Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers
Global brands have been experimenting with localized advertising strategies, such as using local languages, to build rapport with ethnic consumers. This study examines the assumptions of communication accommodation theory and offers new insights. Specifically, in a Singapore context that boasts two...
Saved in:
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170321 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
Language: | English |
id |
sg-ntu-dr.10356-170321 |
---|---|
record_format |
dspace |
spelling |
sg-ntu-dr.10356-1703212023-09-07T02:14:55Z Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers Lou, Chen Zhou, Xuan Huang, Irene Xun Goh, Xin Yun Lee, Yan Jie Loon, Bryan Kin Tat Por, Xin Rong Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social sciences::Communication Advertising Effectiveness Ethnic Cues Global brands have been experimenting with localized advertising strategies, such as using local languages, to build rapport with ethnic consumers. This study examines the assumptions of communication accommodation theory and offers new insights. Specifically, in a Singapore context that boasts two English language systems (i.e., standard English and Singlish), this study investigates how language variation in ad copy, the use of ethnic cues, and product type interact in affecting consumer responses. The results of study 1 reveal that, for a utilitarian product (laptop), Singlish ads (vs. English ads) are less favored by Singaporeans when ethnic cues also appear in the ads, whereas Singlish and English ad copy lead to equivalent levels of ad attitudes and brand attitudes when there are no ethnic cues. However, for a hedonic product (coffee), English (vs. Singlish) ad copy elicits more favorable brand attitudes regardless of whether ethnic cues are present in the ads. In study 2, we further test the interaction effect found in study 1 by adopting a different utilitarian product (office chair). Our findings of study 2 replicate the interaction effect between language use and ethnic cues on ad attitudes and brand attitudes found in study 1. The findings of this study yield theoretical and practical implications for global brands to design effective localized advertisements. Ministry of Education (MOE) This study was funded by the first author’s Tier 1 grant [RG57/19 (NS)] from Singapore’s Ministry of Education and a 2021 American Academy of Advertising Research Fellowship. 2023-09-07T02:14:55Z 2023-09-07T02:14:55Z 2023 Journal Article Lou, C., Zhou, X., Huang, I. X., Goh, X. Y., Lee, Y. J., Loon, B. K. T. & Por, X. R. (2023). Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 23(1), 55-72. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2022.2163858 1525-2019 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170321 10.1080/15252019.2022.2163858 2-s2.0-85147042526 1 23 55 72 en RG57/19 (NS) Journal of Interactive Advertising © 2023 American Academy of Advertising. All rights reserved. |
institution |
Nanyang Technological University |
building |
NTU Library |
continent |
Asia |
country |
Singapore Singapore |
content_provider |
NTU Library |
collection |
DR-NTU |
language |
English |
topic |
Social sciences::Communication Advertising Effectiveness Ethnic Cues |
spellingShingle |
Social sciences::Communication Advertising Effectiveness Ethnic Cues Lou, Chen Zhou, Xuan Huang, Irene Xun Goh, Xin Yun Lee, Yan Jie Loon, Bryan Kin Tat Por, Xin Rong Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
description |
Global brands have been experimenting with localized advertising strategies, such as using local languages, to build rapport with ethnic consumers. This study examines the assumptions of communication accommodation theory and offers new insights. Specifically, in a Singapore context that boasts two English language systems (i.e., standard English and Singlish), this study investigates how language variation in ad copy, the use of ethnic cues, and product type interact in affecting consumer responses. The results of study 1 reveal that, for a utilitarian product (laptop), Singlish ads (vs. English ads) are less favored by Singaporeans when ethnic cues also appear in the ads, whereas Singlish and English ad copy lead to equivalent levels of ad attitudes and brand attitudes when there are no ethnic cues. However, for a hedonic product (coffee), English (vs. Singlish) ad copy elicits more favorable brand attitudes regardless of whether ethnic cues are present in the ads. In study 2, we further test the interaction effect found in study 1 by adopting a different utilitarian product (office chair). Our findings of study 2 replicate the interaction effect between language use and ethnic cues on ad attitudes and brand attitudes found in study 1. The findings of this study yield theoretical and practical implications for global brands to design effective localized advertisements. |
author2 |
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
author_facet |
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Lou, Chen Zhou, Xuan Huang, Irene Xun Goh, Xin Yun Lee, Yan Jie Loon, Bryan Kin Tat Por, Xin Rong |
format |
Article |
author |
Lou, Chen Zhou, Xuan Huang, Irene Xun Goh, Xin Yun Lee, Yan Jie Loon, Bryan Kin Tat Por, Xin Rong |
author_sort |
Lou, Chen |
title |
Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
title_short |
Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
title_full |
Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
title_fullStr |
Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among Singaporean consumers |
title_sort |
flattering me in the right way: exploring language use and ethnic cues in localized advertising among singaporean consumers |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170321 |
_version_ |
1779156394463723520 |