliness, brand trust, self-brand connections, and brand liking. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for marketing.
Notions of equivalence in cross-cultural measurement were related to the abstraction-concreteness and the universality-cultural difference continua. Various methods proposed for attaining satisfactory measurement were reviewed and compared within this framework. Each strategy has its own merits and shortcomings. Moreover, the level of cross-cultural equivalence presupposed, the type of equivalence demonstrated and/or improved, and the equivalence assumptions doubted or explicitly rejected are different for different strategies. It was suggested that the strategies are complementary to each other. More than one strategy should be employed and combined for more meaningful and precise measurement.
Five experiments are reported in which the picture naming performance of bilingual speakers in a language-switching task was explored. In Experiment 1, Spanish learners of Catalan and Korean learners of Spanish were asked to perform a switching task between their first and dominant language (L1, Spanish or Korean) and their second language (L2, Catalan or Spanish). For these two groups switching from the weaker language (L2) to the more dominant language (L1) was harder than vice versa. This asymmetrical switching cost was not present when highly proficient Spanish–Catalan bilinguals performed the task either in their two dominant languages (Experiments 2 and 3) or in their dominant language (L1) and in their much weaker language (L3 English; Experiment 4). Furthermore, highly proficient bilinguals showed faster naming latencies in their weaker languages (L2 and L3) than in their dominant language (L1). Experiment 5 tested whether a bias in the triggering of lexicalization is at the basis of such a difference. Together these results reveal that the switching performance of highly proficient bilinguals does not seem to be subject to the same mechanisms as that of L2 learners.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that when bilinguals named pictures or read words aloud, in their native or nonnative language, activation was higher relative to monolinguals in 5 left hemisphere regions: dorsal precentral gyrus, pars triangularis, pars opercularis, superior temporal gyrus, and planum temporale. We further demonstrate that these areas are sensitive to increasing demands on speech production in monolinguals. This suggests that the advantage of being bilingual comes at the expense of increased work in brain areas that support monolingual word processing. By comparing the effect of bilingualism across a range of tasks, we argue that activation is higher in bilinguals compared with monolinguals because word retrieval is more demanding; articulation of each word is less rehearsed; and speech output needs careful monitoring to avoid errors when competition for word selection occurs between, as well as within, language.
In this study, the authors examine the emergence of brand positioning strategies in advertising that parallel the growth of the global marketplace. A new construct, global consumer culture positioning (GCCP), is proposed, operationalized, and tested. This construct associates the brand with a widely understood and recognized set of symbols believed to constitute emerging global consumer culture. Study results support the validity of the new construct and indicate that meaningful percentages of advertisements employ GCCP, as opposed to positioning the brand as a member of a local consumer culture or a specific foreign consumer culture. Identification of GCCP as a positioning tool suggests one pathway through which certain brands come to be perceived by consumers as "global" and provides managers with strategic direction in the multinational marketplace.
We examine the role of language choice in advertising to bilinguals in global markets. Our results reveal the existence of asymmetric language effects for multinational corporations (MNCs) versus local firms when operating in a foreign domain, such that the choice of advertising language affects advertising effectiveness for MNCs but not local companies. Also, different language formats (e.g., the local language vs. English or a mix of the two languages) are shown to vary in their advertising effectiveness for different types of products (luxuries vs. necessities). Our results indicate that language choice for advertisements is an important decision for MNCs. Also, MNCs cannot mimic local companies in their choice of advertising language. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Code switching, the use of mixed-language expressions, is gaining prominence in advertising targeting linguistic minorities. Two studies investigate the existence of linguistic rules governing the use of code switching and identify situations in which those rules have a greater impact on persuasion. The studies extend Myers-Scotton's 1995 model of code switching by revealing an interaction between linguistic correctness and type of processing. More specifically, breaking the linguistic rules of code switching results in less persuasive messages but only when consumers process the ads in a highly data-driven mode. When consumers do not engage in highly data-driven processing, breaking linguistic rules does not influence persuasion. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Understanding cognitive research on the integration of 2 languages in bilingual memory is difficult because of the different terminology, methodology, analysis, and interpretation strategies that scholars with different backgrounds bring to the research. These studies can be usefully categorized on 2 dimensions: memory for verbal experience versus linguistic knowledge, and systemwise versus pairwise issues. Experimental findings in this area converge on the conclusion that at the word meaning/conceptual level, both episodic and linguistic memory can be characterized as shared at the systems level and at least partly shared at the pairwise translation-equivalent level. Interpretation problems that stem from weak hypothesis testing structure and from covert translation can be minimized by using appropriate design and analysis techniques.
In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that bilingualism may cause a linguistic disadvantage in lexical access even for bilinguals' first and dominant language. To this purpose, we conducted a picture naming experiment comparing the performance of monolinguals and highly-proficient, L1-dominant bilinguals. The results revealed that monolinguals name pictures faster than bilinguals, both when bilinguals perform picture naming in their first and dominant language and when they do so in their weaker second language. This is the first time it has been demonstrated that bilinguals show a naming disadvantage in their L1 in comparison to monolingual speakers.
In this study, the authors examine the emergence of brand positioning strategies in advertising that parallel the growth of the global marketplace. A new construct, global consumer culture positioning (GCCP), is proposed, operationalized, and tested. This construct associates the brand with a widely understood and recognized set of symbols believed to constitute emerging global consumer culture. Study results support the validity of the new construct and indicate that meaningful percentages of advertisements employ GCCP, as opposed to positioning the brand as a member of a local consumer culture or a specific foreign consumer culture. Identification of GCCP as a positioning tool suggests one pathway through which certain brands come to be perceived by consumers as “global” and provides managers with strategic direction in the multinational marketplace.
In this article, I provide thoughts pertinent to my time as editor of the Journal of Advertising (JA). In this context, I offer recollections on the practice of editing JA almost 20 years ago, perspectives on the efficacy of replication research and literature reviews as components of what appears in JA, ideas on possible additions to JA's structure, and concluding thoughts on the importance of maintaining JA's brand equity.
Using the Internet and spreadsheet software, it is now easy to compare word and character counts for modern and literary Chinese based on very large corpora. It turns out that word counts comply with Zipf’s Law whereas character counts do not. This constitutes novel statistical evidence against the persistent claim that Chinese characters are logograms. It thus casts doubt on the practice of categorizing the elements of various writing systems as ‘phonograms’ or ‘logograms’ without regard to context, and a
fortiori
characterizing entire writing systems as ‘phonographic’ or ‘logographic’. Keywords: Chinese; word; character; morpheme; syllable; phonogram; logogram; Zipf’s Law; corpus
Purpose
Previous research is mixed regarding consumer reactions and concerns regarding product brands with foreign‐sounding names. This paper aims to study the perception and purchase intent of foreign‐name brands in a sample of adult US and Chinese consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
US and Chinese consumers completed a 23‐item bilingual questionnaire to assess perceptions of foreign names on brand attitude and purchase intent for low‐involvement products, using two fictitious soft drink products.
Findings
The paper finds that there were no differences between US and Chinese consumers in attitudes towards foreign products or foreign brand names, except in the case of perceived deception. There were differences in perceptions that the product name was not authentic to the country of origin. Differences in purchase intent were driven by product type and price rather than country of origin or brand name.
Practical implications
When there is incongruence between product type and perceived country of origin, favorability for the product diminishes. Price, taste and packaging design may be more important in determining purchase intent.
Originality/value
While previous research looked at foreign brand names for high‐involvement products, this study addresses a low‐involvement product with mass‐market potential. China's and the USA's role as major consumers for global brands makes this study all the more relevant.
One of the techniques advertisers use to target language minorities (e.g., U.S. Hispanics) is the use of code-switching, or mixing languages within one ad. This paper investigates the consequences of code-switching for ad persuasiveness. The results of two studies suggest that code-switching results in the activation of associations relevant to the language the slogan switches to. Those associations influence the valence of consumers' elaboration such that if the language a slogan switches to possesses positive (negative) associations, consumers engage in positive (negative) elaboration, resulting in higher (lower) evaluations. Attitudinal and contextual variables interact with the effect of code-switching on ad responses.
This article examines the impact of processing motivation on language processing by bilingual consumers. The article begins by outlining the revised hierarchical model (Dufour & Kroll, 1995), which implies that second-language conceptual processing is more challenging and less likely to be successful than first-language processing. Then two empirical studies are conducted to investigate whether intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation can be moderators of the impact of first- and second-language processing on cognitive measures of advertising effectiveness. Study 1 finds that need for cognition, an intrinsic measure of motivation, fulfills this moderating role. Consistent with the revised hierarchical model, for low-need-for-cognition individuals, first-language processing is superior to second-language processing. By contrast, high-need-for-cognition individuals remember first- and second-language ads equally well. Study 2 finds a significant interaction between need for cognition and an extrinsic manipulation of processing motivation, indicating that first language leads to greater memory under conditions that include both high motivation and low need for cognition. Our results are interpreted using consumer-behavior models. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Building on earlier evidence showing a beneficial effect of bilingualism on children's cognitive development, we review recent studies using both behavioral and neuroimaging methods to examine the effects of bilingualism on cognition in adulthood and explore possible mechanisms for these effects. This research shows that bilingualism has a somewhat muted effect in adulthood but a larger role in older age, protecting against cognitive decline, a concept known as 'cognitive reserve'. We discuss recent evidence that bilingualism is associated with a delay in the onset of symptoms of dementia. Cognitive reserve is a crucial research area in the context of an aging population; the possibility that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve is therefore of growing importance as populations become increasingly diverse.
Comparisons of bilinguals and monolinguals have typically found poorer performance by bilinguals in a variety of memory tasks. However, these studies have used bilinguals who were not native speakers of the monolingual's language, and who were often required to process both languages during the session. In the present study, Native English-speaking bilinguals were compared to English monolinguals on four verbal memory tasks: episodic recognition, lexical decision, object naming, and free recall. Only English words were used in the session to avoid activation of the second language. There were no differences in accuracy between groups on any task. Bilinguals were slower than monolinguals, but only for the list recognition and lexical decision tasks, where language-specific, data-driven processing predominates.
This article examines a psycholinguistic model of bilingual concept organization and extends it to the processing of advertisements by bilingual consumers. The model suggests that second-language (L2) messages result in inferior memory as compared with first-language (L1) stimuli. These language asymmetries in memory are thought to occur because processing an L2 message at a conceptual level is less likely than processing an L1 message conceptually. Applying this notion to advertisements, this research examines picture-text congruity as a potential moderator of language effects in memory. The results suggest that a high level of congruity between picture and text facilitates conceptual processing of L2 messages, increasing memory for second-language ads and thereby reducing the impact of language asymmetries on memory. Copyright 2001 by the University of Chicago.
Building on a sociolinguistic framework, our research explores the impact of code-switching on the persuasiveness of marketing messages. Code-switching refers to mixing languages within a sentence, a common practice among bilingual consumers. We investigate how responses to different types of code-switched messages can provide insight into bilingual consumers' persuasion processes. A pilot study reveals a code-switching direction effect such that minority-language slogans switching to the majority language result in greater persuasion than majority-language slogans switching to the minority language. The effect is attributed to the salience of the code-switched word in the slogan. Study 1 explores this code-switching direction effect in more detail and shows that when associations toward the minority language are positive, the code-switching direction effect is reversed. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Two studies investigated the processes mediating the persuasive impact of messages representing in-group opinions. In the 1st study, subjects read either a strong or a weak message attributed to either an in-group member or to another group. Subjects were more persuaded by a strong message from the in-group than a weak one, suggesting content-focused processing of the in-group message. Subjects were equally unpersuaded by either a strong or a weak message from the other group, and showed little sign of message processing. In the 2nd study, Ss listened to in-group or other-group messages about issues that varied in their relevance to in-group membership. When the issue was relevant to the in-group, subjects were persuaded by a strong message from the in-group, unpersuaded by a weak message from the in-group, and equally unimpressed by strong and weak messages from the other group. When the issue was irrelevant to the in-group, subjects accepted the position advocated by the in-group regardless of message quality, and again ignored messages from the other group. These results suggest that increased message processing, and not merely the impact of source persuasion cues, can underlie in-group-mediated attitude change.
The Influence of Language Accessibility on Bilingual Advertising
- William Carroll
- David Luna
Carroll, William, and David Luna (2011), "The Influence of Language Accessibility on Bilingual Advertising," Journal of Advertising, 40 (3), 73-84.
Where, When, and Why Brain Activation Differs for Bilinguals and Monolinguals During Picture Naming and Reading Aloud
- Oiwi Jones
- David W Parker
- Alice Green
- Christos Grogan
- Konstantinos Pliatsikas
- Nilufa Filippopolitis
- Hwee Ali
- Sue Ling Lee
- Karine Ramsden
- Susan Gazarian
- Mohamed L Prejawa
- Cathy J Seghier
- Price
Jones, Oiwi Parker, David W. Green, Alice Grogan, Christos Pliatsikas, Konstantinos Filippopolitis, Nilufa Ali, Hwee Ling Lee, Sue Ramsden, Karine
Gazarian, Susan Prejawa, Mohamed L. Seghier, and Cathy J. Price (2012),
"Where, When, and Why Brain Activation Differs for Bilinguals and
Monolinguals During Picture Naming and Reading Aloud," Cerebral Cortex, 22 (4), 892-902.
The Moderating Effect of Product Type in a Code-switched Ad
- Ying-Ching Lin
- Su-Chi Yang
Lin, Ying-Ching, and Su-Chi Yang (2013), "The Moderating Effect of Product Type
in a Code-switched Ad," working paper, National Sun Yat-sen University.