Bilingualism and the emotional intensity of advertising language
Puntoni, Stefano De Langhe, Bart Van Osselaer, Stijn
Puntoni, Stefano
De Langhe, Bart
Van Osselaer, Stijn
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Publication Type
Journal article with impact factor
Editor
Supervisor
Publication Year
2009
Journal
Journal of Consumer Research
Book
Publication Volume
35
Publication Issue
6
Publication Begin page
1012
Publication End page
1025
Publication Number of pages
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Abstract
This research contributes to the current understanding of language effects in advertising by uncovering a previously ignored mechanism shaping consumer response to an increasingly globalized marketplace. We propose a language-specific episodic trace theory of language emotionality to explain how language influences the perceived emotionality of marketing communications. Five experiments with bilingual consumers show (1) that textual information (e.g., marketing slogans) expressed in consumers' native language tends to be perceived as more emotional than messages expressed in their second language, (2) that this effect is not uniquely due to the activation of stereotypes associated to specific languages or to a lack of comprehension, and (3) that the effect depends on the frequency with which words have been experienced in native- versus second-language contexts.
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Keywords
Consumer Research, Marketing, Slogans, International Business Enterprises, Advertising, Consumer Behaviour, Globalization, Bilingualism, Stereotypes, Native Language, Manners and Customs, Cultural Property