Foreign Language in Advertising
Notes from slides + book: Hornikx, J., & Meurs, F. van (2020). Foreign languages in advertising:
Linguistic and marketing perspectives. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan.
Table of contents
Chapter 1................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 2................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 3.............................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 4.............................................................................................................. 20
Chapter 5.............................................................................................................. 25
Chapter 6.............................................................................................................. 30
Chapter 7.............................................................................................................. 32
,Chapter 1
Piller historical overview
1. – 1980s linguistics
2. Descriptive and normative, foreign loanwords (listing and classifying)
3. (in the meantime, interest emerged) Studying foreign words within
advertising discourse
4. Frequency of which foreign languages are used in advertising (French –
elegance and style)
6 research domains 1980-2000
Frequency of occurrence of foreign languages in advertising – linguistics
and in marketing
Mostly focus on English
Effect of foreign languages in advertising – attitude towards foreign
language use, attitude towards the ad, comprehension of the foreign
expression.
Foreign language use as an element of advertising standardization –
marketing perspective
Cultural symbols, Westernization in most studies
Connections of foreign languages with products, countries and
characteristics –language for specific products (German & Japanese –
engineering quality)
Foreign branding – effects of foreign branding (attitude towards brand and
ad)
English versus Spanish for U.S. Hispanics – large number of Spanish
speaking residents in USA
Research in linguistics domains and marketing domains. However, there is a lack
of integration what limits the progress of research.
Integrating various areas of interest in foreign languages in advertising
Snyder et al. 1500 advertisements from 4 different magazines published in
France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and West Germany.
A local language in an advertisement helps convey a national identity.
A foreign language is used to evoke a sense of foreignness.
Language choice in advertisements does not stand alone but functions in
combination with other visual and cultural elements.
Mueller third function of the use of foreign language – standardized worldwide
marketing
Alden et al. 3 types of brand positioning (LCCP, FCCP, GCCP)
Brand Positioning – ensuring that a brand has an unique position among its
competitor brands for the customer. This depends on several variables.
Local Consumer Culture Positioning (LCCP) – a strategy that associates the brand
with local cultural meanings, reflects the local culture’s norms and identities, is
portrayed as consumed by local people in the national culture, and/or is depicted
as locally produced for local people.
,Foreign Consumer Culture Positioning (FCCP) – a strategy that positions the brand
as symbolic of a specific foreign consumer culture; that is, a brand with a foreign
culture.
Global Consumer Culture Positioning (GCCP) – a strategy that identifies the brand
as a symbol of a given global culture.
3 central components to express CCP
1. Language, key indicator (e.g. mother tongue of target audience – LCCP,
language from different country – FCCP, English – GCCP)
2. Aesthetic style (e.g. spokesperson is from the country where the ad is
published – LCCP)
3. Story theme (e.g. young professional travelling around the world with a
laptop – GCCP)
LCCP 70% of the ads, GCCP 25% of the ads, FCCP only 5% of the ads
Studies on the frequency of occurrence of FLA and their effects have generally
taken the consumer’s own language as a baseline; however, this leads to several
problems.
—> A country can have more than one official language; people speak regional
dialects and ethnic languages; and all countries host people with different
linguistic backgrounds.
Empirical research – testing theories with basis of real-life examples.
PowerPoint
Stereotypes – an oversimplified set of beliefs about the characteristics of any
social category that is largely shared within a given population; the content of
stereotype (i.e., stereotypical characteristics) is generally assumed to apply
uniformly to every induvial member that belong to the category Holkias as cited
in Hornikx & Meurs
, National stereotypes – point to differences between countries and their citizens
Emotional stereotype – “Italians are passionate”
Rational stereotype – “Germans are good engineers”
Stereotyping is stubborn, persistent, and very often incorrect.
So why?
Processing stereotypes requires smaller cognitive load, Beeghly
Benefit of living by our first impulses seems to outweigh the cost (racist,
sexist etc.)
Our brain is lazy and slow
It can save our lives (e.g. smoke=fire)
Direct experimental techniques – participants are aware of the purpose of study
Conscious attitudes and culturally shared stereotypes are shown
Typically extract the most tenacious, unchanging stereotypes
Indirect experimental techniques – participants are ignorant
Less conscious and private attitudes
Can return changing conceptualizations
Juxtaposition of these techniques offers access to language change determinants
(Het naast elkaar leggen van deze technieken biedt toegang tot determinanten
van taalverandering)
Schoel C., Eck J., & Sthalberg D.
Influence of context on judgements and attitudes
3 groups strong German accent
weak German accent
native speaker
2 conditions strong arguments
weak arguments
Situation 1 participants were told that speakers with an accent were German –
German accents were evaluated better than native speakers.
Situation 2 participants were not told that speakers with an accent were German
– no influence of accent; strong arguments> weak arguments
Bijlmakers
Can stereotypes change?
Attitude towards the advertisement – fuller model > thin model
Attitude towards the product, buying intention, product recognition – no
difference
Notes from slides + book: Hornikx, J., & Meurs, F. van (2020). Foreign languages in advertising:
Linguistic and marketing perspectives. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan.
Table of contents
Chapter 1................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 2................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 3.............................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 4.............................................................................................................. 20
Chapter 5.............................................................................................................. 25
Chapter 6.............................................................................................................. 30
Chapter 7.............................................................................................................. 32
,Chapter 1
Piller historical overview
1. – 1980s linguistics
2. Descriptive and normative, foreign loanwords (listing and classifying)
3. (in the meantime, interest emerged) Studying foreign words within
advertising discourse
4. Frequency of which foreign languages are used in advertising (French –
elegance and style)
6 research domains 1980-2000
Frequency of occurrence of foreign languages in advertising – linguistics
and in marketing
Mostly focus on English
Effect of foreign languages in advertising – attitude towards foreign
language use, attitude towards the ad, comprehension of the foreign
expression.
Foreign language use as an element of advertising standardization –
marketing perspective
Cultural symbols, Westernization in most studies
Connections of foreign languages with products, countries and
characteristics –language for specific products (German & Japanese –
engineering quality)
Foreign branding – effects of foreign branding (attitude towards brand and
ad)
English versus Spanish for U.S. Hispanics – large number of Spanish
speaking residents in USA
Research in linguistics domains and marketing domains. However, there is a lack
of integration what limits the progress of research.
Integrating various areas of interest in foreign languages in advertising
Snyder et al. 1500 advertisements from 4 different magazines published in
France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and West Germany.
A local language in an advertisement helps convey a national identity.
A foreign language is used to evoke a sense of foreignness.
Language choice in advertisements does not stand alone but functions in
combination with other visual and cultural elements.
Mueller third function of the use of foreign language – standardized worldwide
marketing
Alden et al. 3 types of brand positioning (LCCP, FCCP, GCCP)
Brand Positioning – ensuring that a brand has an unique position among its
competitor brands for the customer. This depends on several variables.
Local Consumer Culture Positioning (LCCP) – a strategy that associates the brand
with local cultural meanings, reflects the local culture’s norms and identities, is
portrayed as consumed by local people in the national culture, and/or is depicted
as locally produced for local people.
,Foreign Consumer Culture Positioning (FCCP) – a strategy that positions the brand
as symbolic of a specific foreign consumer culture; that is, a brand with a foreign
culture.
Global Consumer Culture Positioning (GCCP) – a strategy that identifies the brand
as a symbol of a given global culture.
3 central components to express CCP
1. Language, key indicator (e.g. mother tongue of target audience – LCCP,
language from different country – FCCP, English – GCCP)
2. Aesthetic style (e.g. spokesperson is from the country where the ad is
published – LCCP)
3. Story theme (e.g. young professional travelling around the world with a
laptop – GCCP)
LCCP 70% of the ads, GCCP 25% of the ads, FCCP only 5% of the ads
Studies on the frequency of occurrence of FLA and their effects have generally
taken the consumer’s own language as a baseline; however, this leads to several
problems.
—> A country can have more than one official language; people speak regional
dialects and ethnic languages; and all countries host people with different
linguistic backgrounds.
Empirical research – testing theories with basis of real-life examples.
PowerPoint
Stereotypes – an oversimplified set of beliefs about the characteristics of any
social category that is largely shared within a given population; the content of
stereotype (i.e., stereotypical characteristics) is generally assumed to apply
uniformly to every induvial member that belong to the category Holkias as cited
in Hornikx & Meurs
, National stereotypes – point to differences between countries and their citizens
Emotional stereotype – “Italians are passionate”
Rational stereotype – “Germans are good engineers”
Stereotyping is stubborn, persistent, and very often incorrect.
So why?
Processing stereotypes requires smaller cognitive load, Beeghly
Benefit of living by our first impulses seems to outweigh the cost (racist,
sexist etc.)
Our brain is lazy and slow
It can save our lives (e.g. smoke=fire)
Direct experimental techniques – participants are aware of the purpose of study
Conscious attitudes and culturally shared stereotypes are shown
Typically extract the most tenacious, unchanging stereotypes
Indirect experimental techniques – participants are ignorant
Less conscious and private attitudes
Can return changing conceptualizations
Juxtaposition of these techniques offers access to language change determinants
(Het naast elkaar leggen van deze technieken biedt toegang tot determinanten
van taalverandering)
Schoel C., Eck J., & Sthalberg D.
Influence of context on judgements and attitudes
3 groups strong German accent
weak German accent
native speaker
2 conditions strong arguments
weak arguments
Situation 1 participants were told that speakers with an accent were German –
German accents were evaluated better than native speakers.
Situation 2 participants were not told that speakers with an accent were German
– no influence of accent; strong arguments> weak arguments
Bijlmakers
Can stereotypes change?
Attitude towards the advertisement – fuller model > thin model
Attitude towards the product, buying intention, product recognition – no
difference
