The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment ...... skilled code, used most effectively by individuals that have a high degree of mastery in ..... make an indirect request of the mechanic through making salient the traditional feminine.
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE CODESWITCHING IN INCREASING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN YOUTH
by
MELISSA MAIER BISHOP
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2006
Copyright © by Melissa Maier Bishop 2006 All Rights Reserved
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A wise professor told me before starting my PhD work to not forget my distractions. Therefore, this work is dedicated to my three favorite distractions—my husband Jeff and my two sons, Abel and Peyton. Thank you, Jeff, for all of your encouragement, your support, and your shoulder to lean on and your ear to listen during the past five years as we’ve come together on this journey. Thank you, Abel and Peyton, for sharing me with my studies and for often keeping me company while I studied for my exams and wrote my papers. Thank you also to my wonderful committee who were all so encouraging and patient with me, especially my Chair, Dr. Mark Peterson. Your excitement for my ideas inspired me as well as your belief in me. You have an unselfish and self-sacrificing nature that shines through you, and you are a gift to all of your students. Many thanks also to Dr. Roger Dickinson, who was a great support to me over the past five years and a big reason I decided to join the program in the first place. Thanks to my parents and to Jeff’s parents for helping me out in so many ways during this program. You all have always been so supportive of me in all that I do. Finally, thanks to God who put in me a stubborn and persevering nature, without which I would not have been able to finish. November 17, 2006
iii
ABSTRACT
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE CODESWITCHING IN INCREASING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN YOUTH
Publication No. ______
Melissa Maier Bishop, PhD.
The University of Texas at Arlington, 2006
Supervising Professor: Dr. C. Mark Peterson Language codeswitching refers to the practice of alternating between two languages during any given conversation (Scotton 1988). Though there is a plethora of research on this practice among sociolinguists and sociologists, a relative dearth of research on this topic exists among marketing academics, outside of several recent works by Luna and Peracchio (2005a, b) and Luna, Lerman and Peracchio (2005). Furthermore, previous research in marketing that has focused on bilingual language processing issues in advertising has generally only incorporated the traditional view of bilingual advertising, in which a single message is presented in entirety in both languages. Codeswitching has received little attention. iv
Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine how language codeswitching interacts with the context language of the medium to influence certain outcomes related to advertising effectiveness. Specifically, it will be investigated how message recall, the perception of advertiser cultural sensitivity and expectations concerning empathy and responsiveness of a service provider can be enhanced through the use of codeswitching in communication among bilingual individuals.
The
interaction between the direction of language switching in an ad and the language context of the medium in which the codeswitched ad appears will be assessed for its ability to influence these constructs. Furthermore, the Spanish/English codeswitching that occurs among bilingual Hispanics living in the U.S. is investigated, with testing among Mexican-American youths. This population is receiving increasing attention by marketers as Hispanics in general compose the largest U.S. minority group with explosive projected growth rates and spending power. Thus, marketing practitioners should find results of this analysis timely and beneficial.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................
iii
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................
iv
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.....................................................................................
x
LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................
xi
Chapter
Page
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................
1
1.1 The Nature of the Problem .....................................................................
2
1.2 Research Questions.................................................................................
4
1.3 Population of Interest..............................................................................
5
1.4 Objectives of the Study...........................................................................
7
1.5 Organization of the Study.......................................................................
8
2. LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................
10
2.1 Background of Codeswitching ...............................................................
10
2.2 Motivations for Codeswitching ..............................................................
17
2.3 Communicative Tool ..............................................................................
18
2.4 Skilled Code............................................................................................
20
2.5 Codeswitching in the Media ...................................................................
24
2.6 Codeswitching in Advertising ................................................................
25
vi
2.7 Appropriateness of Codeswitching in Advertising.................................
28
2.8 Conclusion of Literature Review............................................................
33
3. MESSAGE RECALL (ESSAY 1).................................................................
35
3.1 Markedness Model of Codeswitching ....................................................
36
3.2 Contextual Effects on Recall ..................................................................
38
3.3 Salience and Recall Inhibition ................................................................
39
3.4 Control Variables….………...................................................................
41
4. PERCEIVED ADVERTISER CULTURAL SENSITIVITY (ESSAY 2)............................................................................
43
4.1 Speech Accommodation Theory.............................................................
44
4.2 Direction-of-Codeswitching and Contextual Effects..............................
46
4.3 Control Variables....................................................................................
47
5. EXPECTATIONS OF EMPATHY AND RESPONSIVENESS OF A SERVICE PROVIDER (ESSAY 3) ....................................................
48
5.1 Responsiveness and Empathy.................................................................
49
5.2 Language in Advertising and Quality Cues............................................
50
5.3 Language Schema Activation .................................................................
51
5.4 Perceptions of Spanish vs. English.........................................................
52
5.5 Medium Context .....................................................................................
53
5.6 Control Variables....................................................................................
56
6. RESEARCH METHOD (DESIGN)..............................................................
58
6.1 Definition and Measurement of Variables..............................................
58
6.2 Research Strategy and Design ................................................................
66
vii
6.3 Design and Statistical Techniques ..........................................................
69
6.4 Coding of Recall Data ............................................................................
75
7. RESEARCH METHOD (RESULTS) ...........................................................
77
7.1 Profile of the Sample ..............................................................................
77
7.2 Descriptive Statistics ..............................................................................
78
7.3 Essay 1 Analysis .....................................................................................
79
7.4 Essay 2 Analysis .....................................................................................
88
7.5 Essay 3 Analysis .....................................................................................
91
8. DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH....................
96
8.1 Essay 1 Discussion .................................................................................
96
8.2 Essay 2 Discussion .................................................................................
99
8.3 Essay 3 Discussion ................................................................................. 100 8.4 Best Overall Combination ...................................................................... 102 8.5 Limitations of the Study ......................................................................... 103 8.6 Directions for Future Research ............................................................... 104
Appendix A. BILINGUAL INSTRUCTIONS TO PARTICIPANTS ............................... 107 B. ENGLISH-TO-SPANISH CODESWITCHED AD ..................................... 109 C. SPANISH-TO-ENGLISH CODESWITCHED AD ..................................... 111 D. UNAIDED RECALL TEST OF EMBEDDED AND MATRIX MESSAGE ELEMENTS............................................................. 113 E. AIDED RECALL TEST OF EMBEDDED ELEMENTS (ENGLISH-TO-SPANISH CODESWITCHED AD)................................... 115 viii
F. AIDED RECALL TEST OF EMBEDDED ELEMENTS (SPANISH-TO-ENGLISH CODESWITCHED AD)...................................
117
G. RECALL OF MATRIX ELEMENTS FOR ENGLISH-TO-SPANISH CODESWITCHED AD .....................................
119
H. BILINGUAL READING ABILITY TEST..................................................
121
I. DEBRIEFING LETTER ................................................................................
123
J. SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESES AND FINDINGS OF SUPPORT ............
125
K. ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS FOR ESSAY 1 (MANCOVA) ....................
127
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 130 BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION......................................................................... 143
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure
Page
2.1
Example of Codeswitched Conversation ........................................................ 23
7.1
Unaided Recall of Embedded Elements.......................................................... 84
7.2
Aided Recall of Embedded Elements.............................................................. 86
7.3
Unaided Recall of Matrix Elements ................................................................ 87
7.4
Means of Responsiveness Expectations.......................................................... 94
7.5
Means of Empathy Expectations..................................................................... 95
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
2.1 Most Common Codeswitch Types ................................................................... 12 5.1 Hierarchy of Language Salience Effects ......................................................... 56 7.1 Descriptive Statistics ....................................................................................... 78 7.2 Analysis of Covariates for Message Recall..................................................... 81 7.3 Message Recall Results ................................................................................... 82 7.4 Recall Results for Matched vs. Unmatched .................................................... 85 7.5 Analysis of Covariates for Advertiser Cultural Sensitivity............................. 89 7.6 Advertiser Cultural Sensitivity Results ........................................................... 90 7.7 Covariates of Expectations .............................................................................. 92 7.8 Expectation Results ......................................................................................... 93
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The debate over language choice in international and cross-cultural advertising has to this point focused on mainly three alternatives. That is to use the original language in all regions, translate the content into the relevant local language or employ bilingual advertising. Past studies have found bilingual advertising to be effective in increasing advertiser cultural sensitivity and affect for the advertisement (Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994). Further, a recent research survey found that any form of bilingual advertising lead to higher message recall among Hispanics living in the United States (Indvik 2004). One such form of bilingual advertising is codeswitching. Codeswitching differs from the traditional way in which bilingual advertising is considered in that the message is not presented in its entirety in both target languages. Instead, two or more languages may be alternated between during any given conversation. According to Scotton (1988), codeswitching is “the use of any two or more linguistic varieties in the same conversation, whether they are different languages, styles, or dialects” (p. 201). In this research, we are examining language codeswitching— particularly, that which occurs between Spanish and English. In many multilingual societies,
codeswitching represents
more
accurately how individuals
actually
communicate. For example, Heller (1988) cites ethnographic findings where in some
1
communities the use of codeswitching is not only widespread but is also considered a normal way of conversing. This phenomenon has been found in both speaking (MyersScotton 1993; Espinosa 1911) and in writing (McClure 1981). Research on codeswitching in advertising has been undertaken in a limited extent. Preliminary findings reveal that using codeswitching can either positively or negatively influence product image formation and overall product evaluation, depending on the nature of the codeswitch. For example, Luna and Perrachio (2005a, b) demonstrated that switching from Spanish to English within an advertising slogan resulted in higher product evaluations than switching from English to Spanish. Thus, there exists some evidence that codeswitching may be a practical tool advertisers can employ to reach different ethnic groups. 1.1 The Nature of the Problem Regarding language in advertising, international and cross-cultural advertisers continue to struggle to find the best language medium through which to reach their target audiences.
Levitt’s (1983) classic position implies employing a single language in
advertising, citing that companies should ignore superficial regional and national differences, treating the world as one homogenous marketplace. More recently, however, the prevailing perspective concerning advertising standardization is that decisions be made on a country-to-country basis (Kanso and Nelson 2002). Standardization versus localization decisions are usually made in each particular situation with a cost-benefit analysis (Onkvisit and Shaw 1987), since it is expensive to target every ethnic group within a region with an individualized campaign.
2
Localizing advertising content through employing ethnic primes, or cues, has generally been seen as more effective in targeting specific ethnic populations and considered worth it if it is economically efficient. Ethnic cues signify visual or verbal cues that draw attention to ethnicity (Forehand and Deshpandé 2001). These cues have primarily been employed to reach the targeted ethnic group to show that the product is “made” for its members. Past studies have shown consumers to react more positively to advertising that includes models of the same ethnicity (Aaker, Brumbaugh and Grier 1998; Deshpandé and Stayman 1994; Forehand and Deshpandé 2001; Whittler and DiMeo 1991) or employs their ethnic language (Roslow and Nicholls 1996). However, the effectiveness of ethnic cues in advertising to impact the targeted ethnic groups appears also to be diminishing over time. According to Forehand and Deshpandé (2001, p. 336): The prevalence of ethnic actors in contemporary advertising has, in fact, increased to the point that some ethnic groups are actually overrepresented in advertising relative to their composition in the general population (Taylor and Stern 1997; Wilkes and Valencia 1989). Consequently, ads that once drew attention to ethnicity by simply featuring ethnic actors may no longer do so in today's multicultural environment, a diminished salience that perhaps deems targeting ethnic audiences more complex (and potentially less effective) than previously thought. These findings of ethnic cues’ decreased effectiveness may support increased standardization of advertisements to different ethnic groups. Regarding language decisions, greater understanding of how to employ bilingual advertising in this arena still remains of interest to international and cross-cultural advertisers.
3
1.2 Research Questions There is currently a relative dearth of academic studies on how codeswitching may be used strategically by advertisers and retailers. Despite the plethora of research performed by sociolinguists, psycholinguistics, and sociologists on codeswitching, marketing academics have failed to significantly build on their findings and extend them to the advertising arena. Furthermore, previous research in marketing that has focused on bilingual language processing has generally only incorporated the traditional view of bilingual advertising (see Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994).
Traditional
bilingual advertising in this paper refers to a single message being presented in its entirety on both languages. Codeswitching has received little attention from marketing academics. However, this area does appear to be gaining interest as demonstrated by several recent works of Luna and Peracchio (2005a, b) and Luna, Lerman and Peracchio (2005). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine how using language codeswitching in advertising is perceived by bilingual (Spanish/English) consumers, particularly those of Mexican-American descent. Specifically, it will be argued that 1) message recall, 2) expectations concerning both empathy and responsiveness and 3) the perception of advertiser cultural sensitivity can be enhanced through the use of codeswitching in communication among bilingual individuals. Furthermore, how these constructs are influenced by the language context of the medium in which the ad appears will be investigated for potential moderating effects.
That is, the effectiveness of
codeswitched advertising (in terms of message recall, perceptions of advertiser cultural
4
sensitivity and expectations concerning the responsiveness and empathy of a service provider) may be positively or negatively impacted by the language context of the medium. As most advertising appears within a medium (such as television, radio or print), the language context of an ad is an important variable to consider. Therefore, the following primary research questions will be investigated in this paper: Research Question 1: How do codeswitching in advertising and the context language of a medium in which an ad appears interact to affect message recall? Research Question 2: How does using codeswitching in advertising interact with the context language of a medium to influence perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity? Research Question 3: How does using codeswitching in advertising together with the context language of the medium affect the formation of expectations concerning empathy and responsiveness of the service provider? To address these issues, the most relevant concepts particular to codeswitching that marketers will find helpful are introduced along with several stipulations as to the appropriateness of using codeswitching in advertising. 1.3 Population of Interest This research focuses on the Spanish/English codeswitching that occurs among Hispanic-Americans in general, with testing among Mexican-American young adults in particular. These individuals are chosen as the population of interest for this research due to several factors. First of all, Spanish/English codeswitching is found in most Hispanic communities in the United States (Myers-Scotton 1993). Being able to communicate in
5
English and Spanish among U.S. Hispanics allows these individuals to display multiple identities connected with a Hispanic heritage and an American belonging. For example, Poplack (1988) found that Spanish/English bilingualism is emblematic of New York Puerto Rican identity. Recently, Hispanic youths have been assessed to be 75% bilingual (Gardyn 2001), making codeswitching a possibly popular communication vehicle. Secondly, among U.S. Hispanics, there is no clear consensus as to which language is more beneficial to reach these consumers. Historically, the prevailing view among advertisers and advertising agencies as to how to “best” reach this group required the advertiser to use Spanish (Ueltschy and Krampf 1997).
More contemporary
approaches acknowledge the simplicity of this view as the tremendous heterogeneity of this population group is now recognized. For example, individual-specific variables have been taken by advertisers into consideration when assessing consumer behavior or preferences concerning ethnic cues (such as language or ethnicity of actors) in advertising. Several of these variables relate to an individual’s level of acculturation, including language abilities and language attitudes (e.g. Zhang and Schmitt 2004; Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994; Deshpandé, Hoyer and Donthu, 1986; Ueltschy and Krampf 1997). Finally, understanding of Hispanic-American consumers is of increasing importance to marketers due to their high numbers, total spending power and tremendous projected growth rates. Specifically, U.S. Hispanics now represent almost 13% of the total U.S. population and compose its fastest growing segment (Zbar 2004). Hispanic purchasing power was estimated to be $653 billion in 2003 (Zbar 2004) and is expected
6
to exceed $1.2 trillion by 2010 (Torres 2004). Furthermore, the importance of the Hispanic youth market is best summarized by Gardyn (2001), who states that Hispanic youth will overtake blacks to become the largest ethnic youth population by 2005. By 2010, one in five kids will be Hispanic, amounting to a 22% increase in nine years (Gardyn 2001). Therefore, understanding how using Spanish/English codeswitching in advertising can influence such outcomes as message recall, perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity and expectations of responsiveness and empathy will be a strategic asset to marketers wishing to reach this group. 1.4 Objectives of the Study The objectives of the study are derived from the research questions previously proposed. The purposes are to examine the role of language codeswitching in advertising among bilingual Mexican-American consumers in terms of message recall, empathy and responsiveness expectations, and perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity. More specifically, the objectives are as follows: 1.
To determine how language codeswitching in advertising influences message recall depending on direction of the codeswitch (Spanish-toEnglish vs. English-to-Spanish) and the language context in which the ad appears (all-Spanish vs. all-English).
2.
To determine how language codeswitching in advertising affects perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity depending on direction of the codeswitch (Spanish-to-English vs. English-to-Spanish) and the language context in which the ad appears (all-Spanish vs. all-English).
7
3.
To determine how language codeswitching in advertising serves to influence expectations of empathy and responsiveness of a service provider depending on the direction of the codeswitch (Spanish-toEnglish vs. English-to-Spanish) and the language context in which the ad appears (all-Spanish vs. all-English). 1.5 Organization of the Study
The content of the study will be organized in eight chapters. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the main research questions and overall purpose of the research. Chapter 2 contains a broad literature review of codeswitching and issues related to language processing. Chapters 3-5 are based on the “Essay Approach” of dissertation writing. That is, each of the three research questions is addressed in a separate essay. The essay approach is taken to examine these three research questions because of the relative independence of each construct. That is, though improving message recall, perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity and expectations may be important in terms of advertising effectiveness, there is no clear relationship between the these variables that exist in the literature.
Within each of these essays is an appropriate literature review on each
dependent variable, as well as theoretical justification leading to hypotheses. These also compose the chapters where the relationship between language use and advertising is made most fully apparent. Chapter 6 contains the research methodology used to examine each of the research questions. Chapter 7 discusses the results of these questions. Finally, Chapter 8
8
offers the limitations and managerial implications of the findings. Directions for future research are also provided.
9
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter offers a review of the literature on language codeswitching, including historical and contemporary views concerning its existence and development. Appropriate anthropological examples are provided, as well as the most significant findings among the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic literature. Finally, the state of codeswitching research in advertising is explicated. [A literature review for each of the dependent variables is provided in each of their respective chapters based on the threeessay approach to dissertation writing. Specifically, Chapter 3 deals with literature on message recall (Essay 1), Chapter 4 covers perceived cultural sensitivity of the advertiser (Essay 2) and Chapter 5 includes a discussion of the literature related to expectations of empathy and responsiveness of a service provider (Essay 3).]
2.1 Background of Codeswitching The term codeswitching has been written as two words—“code switching” or “code-switching”—and has also been referred to as codemixing, codeshifting, language alternation, language mixture and language switching (Benson 2001). Though some have differentiated between these terms (Pfaff 1979), currently the one-word term “codeswitching” is most commonly used to describe the use of two languages within one conversation or text (Benson 2001). The first use of the term codeswitching has been attributed to Hans Vogt in an article written in 1954 (Auer 1998), although the earliest
10
evidence of codeswitching research in the U.S. dates back to the work of Aurelio Espinosa (1911), professor of Romantic languages at Stanford University (Benson 2001). Codeswitching was historically believed by many early scholars to be primarily employed by individuals who possessed inferior intelligence levels or a low mastery of a second language (Benson 2001). Shortcomings in the new language were believed to cause people to go back and forth between the new and the known languages. However, Espinosa (1911) disagreed with these scholars in his research among the U.S. Hispanic communities of Colorado and New Mexico. He described the observed half-English, half Spanish speech mixture as “astonishing” and “pervasive”—its use independent of social class as well as education level. Today, prevailing perspectives sight codeswitching as a skilled code, used most effectively by individuals that have a high degree of mastery in multiple languages. In other words, codeswitching is now thought to be an indicator of bilingual ability rather than merely a demonstration of language deficiency (Becker 1997). An individual’s level of second language ability can be demonstrated through his manner of codeswitching. For example, those with low levels of proficiency (such as those at the early stages of second language acquisition) engage in intersentential switching (Becker 1997). That is, one sentence is first spoken in one language, and another complete sentence is then spoken in the alternate language. This use has been suggested for fear of violating grammatical rules when speaking, as this is a less “risky” way to switch as compared to codeswitching within the same sentence (Sankoff and
11
Poplack 1981). More advanced bilingual speakers evidence their proficiency in both languages by participating in intrasentential codeswitching, where the speaker switches back and forth within a single sentence (Becker 1997). Examples of intrasentential (within sentence) codeswitching are provided (from Espinosa 1911, as cited by Benson 2001), with the translated versions italicized: 1. Que fine ice-cream! “What good ice cream!” 2. Vamos ir al foot-ball game y después al baile a tener the time of our lives. “We are going to go to the football game and then to the dance to have the time of our lives.” Linguists refer to the primary language used in conversation as the “matrix” language. The language switched to—which may be seen as non-dominant within a conversation—is termed the “embedded” language (see Finalyson, Calteaux and MyersScotton 1998). The matrix language is consistently the source of the grammatical frame when participating in codeswitching (Finlayson, Calteaux and Myers-Scotton 1998). That is, the grammatical rules of the matrix language guide the formation of codeswitched sentence structure. In Table 2.1, Poplack (1981) provides a breakdown of the most common switch types among her speech data collected among Spanish/English bilinguals. Table 2.1: Most Common Codeswitch Types (Poplack 1981) 1. Full sentence: Ella canta canciones insultando a los hombres. That’s why you’ve never heard of her. (intersentential) 2. Conjoined sentence: Yo voy por todos esos sitios y I was on 7th Avenue and Broadway. 3. Between major noun phrase and verb phrase: Years ago people se iban a trabajar.
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Table 2.1 Continued 4. Between verb phrase and object noun phrase: What ruined this people is la vagancia de no hacer nada. 5. Between verb phrase and prepositional phrase: Tu quieres bailar with a man; that’s your business. 6. Between verb and adverb: Un americano me puede preguntar very nicely, “Hace tiempo que yo te estoy viendo asi y perdona que te pregunte.” 7. Between noun and adjective: Cojo mi garlic puro. 8. Between determiner and noun: Because if you smash it with a pilon and spray it, you don’t get that burning sensation. 9. Between auxiliary and verb: So…you take the ham…as they’re ablandando, ya que está un poquito hirviendo, tu le echas el hueso del jamon. 10. Single noun: La milk está en la mesa. 11. Interjection: There should be a stop with these kids where there should be discipline, !Contra! You know, open classrooms. 12. Tag phrase: I’m sorry, verdad, you know, anda, I mean, etc.
Poplack (1981) found that nearly half the switches were full sentence switches, with the next most common switches found between the noun phrase and the verb phrase (example #3), between the verb phrase and the object noun phrase (example #4) and between the verb phrase and the prepositional phrase (example #5). The noun was found to be the single most frequently switched item. According to Lipski (1982), nouns provide the bilingual speaker with “a ready word which may not be found in one language or which, for whatever reason, seems more appropriately expressed in one language than in another” (p. 197). 2.1.1 Uncommon Codeswitches It is more uncommon to find codeswitching among elements that are different in grammatical structure between two languages. This is due to the inherent desire of the speaker to maintain grammaticality during the discourse process. Perhaps the greatest
13
structural conflict between Spanish and English concerns the use of adjectives due to differences in adjective placement within a sentence. According to Sridhar and Sridhar (1980), “Adjectives normally precede the noun in English except in certain specific structures (e.g., when preceded by an adverb), and follow the noun in Spanish except when they are members of a closed set (e.g., possessives, ordinals, and other limiting adjectives)” (p. 411). Therefore, single codeswitched adjectives are less likely to be found in Spanish/English codeswitching as compared to other grammatical forms of codeswitching. However, they do occur. And when they do, they nearly always obey the language-specific structural constraints (Sridhar and Sridhar 1980) of the matrix language. For example, Poplack (1981) found that less than one percent of adjectival Spanish/English codeswitches defied grammatical rules. 2.1.2 Spanglish vs. Codeswitching There appear to be discrepancies between the definition of Spanish/English codeswitching and the practice known as “Spanglish.” It is argued here that the two concepts are conceptually different, and thus may influence ultimate attitudes toward codeswitching. Spanglish has been described as a spoken hybrid of English and Spanish (Gold et. al 2002) and as a “free-form” blend of the two languages (Time, 7/8/85). It is further defined here as the transformation of English words into a Spanish form, such as “clickear” for clicking on the mouse of a computer, or “vacunear” for vacuuming. A recent article in the Economist (10/25/2003), entitled “Not for the Purists,” offers an example of Spanglish (Spanglish words in italics, italics added): Latinos, depending where they are in the United States, may vaquiumear or vacunear the carpet in the utiliti, before going out to hanguear at the mol where
14
they might buy some blueyins to boost their sexapil before buquiando a show attended by the butifulpeepo, unless it was already overbukiado. To finance all this, they might aplicar for a partain to get more moni. This (perhaps exaggerated) example demonstrates that Spanglish does not need to follow strict rules of grammaticality or employ English words correctly.
In contrast,
Spanish/English codeswitching is a skilled code which follows laws of grammaticality, used by individuals with more superior abilities in a second language. When individuals participate in codeswitching, the matrix language serves consistently as the source of the grammatical frame (Finlayson, Calteaux and Myers-Scotton 1998).
That is, the
grammatical rules of the matrix language guide the formation of codeswitched sentence structure. Many authors appear to use Spanglish and codeswitching as interchangeable concepts. For example, Spanish/English codeswitching has been referred to as Spanglish by the current pioneers in the consumer behavior literature, Luna and Peracchio (2005b). They state, “In the United States, code-switching Spanish and English is part of the ubiquitous phenomenon commonly called ‘Spanglish’…” (p. 43). They then cite an advertisement from Latina magazine, which says, “Looking great doesn’t have to cost a fortuna.” This sentence is an example of English-to-Spanish codeswitching—not Spanglish—as the Spanish word for fortune is “fortuna.” The ad writers employed the codeswitched word correctly in terms of grammaticality.
Further, Ilan Stavans, the
prominent author of Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language, also appears to mix the terms of codeswitching and Spanglish. An example from Stavans’ book is as follows (2003, p. 20):
15
…Spanglish cuts across economic terrain. It isn’t spoken only por los pobres, the dispossessed. The middle class has embraced it as a chic form of speech, una manera moderna y divertida de hablar…Spanglish is democratic: de todos y para todos. It is important to note that, in the above example, Stavans is not talking in Spanglish but is using codeswitching. Therefore, in this research, we are referring to codeswitching not as Spanglish, but as a skilled code used by individuals with more superior second language abilities. 2.1.3 Conscious vs. Unconscious Codeswitching There is evidence that bilingual speakers both consciously and unconsciously participate in codeswitching. According to Becker (1997), “[C]odeswitches are often triggered by unconscious factors and consequently, bilingual speakers are often unaware of their spontaneous alternation between languages” (p.8). Becker (1997) classifies unconsciously motivated codeswitches to three categories.
The first category includes codeswitches that result from a momentary
inclination during the production stage of speech. This generally means that a speaker is not able to access the equivalent lexical item in the other language. The second category refers to switches that are triggered due to the frequent exposure of such items in another language. This is due to habitual use of these terms, so that their usage is no longer a conscious choice. The third category for unconsciously triggered codeswitches is due to the untranslatability of a given item into another language. This occurs when a speaker would be hard-pressed to find an appropriate synonym in another language. The German term “shadenfreude”—which refers to the pleasure derived from another’s misfortune— would fall here.
16
However, it has also been discovered that bilingual codeswitches may also occur due to conscious psychological factors. According to Becker (1997), “Psycholinguists have found that bilingual speakers use codeswitching as a communication resource to achieve their communicative intentions” (p.8). Further, social motivations may also play a part in conscious codeswitching.
Sociolinguists appear more interested in this
conscious form of codeswitching and what the speaker is trying to communicate beyond the linguistic content of the message. The following section further explicates the factors that motivate codeswitching. 2.2 Motivations for Codeswitching Despite whether codeswitching is unconsciously or consciously motivated, Myers-Scotton (1993) claims that all codeswitching is based on an underlying negotiation principle. In terms of social negotiation, individuals may use codeswitching to convey a specific identity for themselves. She states (1993, p151): ‘Identity’ is used in a very general sense; I do not mean to imply that code choices can fashion new persons out of speakers. What they can do is negotiate a particular identity for the speaker in relation to other participants in the exchange. In terms of communication, individuals may use codeswitching to negotiate a meaning that is better or more easily expressed using multiple languages rather than remaining within a single language. Thus, the uses of codeswitching as a communicative tool and as a skilled, socially motivated code are discussed in the following sections.
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2.3 Communicative Tool 2.3.1 Language Economy/Facility Language facility implies that, for the bilingual, it is simply easier to express oneself using codeswitching rather than remaining in a single language. This may occur when a term was first learned in a second language. For example, Spanish/English bilinguals may switch from Spanish to English when introducing vocabulary into the conversation that relates to occupations, education and medicine. Redlinger (1976) states that these codeswitched elements “may have been first encountered through characteristically Anglo institutions or otherwise identified with them in some significant way" (p. 50). Huerta (1980) echoes these findings in that discourse items related to the business world and modern technology tend to be referred to in English by the bilingual as they were first learned in this language. Furthermore, among Arabic speakers and Hispanic-Americans, one of the prime motives of codeswitching with English is the lack of equivalents in specialized technological domains (Hussein 1999; Dillon 2000). For example, when Spanish speakers save a file, they make “el backup” (Dillon 2000). Similar to language facility is the concept of language economy. Language economy refers to a word or phrase that is able to be expressed more succinctly in another language than one’s native tongue (Becker 1997). Language economy thus serves as another motivation for the use of codeswitching. For example, since the English word “washer” is more linguistically economical than the Spanish equivalent “maquina de lavar,” bilinguals often use the English version in order to save time in reference to this household machine (Becker 1997).
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2.3.2 Stylistic Purposes in Communication According to Becker (1997), “[B]ilinguals use codeswitching as a way to emphasize a particular message by creating situations that force the addressee to interpret their language switch” (p12). Further, Heller (1988) claims that “codeswitching provides a clear example of the ways in which individuals draw on their linguistic resources to signal changes in the different aspects of context which they wish to foreground, to make salient…” (p. 10). That is, the bilingual is forced to cognitively switch from the main language of communication to a secondary one. This implies a cognitive transition from one language to another, forcing the receiver to change modes and process the information in the secondary language. Becker (1997) also claims that codeswitching may be used strategically by bilinguals to “indicate a shift in discourse modes, e.g. from narration to comment or from assertion to question” (p. 13). The purpose for these shifts in discourse modes is to provide a momentary break from the main focus of the dialogue. According to Smith (2003), there are five discourse modes including the narrative, description, report, information and argument modes. These modes each have distinct linguistic properties that differentiate them from one another (Smith 2003). It has been argued that people often do not remain in one discourse code while communicating, using instead several discourse modes. According to Stein (2002), real samples of published discourse are never written in one mode. Further, writers often switch in and out of modes for effect (Stein 2002). Speakers also may shift from one discourse mode to another in
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conversation for communicative purposes or for effect. Language codeswitching enables these purposes. Further, bilinguals may use codeswitching strategically in communication to indicate a topic change in the conversation. Becker (1997, p. 13) provides the following explanation of this practice: A given topic shift may represent a simple way for bilingual speakers to signal that they have finished talking about topic A and are now ready to discuss topic B. For example, a bilingual speaker may be informally discussing the weather in Spanish with a client and then codeswitch to English in order to signal a desire to discuss the terms of a contract. On the other hand, a topic shift may also represent a bilingual speaker's attempt to evade a particular topic…The strategy of changing topics is often utilized by monolingual speakers as well; however, bilingual speakers have an advantage by being able to magnify a shift in topic by employing a simultaneous shift in language. Alfonzetti (1998) reiterates this point, calling the use of codeswitching in this manner a contextualization cue to signal a change in the topic of conversation. The language switched to may also be independent of the newly introduced topic. 2.4 Skilled Code According to Gal (1979), “Differences between speakers occur in part because linguistic features can assume social significance, symbolizing the statuses and values of the subgroups with which they are associated. They can therefore be used by speakers in impression management” (p. 5). Hence, the following section provides the primary social motivations for using more than two languages in conversation. 2.4.1 Construction/Expression of Multiple Identities Language is used to communicate much more than referential meaning—it is used to accomplish a goal (Myers-Scotton 1993). According to Becker (1997), “By
20
consciously switching from one language to another, the bilingual sends a signal to the addressee to search for additional meaning [italics added] beyond the content of the message” (p. 15). Such extralinguistic information may include a signaling of status, education and authority by evidencing multiple identities through codeswitching. For example, Myers-Scotton (1993) demonstrated that young, educated Africans use mainly an African language (such as Swahili) interspersed with brief switches to the English language. This is to signal two sides to their personality: their ethnic or national identity (as indicated by the African language) and their status as educated and upwardly mobile (as indicated by English). In her studies, she demonstrated that young, native male speakers of Shona and Swahili (both widespread languages in Africa) were not satisfied with “either the identity associated with speaking English alone or that of speaking Shona or Swahili alone…Rather they see the rewards of indexing both identities for themselves” (p.122). Thus, they alternate between both languages to simultaneously make salient two positively evaluated identities (Myers-Scotton 1993) Myers-Scotton (1993) explains that although both Shona and Swahili have some appeal based on their associations, English is not relinquished but rather incorporated into conversations due to its ability to identify its user as upwardly social mobile. The use of codeswitching in this example follows socioanalytic theories of personality, in which personality from the view of the actor (the person engaging in codeswitching) is defined as his/her identity (Hogan and Holland 2003). Identity is thus defined as the strategies a person engages in to pursue acceptance and status which control his social behavior (Hogan and Holland 2003).
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Zentella (1990) demonstrates similar findings among Spanish/English bilinguals. These findings revealed that the “we” language—the mother language spoken at home (Spanish)—was viewed as being endowed with many positive affective variables, such as intimacy and solidarity. However, it was considered low in status and prestige. On the other hand, the “they” language (English) was viewed as highly prestigious because it is linked to the outside world composed of money and power. Therefore, among constituents in this study, the “we” language may have been used to signal membership in the in-group (the Spanish-speaking community) while the “they” language was most likely used to signal status and wealth, or at least the potential to obtain these. 2.4.2 Making Requests Becker (1997) states that individuals may use codeswitching as an attempt to obtain something from the person they are communicating with—as a controlling device to make direct or indirect requests. She cites Lipski’s (1985) findings which reveal that the direction of a codeswitch can provide the bilingual individual with more persuasive power. According to Lipski (1985), “In the United States Hispanic communities it is usually a shift from English to Spanish which conveys the subtle insinuation of favors, since Spanish is felt to be ‘closer to the heart’” (p. 13). Further, Becker (1997) uses a discourse exchange example from Valdes-Fallis (1981) to demonstrate this concept (p. 104), provided in Figure 2.1.
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Situation: A young Chicana is experiencing mechanical difficulties with her car. She is explaining her problem to a Chicano mechanic: Mechanic: Is it stalling on you again? Woman:
Yeah…especially this morning.
Mechanic: Maybe you’re not letting it warm up enough. Woman: No, lo que necesita es que alguien que sepa de carros me lo inspeccione. Mechanic: Bueno, pues si quieres que le meta mango, I’ll be glad to. Figure 2.1: Example of Codeswitched Conversation (Valdes-Fallis 1981) The Chicana woman is believed to have switched from Spanish to English to make an indirect request of the mechanic through making salient the traditional feminine role of helplessness, thus influencing a favorable outcome to the conversation. According to Valdes-Fallis (1981), “The same remark in English might have further emphasized her English-related qualities of independence and competence” (p. 105). 2.4.3 Communication Distance Individuals may use codeswitching as a way to reduce anxiety over discussing topics that are seen as embarrassing in some context. Kwok and Chan (1972) offer the example of a Chinese student who chose to confess to his priest in English rather than in Cantonese. According to the subject, confessing in his native tongue “would hurt too much” (p. 70).
Bond and Lai (1986) also found support for their hypothesis that
codeswitching to one’s second language does serve as a distancing function when
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discussing topics that would be too upsetting in their first language.
Further,
codeswitching to second languages have been shown to be used when discussing personal problems, swearing or other speech events that would be associated with anxiety (Bond and Lai 1986). 2.5 Codeswitching in the Media Although codeswitching practices in individual regions of the U.S. (i.e., New York, Chicago, New Mexico, Arizona and California) have been the focus of much previous investigation, codeswitching in the media has not (Stavans 2003). Nevertheless, codeswitching has been observed in many media communication vehicles, including television programming (Alvarez 1997), best-selling novels (Chavez 2002), popular music and radio (Stavans 2003; Alvarez 1997) and the Internet (Dillon 2000).
In
children’s television programming, several prominent shows that include Spanish/English codeswitching are Nick Junior’s “Dora the Explorer,” and “Go, Diego, Go,” the Disney Channel’s “Manny the Mechanic,” and PBS’s “Maya and Miguel” and “Dragontales.” The primary characters are children of Hispanic background who primarily speak English with switches to Spanish (expect on the Spanish Nick Jr. station where “Dora the Explorer” speaks primarily Spanish with brief switches to English). Regarding radio, there are currently more Spanish-language radio stations in California alone compared to the whole of Central America (Stavans 2003). In this domain, codeswitching may also be found extensively, especially in many Southwestern communities of the United States. Alvarez (1997) provides this example of Spanish/English codeswitching on a Texas radio station:
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Those who tune into KXTN-FM in San Antonio, which has been No. 1 in the ratings for four years running, hear deejays saying things like, "Recuerdales que hoy, esta tarde, vamos a estar en vivo in Dillards, broadcasting live from 3 to 5, with your chance to win some cool KXTN prizes. Acompanen a sus amigos." Translation: Remember that today, this afternoon, we are going to go live from Dillards, broadcasting live from 3 to 5. Come with your friends." Even the station's advertisers have requested that their commercials be broadcast [using codeswitching], recognizing that the language can tap into the listener's bicultural world. Furthermore, Latina magazine, one of the most popular magazines amongst Spanish-speaking
women,
currently
employs
English-to-Spanish
codeswitches
throughout its content as well as on its Internet site. According to Haubegger (1997), the publisher of Latina, “"If we were an English magazine, we would just be general market…If we were a Spanish-language magazine, we would be Latin American. We are the intersection of the two, and we reflect a life between two languages and two cultures that our readers live in" (as quoted by Alvarez 1997). 2.6 Codeswitching in Advertising Although codeswitching is not a common practice in advertising, instances of its use have been identified in advertising.
For example, an AFLAC advertisement in
Hispanic magazine targeting U.S. Latinos asked, “Twenty million hijas (daughters) are covered by AFLAC. Is yours?” (in Luna and Peracchio 2005b). However, academic research concerning the impact of codeswitching in advertising has been limited. Some notable exceptions include the recent works of David Luna and Laura Perrachio (2005a, b). Their focus has been on Hispanic-American bilinguals. A primary contribution these authors make is the identification of the codeswitching direction effect. This refers to which language is made salient by the process of codeswitching. For example, “Twenty
25
million hijas are covered by AFLAC,” may be seen as an English-to-Spanish codeswitch. English, in this case would be the matrix language and Spanish the embedded one. Using other terminology, Luna and Peracchio (2005a, b) would call changing from Spanish to English a Minority-to-Majority language codeswitch. They state that a language may be considered the majority (minority) language if it is (not) the language used by the group that holds the political, cultural and economic power within a country (Luna and Peracchio 2005a; Grosjean 1982).
Their findings (2005b) reveal that the
direction in which the codeswitching goes has an influence on persuasion through the outcomes affecting product evaluation. Specifically, they found that changing from the “Majority” language (in this case, English) to the “Minority” language (Spanish) within an advertising message resulted in lower product evaluations than changing in the opposite direction. They attribute this to the minority language being made more salient and its impact on persuasion.
Specifically, individuals engaged in more negative
elaboration when Spanish was made salient through the Spanish-to-English codeswitch, supporting previous findings that Spanish is seen as somehow inferior to English or viewed more negatively in some dimension (see Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994). The authors were able to reverse this codeswitching direction effect through a manipulation of attitudes toward the majority and minority languages. That is, when individuals were prompted as to the positive benefits of knowing and speaking Spanish, products advertised in English-to-Spanish (or Majority-to-Minority) codeswitched slogans were evaluated more highly than in the Spanish-to-English (Minority-toMajority) condition.
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Luna and Peracchio (2005a) also examined the effect of attitudes toward codeswitching on persuasion.
In the neutral condition (in which attitudes toward
codeswitching were not manipulated), they replicated their results of the previous study. Specifically, they found that English-to-Spanish codeswitches resulted in more negative elaboration and hence lower product evaluation. However, they also showed that when English was made salient through the Spanish-to-English codeswitch, more positive than negative elaboration occurred in the non-manipulated condition. However, they also found that an individual’s attitude toward codeswitching could affect product evaluation. Particularly, they found that when negative attitudes toward codeswitching were induced, more negative elaboration occurred.
Inducing more positive attitudes toward
codeswitching, however, did not increase positive elaboration beyond the neutral condition, suggesting a ceiling effect for evaluations of codeswitched ads. Further, Luna and Peracchio (2005a) found support for a contextual effect on evaluations of codeswitched ads. When the context in which a codeswitched ad was manipulated, the authors were able to overcome the expected codeswitching direction. That is, an English-to-Spanish (Majority-to-Minority) codeswitched ad was viewed more positively than a Spanish-to-English ad when it was viewed in the context of a magazine that employed English-to-Spanish codeswitching, thus reversing the codeswitching direction effect.
The authors suggest that if bilinguals perceive a specific type of
codeswitching (Majority-to-Minority vs. Minority-to-Majority) to be the norm, they will react more favorably to it.
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Luna, Lerman and Peracchio (2005) also looked at structural constraints on attitudes toward codeswitched slogans among Hispanic bilinguals. Specifically, they examined the effects of ungrammatical codeswitches, according to the structural rules outlined by Myers-Scotton (1993b). Evaluations of grammatical and ungrammatical codeswitched slogans were compared amongst individuals processing information in the data-driven mode versus the conceptually-driven mode. The data-driven mode refers to perceptual processing of information, whereas the conceptually-driven mode reflects meaning or conceptual elaboration (Roediger 1990). It was found that grammaticality of codeswitching only influenced slogan evaluations when individuals processed information in the data-driven mode as opposed to the conceptually-driven mode. Specifically, lower slogan evaluations were revealed in ungrammatical codeswitches when an individual was processing information in the data-driven mode (see Luna, Lerman and Peracchio 2005). 2.7 Appropriateness of Codeswitching in Advertising As advanced bilingual speakers evidence skill in the art of codeswitching, so too must advertisers skillfully employ codeswitching. This includes knowing when it is and is not appropriate to communicate to a target audience in this manner. Even though an audience may be facile at more than one language, this does not mean that codeswitching occurs in all multilingual communities (Myers-Scotton 1993) nor is the best candidate for language medium. Attitudes toward languages, attitudes toward the practice of codeswitching and the presence of inter-group tension as expressed through language usage should be taken first into consideration.
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2.7.1 Bilingual Language Ability of Community According to Myers-Scotton (2002), “The degree of bilingual language ability depends on which languages are known, on when, why, where, and how they were acquired, and also how much of each, and how well, the languages were mastered and presently known” (p.33). Codeswitching may not be a proper communication vehicle in communities where there are few people who know a second language, especially when it is important to process the information in an advertising message. This is because individuals with poor abilities in the second language will not be able to process the information to the same extent as bilinguals, who are able to process information in both languages (see Zhang and Schmitt 2004). Language usage or ability of community members is the most popular behavior associated with the behavioral dimension of acculturation (Maldonado and Tansuhaj 2002). Acculturation has been defined as the “absorption of the ‘host’ society's cultural norms, beliefs, attitudes and behavior patterns by immigrants, or by other groups historically excluded from the larger society” (Johnson 2004, p.1279). It has also been defined as the process of learning a culture that is different from the one in which a person was raised (Valencia 1985). Acculturation is suggested as an important individualspecific moderating variable in language decisions as to how to “best” reach the targeted population (e.g. Deshpande, Hoyer and Donthu, 1986; Ueltschy and Krampf 1997). Further, many researchers propose that language is the key indicator of acculturation and is, therefore, the most commonly used in all measures of acculturation (Mainous 1989; O'Guinn and Faber 1985; Ueltschy and Krampf 1997).
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Therefore, advertisers
considering codeswitching as a communication method may consider the acculturation level of targeted community members as represented by language practices. 2.7.2 Inter-Group Tension and Positively Evaluated Identities For codeswitching to be considered a candidate in advertising, little inter-group tension as marked by language loyalty should exist in a community. This is because identities associated with the knowledge of multiple languages may not be desired to be expressed in societies in which there is a high level of inter-group tension. According to Myers-Scotton (1993), “Where there is a good deal of inter-group tension and this tension is expressed by language loyalty, little unmarked [expected] codeswitching is predicted” (p.128). For example, little in-group codeswitching among Catalans living in Catalonia is likely to occur among bilingual speakers of Catalan and Castilian Spanish (Woolard 1989). [Castilian Spanish is generally thought of as the Spanish language, and what is taught in foreign universities.] Despite centuries of institutional inferiority as compared to Castilian Spanish, the Catalan language has been guarded tenaciously by its speakers, who have successfully defended it from language shift or death (Woolard 1989). Furthermore, in some bilingual communities, however, codeswitching may not occur because individuals do not wish to index the multiple identities associated with both languages. For example, although French Canadians of Quebec know and use English daily, English is not evaluated positively (Myers-Scotton 1993). Therefore, little French/English codeswitching occurs among interactions with other francophones, as it is undesirable to index the identity associated with the use of English (Myers-Scotton 1993).
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2.7.3 Attitudes Toward Codeswitching A bilingual’s attitude toward codeswitching is one of the most important determinants of whether or not he practices it and how he views others who use it (Grosjean 1982; Luna and Peracchio 2005a).
Therefore, for codeswitching to be a
candidate for a language advertising medium, attitudes toward the practice should not be negative. Luna and Peracchio (2005a) define attitudes toward codeswitching as the extent to which individuals believe codeswitching to be a desirable practice. In general, bilinguals are believed to possess negative attitudes to codeswitching, even when its use is common among community members (Luna and Peracchio 2005a; Hidalgo 1986; Ramirez, Milk and Sapiens 1983). Past research has indicated that bilinguals have a negative attitude toward codeswitching in spite of its widespread use in society (Hidalgo 1986; Ramirez, Milk and Sapiens 1983; Luna and Peracchio 2005a).
Individuals tend to believe that
codeswitching somehow violates the “purity” of their home language (Hussein 1999). According to Alvarez (1997), “Traditionalists have sometimes deplored this ‘codeswitching’ between languages, often calling it a product of laziness and ignorance.” In terms of Spanglish, some believe this speech practice to be an obstacle for Latinos on the road to assimilation.
According to Stavans (2003), “Many [Latinos] neither speak
Spanish nor English properly. Spanglish is an involuntary middle ground, from which they, if they only knew better, would like to escape pronto” (p. 17). On the other hand, Stavans (2003) cites that others view Spanglish favorably (although in his research he is actually referring to codeswitching), as “a positive
31
manifestation of the Hispanic spirit, that to speak a ‘broken’ language was, in the academic lingo, a construction” (p. 17). Others consider mixing two languages as a sign of “linguistic dexterity” (Alvarez 1997) and a tool to evidence another positively evaluated identity. Thus, there appears to be a discrepancy between explicit (stated) attitudes and implicit attitudes (actual beliefs) toward codeswitching. Hussein (1999) best summarizes this argument as follows: There seems to be a marked contrast between what some bilinguals believe and their actual verbal behavior. Whereas they call for a separation in the use of the two codes and the elimination of elements from language A in the use of language B and vice versa, their actual speech behavior points to the contrary. He offers Pandit’s (1990) example (p. 281) of the case of a Hindi-English speaker who is states that he is not in favor of mixing English with Hindi in his family, although his statements clearly contradict with his manner of speech (English words in bold, translation in italics): main to pure hindi bolana like karati hun mix karane ka to question hi nahin uthatta apani daughter aur sons ko bhi pure Hindi bolane ko-encourage karatti hun. (I like to speak pure Hindi. The question of mixing Hindi and English does not arise. I also encourage my daughter and sons to speak pure Hindi.) (Pandit 1985: 17) Regarding Spanish/English codeswitching, Dillon (2000) claims that “linguistic gatekeepers in much of the Latin world appear to be throwing up their hands in the face of the latest English invasion.” The invasion he is referring to involves the use of English on the Internet, for which many terms do not have easy Spanish translations. Concerning the tension between language purists and language “innovators” (those who are more favorable to codeswitching), Jose Carreno Carlon, director of the Department of Communication at the Iberoamerican University, states, “This was a hard-fought battle
32
from the 60's through the 80's…But the nationalists and purists are in retreat, especially because in the cybernetic world many English words have no easy equivalent” (in Dillon 2000). Similarly, Stavans (2000) cites a shift in the cultural climate of Latin America, Mexico and Spain, stating, “Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything that came from the imperialist gringo had to be rejected. But attitudes have become more receptive to U.S. popular culture, especially among the middle classes. They don't reject, they absorb” (in Dillon 2000). Therefore, attitudes toward codeswitching should be measured and accounted for when considering whether or not to use this as a form of communication on advertising. 2.8 Conclusion of Literature Review As can be seen, language-in-advertising decisions are not in the least clear-cut. Many issues need to be taken into consideration when deciding the best approach to use to most effectively communicate with a cross-cultural audience. Attitudes toward the practice of codeswitching, bilingual language abilities of the targeted community, the extralinguistic properties that a language communicates and the motivations behind using different languages in advertising are just a few properties that can all influence advertising effectiveness.
In particular, how codeswitching influences recall of the
codeswitched marketing message, perceptions of advertiser sensitivity and expectations of responsiveness and empathy of the service provider are currently understudied issues. Therefore, the purpose of the following three essays in Chapters 3-5 is to address each of these topics separately. It will be proposed that the manner of language codeswitching (direction-of-codeswitching) and the language context in which the codeswitched ad
33
appears may interact to influence positively or negatively all of the aforementioned constructs.
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CHAPTER 3 MESSAGE RECALL (ESSAY 1) A goal of most advertising is to achieve a high level of information retention through memorability (Olsen 1997). Memorability is defined as the ability to recall an advertisement, and is measured primarily through experimental methods (Stone, Besser and Lewis 2000). Recall is influenced by the way individuals process information (see Unnava, Burnkrant and Erevelles 1994) and is considered a necessary condition of advertising effectiveness (Dubow 1994).
As stated by Gibson (1983), “Recall is a
relatively stable measure of something and that something must be related to advertising effectiveness” (p. 39). Regarding language choice in advertising, there is a lack of research as to how bilinguals process marketing messages (Luna and Peracchio 2005a), including its impact on message recall. Some notable exceptions that deal with language processing issues in marketing include the works of Zhang and Schmitt (2004) among Chinese respondents, and Luna and Peracchio (2005a,b) and Luna, Lerman and Peracchio (2005) among U.S. Hispanics. Therefore, how to increase message recall remains an important goal of advertisers. Thus, the purpose of this research is to examine Research Question 1, restated as follows: RQ1:
How do codeswitching in advertising and the context language of a
medium in which an ad appears interact to affect message recall?
35
To address this issue, the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton 1993) and concepts related to message salience are reviewed, along with the construct of message recall in terms of how codeswitching may impact it.
Hypotheses are then proposed linking
together the relationships between language in advertising, the context in which an ad occurs and message recall. 3.1 Markedness Model of Codeswitching According to the Markedness Model as proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993), codeswitching may come in two forms—marked or unmarked. Unmarked codeswitching may be thought of as the “expected” and “safer” (p. 75) medium in conversational exchanges, given the norms of society and the situational nature of the conversation (Myers-Scotton 1993).
These situational factors may include the speaker and the
addressee, the topic and the setting. For example, if two speakers are bilingual and use codeswitching as the “normal” or “expected” way of communicating on a regular basis, using codeswitching in conversation with each other would be considered unmarked. According to Myers-Scotton (1993), “The majority of speakers will follow the known path and make unmarked choices, thereby maintaining the status quo…Thus, codeswitching will not be a frequent choice except when it is an unmarked choice” (p. 153). Marked choices are more or less unexpected. They are “not usual, and in some sense they are a dis-identification with what is expected” (Myers-Scotton 1993, p 151). According to Myers-Scotton (1993), “The more potential a group has for upward mobility, the more likely its members are to make marked choices in interactions
36
allowing for status-raising” (p. 153). In this sense, marked choices are seen as “riskier” and occur when one believes that the rewards associated with codeswitching are greater than the potential costs.
For example, one may choose to risk being perceived as
diverging from the group or what is expected in order to present himself as upwardly mobile and educated. Luna and Peracchio (2005a) used the Markedness Model as the theoretical foundation for their work in Spanish/English codeswitching among U.S. Hispanics. They proposed that the direction of the codeswitch determined which language was marked. According to Luna and Peracchio (2005a), “…[I]f an individual is processing information in one language and the message switches one word to a different language, that codeswitched word will be made salient, or marked in linguistic terms, because it stands out from its context” (p. 2). Luna and Peracchio (2005a) state that the term markedness is analogous to the concept of perceptual salience. According to Fiske and Taylor (1984), an object or part of a message is salient when it stands out from its immediate context, from the perceiver’s prior experience or expectations, or from other foci of attention. Codeswitching may be an important tool to increase message recall due to its inherent ability to make the codeswitched (“switched-to” or embedded) elements salient (Heller 1988). According to Heller (1988), “[C]odeswitching provides a clear example of the ways in which individuals draw on their linguistic resources to signal changes in the different aspects of context which they wish to foreground, to make salient…” (p. 10). That is, the bilingual is forced to cognitively switch from the main language of communication to a secondary
37
one. This implies a cognitive transition from one language to another, forcing the receiver to change modes and process the information in the secondary language. Salience is important in terms of its ability to positively influence message recall. According to Hutchinson and Alba (1991), “[P]erceptually salient attributes can be encoded with little effort and are easy to recall during memory-based judgment” (p. 328). Furthermore, it has been shown that other marketing variables, including advertising and usage, that increase the salience of a brand have been directly related to recall (see Hutchison 1983).
Similar effects of salience on message elements should also be
evidenced. That is, message elements that are made more salient should stand apart from non-salient message elements. 3.2 Contextual Effects on Recall Most advertising appears in a context or is contained in a medium. Pelsmacker, Geuens and Anckaert (2002) use the term “media context” to refer to the characteristics of the content of the medium in which an ad is inserted (e.g., articles in a magazine, spots in a television program). Media context can be an important situational factor in terms of its ability to influence attention to and elaboration of an advertisement (Pelsmacker, Geuens and Anckaert 2002). The media context also can make certain needs more salient (Pelsmacker, Geuens and Anckaert 2002). In particular, this occurs when the advertised product or service complements what is being viewed in the context, such as an ad for suitcases inserted into an article on traveling (MacInnis and Jaworski 1989; Petty and Cacioppo 1986).
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In this research, we are concerned about the language of the medium context in terms of its ability to influence message salience and, thus, recall of an ad. The language of the medium context in which an ad occurs may serve to alter the degree of salience of the matrix (“switched from”) and the embedded (‘switched to”) elements of a codeswitched message.
Therefore, it is important to consider the structure of
codeswitching used in terms of the medium language. The structure of the codeswitched message refers to the direction of codeswitching (in our case, switching from English to Spanish or Spanish to English), and the context refers to the language of the medium in which the ad appears (all-Spanish vs. all-English). In codeswitched advertising, when the embedded text differs from the context language, the embedded elements are made the most salient (stand apart the most). Therefore, when the embedded text does not match the language of the medium context, level of recall of embedded elements will be higher than when the embedded text matches the language of the medium context. Thus, it is proposed: H1: When an ad’s embedded language differs from the medium language of the context, recall of embedded elements will be higher than when the ad’s embedded language is the same as the medium language.
3.3 Salience and Recall Inhibition Although the attribute of salience in message processing may increase recall, it has been shown previously that salience can serve to hinder recall of non-salient alternatives.
For example, Alba and Chattopadhyay (1985) demonstrated that when
consumers were provided with a subset of brands from a product category, recall of
39
brands that were not included in the set was hindered. They found that the size of the effect of recall inhibition was directly related to the number of brands included in the subset.
In further study, Alba and Chattopadhyay (1986) demonstrated that merely
through increasing the salience of a single brand impaired an individual’s ability to recall competing brands. According to these researchers, the intuition behind these findings is that it is difficult for an individual to suppress recall of information that is made salient during memory search. They state (1986), “If a brand is particularly salient, it will come to mind continually when the consumer attempts to recall other brands from the same product category. As a result, the number of other brands recalled may be reduced” (p.363). Therefore, as salience may inhibit recall of non-salient brands, this same effect may be observed among message recall elements. That is, message elements that are made more salient should cause inhibition of the other message elements that are not as salient. Regarding the language of the media context in which an ad occurs, when this language does not match the embedded language of a codeswitched ad, the embedded elements will stand out more, causing decreased salience of the matrix elements in these conditions. Hence it is proposed: H2: When the matrix language of an ad matches the medium language of the context, recall of matrix language elements will be lower than when the matrix language differs from the medium language.
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3.4 Control Variables In testing the above hypotheses, it is important to account for several characteristics of the respondents that may influence message recall, including age, level of involvement and the bilingual language abilities of the respondents. Age is currently the only demographic variable that appears to be conclusively correlated with message recall. According to Dubow (1994), age is negatively associated with the recall of advertising, in that younger adults demonstrate higher recall than older adults. Furthermore, advertising in a bilingual individual’s non-dominant language also adversely impacts message recall (Luna et. al 2001).
According to the Revised
Hierarchical Model (RHM) (Dufour and Kroll 1995), processing a second language message at the conceptual level is less likely than processing conceptually a first language message. From this model, messages conveyed in a bilingual individual’s less proficient language result in inferior memory as compared with messages communicated in their more proficient language (Luna et. al 2001). Finally, a higher level of message involvement is associated with central message processing (Petty and Cacioppo 1986; Munch and Swasy 1988; Pelsmacker, Geuens and Anckaert 2002).
In contrast, low involvement individuals devote less attention to
advertising stimuli (Zaichkowsky 1985) and tend to use peripheral cues to process information (Petty and Cacioppo 1986). Further, the context a message occurs in has also been correlated with message recall. For example, Soldow and Principe (1981) found that higher involvement in a television program resulted in lower recall of embedded sales messages and advertised brands. Therefore, it is important to measure and control
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for advertisement involvement as well as involvement in the articles that appear in the context.
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CHAPTER 4 PERCEIVED ADVERTISER CULTURAL SENSITIVITY (ESSAY 2) Perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity have been shown to be positively related to affect for the advertisement (Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994). This is important because the degree of positive or negative affect experienced by consumers can strongly influence their purchase intentions (see Oliver, Roland and Varki 1997). In terms of international audiences, ways to be perceived as culturally sensitive may be to incorporate local language into the advertisement, use actors of corresponding ethnicity and/or incorporate cultural values into the advertisement. However, one must first perceive the advertiser as culturally sensitive in order for the advertisement to result in a higher degree of affect (see Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994). Thus, the purpose of Essay 2 is to examine the role codeswitching in advertising plays in forming perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity. Research Question 2 from the Chapter 1 is restated here for ease of analysis. RQ2. How does using codeswitching in advertising interact with the context language of a medium to influence perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity? To examine this question, an appropriate literature review of the use of codeswitching and its impact on cultural sensitivity is examined based on speech accommodation theory (Giles, Taylor and Bourhis 1973). Connections between language in advertising, medium context and this perception are then proposed, along with the
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controlled variables of bilingual language ability and attitudes toward the practice of codeswitching. 4.1 Speech Accommodation Theory Perceptions of cultural sensitivity may be measured by the perception of whether an advertiser is attempting to reduce or increase the social distance between the ad and its viewer.
Codeswitching may be used by multilinguals to either reduce or increase the
social distance between conversation participants. According to Heller (1988b), “Codeswitching can be used to appeal to the shared understanding characteristic of comembership, or to create distance by associating oneself, momentarily, with the outgroup” (p. 83). According to speech accommodation theory, speakers may use codeswitching for purposes of convergence or divergence in social settings (MyersScotton 1993). Myers-Scotton (1993, p. 66) explains this position as follows: Giles suggests that, in many social interactions, speakers desire their listeners’ social approval, and use modification of their speech towards the listeners’ code as a tactic to get this approval. This is call accommodation or convergence. But in other situations, speakers may wish to disassociate themselves from listeners; they do this by accentuating their linguistic differences. This is called speech divergence. An example of a reduction in social distance (or accommodation) through codeswitching may occur when two people do not share the same native language. One party will switch to the language the other party understands best. For example, an English/Spanish bilingual salesperson whose first language is English may switch to Spanish when interacting with a customer whose native language is Spanish. This may also result in reciprocal speech accommodation (see Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone 1994), in that the other participant may also use their non-native language
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(provided both individuals are bilingual). codeswitching may also occur between a bilingual and a monolingual. That is, the bilingual will switch to the native language of the monolingual to accommodate the monolingual and enable communication (Finlayson, Calteaux and Myers-Scotton 1998). Another example comes from Scotton and Ury (1977) and is summed up by Luna and Peracchio (2005a, p.44) as follows: [S]witching to the local dialect can be an instrument to create a sense of proximity, as in the case of a Luyia (Western Kenya) shopkeeper’s sister, who switches to Luyia, the minority language, to request some salt from her brother at his business (Scotton and Ury 1977). The woman uses Luyia instead of Swahili, the majority language of business, because she hopes to diminish the social distance with her brother so he will offer her a good deal. On the other hand, codeswitching may serve the intent of excluding someone from the conversation (Grosjean 1982), which is also referred to as divergence under speech accommodation theory. This results in an increase in perceived social distance between conversation participants. Again, this may occur when conversation participants have differing language abilities and when more than two individuals are conversing. For example, two bilinguals may switch to a second language that a third participant does not understand. This prevents the monolingual that is present from participating in the exchange, as he is now excluded from the conversation. codeswitching in this context may be seen as “secret talking” (Leyew 1998), resulting in an increase in social distance between the bilingual and monolingual speakers. Monolinguals have been depicted as having a negative attitude toward codeswitching, especially when it occurs without taking the needs of the listener into consideration (Leyew 1998).
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4.2 Direction-of-Codeswitching and Contextual Effects Applied to advertising, an attempt at a reduction in social distance on the part of the advertiser would result in the advertiser being perceived as more culturally sensitive. Alternatively, an increase in such distance through language choice should result in the advertiser being perceived as less culturally sensitive.
Thus, the direction-of-
codeswitching is important to consider in these perceptions. Further, how this direction interacts with the language of the medium context in which the ad appears should have an impact on the perception of advertiser cultural sensitivity.
In particular, when the
advertiser uses codeswitching and switches from a second language to the language of the medium, the advertiser should be seen as attempting to reduce this social distance. This is because the advertiser may be perceived as coming towards the audience of the magazine in terms of language usage, and thus attempting to reduce social distance as implied by the theory of speech accommodation (Giles, Taylor and Bourhis 1973). For example, if an advertiser switches from English to Spanish in an-all Spanish magazine, this will result in an attempt to come nearer to the viewer than if the advertiser were to switch from Spanish to English in this context. Greater perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity to the reader of the magazine should be realized. Therefore, when considering the cases of codeswitched ad placement within all-English or all-Spanish contexts, it is proposed: H3: When the embedded language matches the language of the medium context, the advertiser will be perceived as more culturally sensitive than when the embedded language differs from the medium language.
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4.3 Control Variables When examining the above hypotheses, it is important to consider an individual’s attitude toward codeswitching and bilingual language ability as control variables. Per the former, attitudes toward codeswitching refer to the extent to which individuals believe codeswitching to be a desirable practice (Luna and Peracchio 2005a). If codeswitching is viewed by the individual to be a more negative practice, this could result in more negative perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity, and vice versa. Therefore, it is important to take into account individual differences in this attitude. In terms of language abilities, although our research focuses on bilingual Mexican-Americans, this does not imply that these individuals are equally competent in both Spanish and English. Some may prefer to use Spanish as the primary mode of communication while others prefer English, suggesting that they may be more proficient in one language over another. Therefore, individual differences in language proficiencies may provide an important moderator when examining cultural sensitivity of the advertiser, despite which language was used in the context medium. For example, a bilingual speaker who is more proficient in Spanish may perceive the advertiser that switches from English to Spanish in advertising as more culturally sensitive to the reader, regardless of the language of the target audience of the medium. This is because the switch to Spanish (the more highly understood language in this case) from English is proposed to lead to the perception of decreased social distance on the part of the advertiser.
Narrowing this distance should manifest itself in higher evaluations of
advertiser cultural sensitivity based on this direction of the codeswitch.
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CHAPTER 5 EXPECTATIONS OF EMPATHY AND RESPONSIVENESS OF A SERVICE PROVIDER (ESSAY 3) The purpose of Essay 3 is to examine how codeswitching in advertising may influence expectations concerning a service provider’s degree of empathy and responsiveness. Expectations have been defined as pre-trial beliefs about a product, with a belief being a subjective probability of an association between a product and an attribute (Olson and Dover 1979). Expectations about brand performance are formed by consumers at the decision-making stage (Wirtz and Bateson 1995). These expectations have been linked to purchase behaviors (Olson and Dover 1979), such as the decision to purchase or not to purchase. Further, post-trial product evaluation may also be linked to an individual’s initial expectations. For example, individuals tend to interpret stimuli consistent with their initial expectations (Hawkins, Best and Coney 2004). Thus, advertisements that produce higher initial expectations may benefit from increased “willingness to patronize” intentions as well as higher post-patronage evaluations.
However, research concerning how ethnic language (in particular,
codeswitching) used in advertising may influence the formation of expectations regarding a service provider’s degree of empathy and responsiveness is sparse or unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine if and how codeswitching used in advertising may affect these expectations. In particular, Research Question 3 is restated as follows:
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RQ3: How does using codeswitching in advertising together with the context language of the medium affect the formation of expectations concerning empathy and responsiveness of the service provider? To examine this issue, a relevant review of the literature and pertinent theories are provided. Further, how the language context of the medium together with the direction of codeswitching may also influence these expectations is explored.
5.1 Responsiveness and Empathy Responsiveness is defined here as a service provider’s willingness to help customers and provide prompt service, whereas empathy is defined as the caring, individualized attention the firm provides to its customers (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988). An individual’s expectation and perception of the responsiveness and empathy of a service provider have been identified as two foundational dimensions of an overall larger construct, that of service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988). A prevailing definition of service quality is that it is the difference between consumers' expectations and perceptions of service performance (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1988). Much attention has been giving to defining and measuring service quality, as firms are increasingly understanding the value of differentiating themselves through this avenue (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1988). Specifically, service quality has been shown to be positively related to a firm’s profitability (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 1996). Furthermore, it has been found that tangible and intangible cues are used by consumers to form service quality expectations and perceptions. For example, tangible
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cues, such as the appearance of personnel and physical facilities and intangible cues, such as attitudes of the employees, have been shown to affect choice of service retailer (Steenkamp 1990, Amirani and Baker 1995).
However, how language in advertising
may influence service quality expectations has been, to this point, relatively unexplored. Thus, the purpose of the remainder of this essay is to examine the role of language in advertising as a potential tangible cue in the formation of an individual’s expectations concerning empathy and responsiveness of a service provider.
5.2 Language in Advertising and Quality Cues Language in advertising may be considered a type of ethnic cue or prime. Ethnic primes are visual or verbal cues that draw attention to ethnicity (Forehand and Deshpandé 2001). Regarding quality expectations, language in advertising has been shown in a limited extent to influence product image formation and overall product evaluation. For example, there is evidence that product image formation may benefit from using a foreign language in communication.
Warden, Lai and Wu (2002) suggest that companies that
advertise in a Westernized language may benefit from a Language of Origin (LOO) effect, in which their products are thought to be of higher quality as they are believed to come from the West. They state, “English…may benefit from a discourse frame linked to economic success and social status. This can lead to a positive impression, similar to that of country of origin (COO), that we label language of origin (LOO)” (p. 73). Conversely, companies that advertise in non-Westernized languages may suffer from a negative LOO effect, as their products may be perceived as coming from a nonWesternized nation.
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In further support of the relation between language and image formation, Takashi (1990) found that using English words in television commercials and print advertising in Japan resulted in increased perceptions of modernity and sophistication of the advertised products.
This is due to English being associated with modernity as well as
sophistication as compared to Japanese.
These cases of transference of language
properties onto products and services advertised in the corresponding language may be accomplished through the process known as language schema activation (Luna and Peracchio 2005a), as outlined in the following section. 5.3 Language Schema Activation According to the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton 1993), the direction of the codeswitch makes one language more salient (stand out) more than another (Luna and Peracchio 2005a,b). That is, the language alternated to (the embedded language) is made to stand out from the main (matrix) language used in communication. According to Luna and Perrachio (2005a), by making a language stand out through codeswitching, its associated language schema is activated. A language schema is defined as the set of features or associations linked to a particular language, and may be activated or deactivated depending on which language is currently being processed (Luna and Peracchio 2005a). Luna and Peracchio (2005a) provide a good discussion of markedness, salience and language schema activation as follows (p. 45): If a slogan begins in English, for example, individuals activate an English schema. If a word in the slogan is switched to Spanish, the Spanish term becomes marked, and individuals processing the slogan activate a different set of features associated with the Spanish language—the Spanish schema. In other words, when a slogan switches languages, salience, or markedness, is provided to the switched expression. When individuals pay attention to the switched expression,
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they activate its respective language schema. Thus, if Spanish is made salient in an ad, the Spanish schema will be activated even though the message is communicated mostly in English (italics added). In our research, we also propose that the associated language schemas of Spanish and English (and thus the schemas associated with their respective cultures) are activated when the respective language is made salient through codeswitching. Therefore, it is important to understand the qualities associated with the Spanish and English and the people that speak them. 5.4 Perceptions of Spanish vs. English Spanish is seen as being endowed with more affective characteristics than English (Zentella 1990), has more “sabrosura” (flavor) (Alvarez 1997) and described as “closer to the heart” among Spanish/English bilinguals. Hispanic bilinguals in the US have been shown to switch from English to Spanish to convey feelings such as love, joy, anger or embarrassment, as Spanish is viewed as being a more descriptive, emotional language than English—not because the person does not know the word (Alvarez 1997). On the other hand, English tends to be perceived as a more concise and efficient language than Spanish (Alvarez 1997). It is also viewed as having a higher level of prestige and status than Spanish (Zentella 1990). Further, languages may assume the properties of the people groups that are most connected to speaking them.
In terms of Spanish and English, Spanish-speaking
populations are classified as being polychronic in nature, whereas English-speaking populations tend to be monochronic in nature in reference to their time orientations (Platt 1998). Individuals from monochronic cultures tend to respect deadlines and schedules,
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think linearly, emphasize precision and perform one task at a time (Hall 1966). To contrast this with Hispanic cultures, peoples belonging to these cultures are generally considered to be more polychronic in nature (Platt 1998). Polychronic individuals tend to perform a number of tasks simultaneously and do not consider deadlines or meeting times firm (Hall 1966). Regarding relational interactions, Hispanics tend to be classified as belonging to a “high context” culture, whereas individuals from U.S. are seen as belonging to a “low context” culture, as termed by Hall (1983). Individuals from low context cultures tend to be more confrontational and place less emphasis on interpersonal interactions than individuals from high context cultures (Hall 1983).
In other terminology, Hispanic
societies, including that of Mexico, tend to be more collectivist in nature, while Anglo cultures, such as the United States, are more individualistic (Hofstede 1980). Collectivist societies place more emphasis on group membership, the “we” consciousness and base identity in the social system (Hofstede 1980). This is contrasted with individualistic cultures, such as the U.S., where a higher emphasis is placed on individual accomplishments, the “I” consciousness and base identity in the individual (Hofstede 1980). 5.5 Medium Context The language context of the medium may interact with the direction of codeswitching so as to increase or decrease the salience of the embedded message elements as well as the matrix message elements. For example, English is made most salient in a Spanish-to-English codeswitched ad that occurs in an all-Spanish context.
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The reverse should also hold true, where Spanish is made most salient in an English-toSpanish codeswitched ad that is placed within an all-English medium context. On the flip side, when the embedded (or codeswitched) elements match the language of the medium context, their level of salience may actually be decreased.
Thus, there is
proposed to be a hierarchy of language salience depending on direction of codeswitch and medium language (see Table 5.1, following page). Specifically, the language of an advertisement is made most salient when it stands apart the most. The more salient a language is made in a message, the higher probability exists for the associated language schema to be activated. According to the proposed Hierarchy of English Salience effects (Table 5.1, following page), the language schema associated with English (as being highly timely/responsive) should be most strongly activated in an all-Spanish medium where the advertising message switches from Spanish to English (SSE condition). This is followed by the SES condition (Spanish medium, English to Spanish codeswitched ad) where English is the matrix language and differs from both the context language and the embedded language of the ad. This is then followed by the ESE condition (English medium, Spanish to English codeswitched ad), where embedded elements and context language are both in English. Finally, the advertiser should appear as least responsive in the EES condition (English medium, English to Spanish codeswitched ad), where Spanish is made to stand out the most, thus activating the language schema associated with people of Spanish-speaking cultures (that of not being timely/responsive). More succinctly, it is proposed:
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H4:
Higher expectations of responsiveness will result as English is made
increasingly salient in advertising.
Furthermore, the Hierarchy of Spanish Salience Effects (Table 5.1) suggests that the language schema associated with Spanish (as being highly empathetic) should be most strongly activated in an all-English medium where the advertising message switches from English to Spanish (EES condition). Thus the advertiser will benefit from highest expectations concerning empathy in this condition.
This is followed by the ESE
condition (where Spanish is the matrix ad language and differs both from the context language and the embedded language) and then followed by the SES condition (where Spanish is the embedded ad language as well as the context language). Finally, Spanish is least salient in the SSE condition, where English is made to stand out the most, thus reducing expectations concerning empathy of the service provider.
Therefore, it is
proposed:
H5: Higher expectations of empathy of the service provider will result as Spanish is made increasingly salient in advertising.
The following hierarchy of language salience effects (Table 5.1) is proposed based on medium language and direction-of-codeswitching. Its purpose is to explain under which circumstances a language is made to stand out the most, depending on which language composes the context language of the medium and which language direction the codeswitching occurs. This table is exploratory in nature.
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Table 5.1: Hierarchy of Language Salience Effects Hierarchy of English Salience Effects Medium Matrix Spanish Spanish Spanish English English Spanish English English
Embedded English (SSE) Spanish (SES) English (ESE) Spanish (EES)
Degree of salience Highest 2nd highest 3rd highest Lowest
Differentiation English differs from matrix and medium. English differs from medium & embedded. English differs from matrix only. English differs from embedded only.
Hierarchy of Spanish Salience Effects Medium Matrix Embedded English English Spanish (EES) English Spanish English (ESE) Spanish English Spanish (SES) Spanish Spanish English (SSE)
Degree of salience Highest 2nd highest 3rd highest Lowest
Differentiation Spanish differs from matrix and medium. Spanish differs from medium & embedded. Spanish differs from matrix only. Spanish differs from embedded only.
5.6 Control Variables Several variables must be controlled for when measuring expectations concerning empathy and responsiveness of a service provider based on the language of the ad and of the medium. These include attitudes toward codeswitching, language perceptions and general language attitudes.
Regarding attitudes toward codeswitching, Luna and
Peracchio (2005a) demonstrated that an individual’s attitude toward codeswitching could affect product evaluation. Inducing more negative attitudes toward codeswitching led to more negative elaboration as compared to neutral or more positive attitudes. Language perceptions refer to the degree to which a language is perceived as being connected to a society in terms of time orientations and relational interactions. Individuals will vary in the degree to which they believe members of Spanish-speaking societies and English-speaking ones to be empathetic and time-oriented.
When an
individual does not view Spanish-speaking societies as empathetic, advertising that most
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strongly activates the Spanish language schema may not result in high expectations of empathy of the service provider (as compared to those who view these societies as more empathetic). Similarly, when individuals do not perceive English-speaking societies as responsive, advertising that most strongly activates the English language schema may not result in high expectations concerning this variable (as compared to those who view these societies as more time-oriented). Finally, general language attitudes should also be accounted for when examining these expectations. For example, those with lower Spanish attitudes may evaluate a service provider who makes Spanish salient in advertising more negatively in terms of responsiveness and empathy. Similarly, those with negative English attitudes may also do the same for the service provider who makes English more salient in advertising.
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CHAPTER 6 RESEARCH METHOD (DESIGN) The purpose of this chapter is to outline the methods used to empirically test the research hypotheses proposed in the previous section.
First, the conceptual and
operational definitions of the variables under investigation are provided. Cronbach’s alphas for all of the multi-item measures are discussed within each definition of the variable and are also provided in Chapter 7, Table 7.1. Second, the research strategy and design chosen to best achieve the objectives of this study are delineated. Third, the selection of the sample is described. Finally, all relevant ethical issues pertinent to the undertaking of this research are discussed. 6.1 Definition and Measurement of Variables The following section provides conceptual and operational definitions for each of the variables examined in Essays 1-3, including all independent variables, control variables and dependent variables. The Essay to which the variable under investigation is appropriate is indicated in parentheses. 6.1.1 Independent Variables Codeswitching (Essays 1-3): Following Scotton (1988), codeswitching is “the use of any two or more linguistic varieties in the same conversation, whether they are different languages, styles, or dialects” (p. 201). In our study, we are referring to codeswitching—or language alternation—between two languages, English and Spanish.
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Codeswitching was manipulated at two levels, depending on direction of codeswitch (per Luna and Peracchio 2005a, b).
In particular, English-to-Spanish
codeswitching was examined compared to Spanish-to-English codeswitching. In the first type of codeswitching, most of the advertisement was written in English with one word noun switches to Spanish throughout the ad (see Appendix B for this advertisement). In the latter case, the ad was primarily written in Spanish with several noun switches in English (see Appendix C for this ad). Language Context of the Medium (Essays 1-3): The codeswitched advertisement was viewed in between two magazine-type articles. The articles were either both in only Spanish or both in only English. Thereby, language context of the medium was also manipulated at two levels (Spanish vs. English). This variable was used to examine possible moderating effects that the context language may have on the dependent variables. Summary of Experimental Conditions: The combination of the preceding two independent variables will sometimes be referred to as a three-letter abbreviation. The first letter refers to the language context of the medium—“E” for English or “S” for Spanish.
The remaining two letters refer to the direction-of-the codeswitch in the
advertisement—“ES” for English-to-Spanish or “SE” for Spanish-to-English.
The
abbreviations for the four conditions under investigation are as follows: a. EES= English is used in the magazine articles surrounding the ad (context language of the medium), with English-to-Spanish codeswitching in the ad.
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b. ESE= English is used in the magazine articles surrounding the ad (context language of the medium), with Spanish-to-English codeswitching in the ad. c. SSE= Spanish is used in the magazine articles surrounding the ad (context language of the medium), with Spanish-to-English codeswitching in the ad. d. SES= Spanish is used in the magazine articles surrounding the ad (context language of the medium), with English-to-Spanish codeswitching in the ad. 6.1.2 Control Variables Involvement (Essay 1): Involvement is defined as a person's “perceived relevance of the advertisement based on inherent needs, values, and interests" (Zaichkowsky 1985). Level of involvement was measured as a potentially important control variable for Essay I concerning message recall. Involvement was measured for each article and the ad separately, and was assessed based on Zaichkowsky’s ten-item scale of involvement (1994). The adjective “involving” from this original scale had to be removed from the measure, as an equivalent Spanish term could not be found (in particular, it was translated on one occasion as “complicated”). Therefore, only nine adjectives were used to assess involvement, including: important, relevant, interesting, exciting, meaningful, appealing, needed, fascinating and useful. These items were scored on a seven-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 7=strongly agree), where higher overall scores represented higher levels of involvement. The Cronbach’s alphas of involvement for Article 1 (Daddy
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Yankee), Article 2 (Sweet Smell of…Happiness?) and the ad were .93, .96 and .95, respectively. The nine items for each were then averaged and used to represent level of involvement. Age of respondent (Essay 1): Currently, the only demographic variable that appears to be conclusively correlated with message recall is age. According to Dubow (1994), age is negatively associated with the recall of advertising, in that younger adults demonstrate higher recall than older adults. In our research, individuals were asked to self-report their age. Degree of bilingual language ability or language proficiency (Essays 1 and 2): Two methods were used to assess bilingual language proficiency, including a self-report measure and an actual language comprehension test. The self-report measure consisted of two single-item measures asking individuals to rate their reading proficiency in both English and Spanish on a 1 to 7 scale (1=very poor; 7=like a native speaker). The second measure consisted of two separate multiple-choice English and Spanish language tests that were incorporated into this study based on language placement tests (see Appendix H). The Spanish test was adapted from online placement tests provided by Cervantes International (http://www.cervantes.to/spanish_courses), a school offering courses in Spanish. The English test was created based on an ACT placement practice exam. These proficiency tests were chosen based on their reputation for professionalism in placing individuals in the appropriate level for language learning. There were seven items on each test. An individual received one point for each item he answered correctly, allowing
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for a maximum of seven points on each test. As in the previous self-report test, a higher overall score translated to higher language ability. Attitude toward codeswitching (Essay 2):
Attitude toward codeswitching is
conceptualized to be the extent to which an individual views codeswitching to be a desirable practice (Luna and Peracchio 2005b). It is an attitude. To ensure that the respondent knew what codeswitching was, they were given several examples of codeswitched statements. In particular, they received the following instructions: Please evaluate the following statements about mixing Spanish and English together in the same conversation. For example, someone might say, “I am going to the store para comprar helado,” or “La milk está en la mesa.” They were then asked to rate nine adjectives and statements about codeswitching on a 7-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree; 7=Strongly Agree). Items chosen for this scale were based on several statements used by Luna and Peracchio (2005) as well as several additional items found through the literature review. For example, individuals expressed their opinions concerning the mixture of Spanish and English together in conversation as 1) a good thing, 2) not lazy, 3) educated, 4) pure, 5) stylish, 6) modern, 7) good for Latinos, 8) good for the Spanish language, and 9) good for the English language. A higher overall score translated to more positive attitudes. Cronbach’s alpha for these items was .91.
The nine items were averaged to obtain one overall measure for
codeswitching attitudes. Language perceptions (Essay 3): Languages are connected to the people that speak them. Therefore, language perceptions in this study refer to the degree to which a language is perceived as being connected to a society in terms of its time and relational
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orientations. Both the Spanish and English languages were under investigation as they relate to Spanish-speaking and English-speaking cultures, respectively. Respondents were asked to separately evaluate the degree to which they viewed people from Spanishspeaking cultures and English-speaking ones as adhering to schedules and meeting deadlines on a 7-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree; 7=Strongly Agree). Cronbach’s alphas for the English and Spanish perception of responsiveness were .64 and .78, respectively (discussed further in Chapter VII). The averages of the two items for each measure were used to represent the Spanish and English language perceptions of responsiveness. Respondents were also asked to separately evaluate individuals from the two cultures in terms of the degree to which they care about the feelings of others and are sympathetic to the needs of others on a 7-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree; 7=Strongly Agree).
Cronbach’s alphas for the English and Spanish perception of
empathy were .71 and .88, respectively. The averages of the two items for each measure were used to represent the Spanish and English language perceptions of empathy. Language attitudes (Essay 3): Language attitudes refer to the beliefs, thoughts and feelings an individual has towards a particular ethnic language. They arise when “one social group comes in contact with a second social group possessing a different language [and] each group then develops ideas about the other group’s language vis-à-vis its own” (Eastman 1983, p.30). In this research, we are investigating language attitudes toward English and Spanish. To measure these attitudes, we used the previous multi-item scale used by Koslow et. al (1994) to capture attitudes toward English and Spanish.
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Respondents evaluated the perceived friendliness, convincing ability and influence of both Spanish and English on a 7-point Likert scale. A higher overall score translated to more positive attitudes. Cronbach’s alphas for the English and Spanish attitudes were .80 and .82, respectively. The three items for each measure were then averaged for one overall score representing English and Spanish attitudes. 6.1.3 Dependent Variables Message recall (Essay 1): Message recall is defined as the level of information retention based on exposure to an advertisement. It is measured by the number of statements or details an individual can recall after having been exposed to an advertisement for a set period of time.
Respondents were permitted to write the
information down in Spanish or in English or in both languages. Respondents were required to complete two recall tests, including an unaided recall test (administered first) and an aided recall test (fill-in-the-blank) (see Procedure section for more information). These tests can be found in Appendices D, E and F. Perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity (Essay 2): The degree to which the advertiser is perceived as being sensitive to the needs of the readers of the magazine. It is a belief/perception. It is operationalized based on Koslow et. al’s measures (1994), which ask the respondent to report his perception of the extent to which the advertiser 1) respects the readers of the magazine and 2) is aware of the needs of the readers of the magazine. The Cronbach’s alpha for these two items was .81. Higher combined scores represented a greater perception of advertiser cultural sensitivity:
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Responsiveness (Essay 3):
Responsiveness is defined by the length of time
customers are made to wait for assistance, answers to questions or attention to problems (Zeithaml and Bitner 1996). This construct represents the willingness to help customers and provide a prompt service (Parasuraman et al. 1988). In this research, we are concerned about the expectation that the firm is responsive or not. It is operationalized based on several items from the SERVQUAL scale provided by Parasuraman et al. (1988), as follows: 1. I would expect to receive prompt service from employees of this firm. 2. Employees of this firm probably respond to customer requests quickly. 3. I would not expect to wait a long time to speak to a customer service representative. Cronbach’s alpha for these items was .76. The three items were then averaged for one overall score representing the dimension of responsiveness.
Empathy (Essay 3):
This construct measures the caring and individualized
attention the firm provides to its customers (Parasuraman et al. 1988). In this research, we are measuring the expectation that a particular firm is empathetic. It is operationalized based on several items from SERVQUAL provided by Parasuraman et al. (1988), as follows: 1. I would expect to this firm to give individual attention to customers. 2. I would expect this firm to have their customers’ best interests at heart. 3. Employees of this firm probably are caring and understanding of the needs of their customers. Cronbach’s alpha for these items was .81. The three items were then averaged for one overall score representing the dimension of empathy.
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6.2 Research Strategy and Design Eight types of research strategies have been classified in the literature (McGrath, Martin and Kulka 1982):
laboratory experiments, simulated experiments, field
experiments, field studies, judgment tasks, sample surveys, formal theory and computer simulations. No single research strategy is able to offer the highest extent of precision, generalizability or realism. Thus, trade-offs need to be made when choosing a research strategy, representing the researcher’s three-horned dilemma (McGrath, Martin and Kulka 1982). In choosing a research strategy for this study, it was decided to follow the method of several pioneers experienced in the language-in-advertising field—namely, Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone (1994). These researchers chose a field experiment to test reactions among Hispanics to an advertisement that employed either all-English, allSpanish or both English and Spanish.
Furthermore, experiments in general allow the
researcher to exercise control over extraneous variables, thus isolating the potential “cause” of the event and ruling out alternative explanations (McGrath, Martin and Kulka 1982). The primary disadvantage of such a study is that it lacks reality in that the research setting is contrived (McGrath, Martin and Kulka 1982). Conclusions concerning external validity are hard to make. However, Calder, Philips and Tybout (1981) claim that external validity is of least concern when testing theory. Once the research strategy was chosen, an advertisement was created following the procedures employed in similar research by Koslow, Shamdasani and Touchstone
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(1994). Two versions of an advertisement were created in which only the language used in the ad was manipulated. The two language versions consisted of: 1.
English-to-Spanish codeswitching
2.
Spanish-to-English codeswitching
In the first condition, most of the sentences were written in all English, but several single nouns were written in Spanish. In the second condition, the opposite held. These advertisements may be viewed in Appendices B and C. Single noun codeswitches were chosen as the form of codeswitching because single nouns are the most popular element of language that is codeswitched (Poplack 1981).
Further, this type of
codeswitching was employed by Luna and Peracchio in their recent seminal works in codeswitching (2005a, b). For example, one statement in the advertisement in this research is as follows (in both codeswitched directions): We offer affordable prices! Our rates fit almost any presupuesto. (English-toSpanish codeswitch) vs. ¡Ofrecemos precios accesibles! Nuestras tarifas son aptas para casi cualquier budget. (Spanish-to-English codeswitch)
Two magazine articles surrounded the ad and were both written in either all English or all Spanish. The first article was about Daddy Yankee, a popular Hispanic figure in reggaeton music. This article was based on two articles that appeared in the March 2006 issue of Latina and on Latina’s website at www.latina.com (12/9/05). The second article was entitled “The Sweet Smell of…Happiness?” This article was adapted from an article appearing in HealthDay by E.J. Mundell in January 2006. The articles
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were redesigned by a professional graphic artist to look like they would appear in a real magazine. The advertisement was for a cell phone service provider (BlueWave Wireless) and was created specifically for this study (see the following Pretest section for further comment). 6.2.1 Translation In terms of translation, the texts of the advertisement and the magazine articles were first written in English and then translated into Spanish by a professional translator. Following Hui and Triandis (1985), the ad was then back-translated from Spanish to English by another professional translator. Finally, a bilingual translation firm was hired to compare the translations of both language versions of the articles and ad (and also the survey). 6.2.2 Pretests Initial pretests were undertaken at a large southern university, in which 15 bilingual Hispanic-American students (aged 19-27) volunteered to participate. Individuals were timed to see how long it would take them to read each article and the ad. They then completed the recall tests and the survey, which were offered in both Spanish and English. Upon completion of the study, the individuals participated in a discussion with the researcher in which they expressed their opinions and concerns over the study. The primary concern was the ad, which initially was for a medical service provider. They believed that the original ad was not very relevant to younger Mexican-Americans, and expressed that a medical ad should use more formal language—not codeswitching. Furthermore, the original form of codeswitching in the medical ad was intrasentential and
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primarily composed of entire noun phrases. [Intrasentential codeswitching refers to the speaker switching back and forth within a single sentence (Becker 1997).] These individuals believed a more “normal” way of codeswitching within a single sentence would be to only switch one word, such as the noun. Finally, comments were made as to the translatability of some of the items, as well as to when certain questions were not clear. After this initial pretest, the ad was changed from a medical service provider to an ad for a cell phone provider, as suggested in the first pretest. Furthermore, the nature of codeswitching was changed from entire noun phrases to a single noun within a sentence. A second pretest was undertaken in which seven bilingual individuals in the community of Mexican background (ages 18-30) were recruited to participate. The procedures were the same as in the first pretest, and at the end of the task each person was individually debriefed and consulted for their opinions. Comments of the relevance of the cell phone ad were positive, as well as the nature of the codeswitching. Hence, the cell phone ad with single noun codeswitches was kept as the experimental ad.
Furthermore,
suggestions of rewording of some of the concepts were made and heeded by the researcher. Responses obtained for pretests were not used in the official study. 6.3 Design and Statistical Techniques A between-subjects design was used to test all hypotheses in Essays 1-3. Subjects were randomly assigned to each experimental cell. For all three essays, a 2 (direction of codeswitch: Spanish-to-English vs. English-to-Spanish) by 2 (language
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context of the medium:
Spanish vs. English) factorial design was used to test all
hypotheses. The primary statistical technique used to test the hypotheses was ANCOVA. This aligns with the techniques of Koslow et al. (1994) and Luna and Peracchio (2001) for testing language-processing issues. The appropriate sample size was determined by achieving the desired level of power and through the example set by Luna and Peracchio (2005a) in their pioneering work in codeswitching. Cohen (1988) suggests that for a desired power of 0.8, an alpha level of .05 and a moderate effect size of 0.25, the minimum and recommended cell size is 17 observations. Additionally, Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black (1998) suggest obtaining a minimum of 20 observations per cell in multivariate analysis of variance. In previous codeswitching work similar to this study, Luna and Peracchio (2005a) obtained 17-18 responses per cell for ANOVA testing, collecting a total of 105 responses for a 2 X 2 factorial design. To compensate for potentially small effect sizes as well as incomplete and unusable responses, Wang (2003) suggests obtaining approximately 30 observations per cell. The factorial design size in this research was 2 X 2, thereby producing four cells. Therefore, the goal was to obtain a desired 120 observations (30 per cell). 6.3.1 Selection of Sample According to Ueltschy and Krampf (1997), though the Spanish language is commonly thought to be a unifying factor among Hispanics, the Hispanic audience is far from being a homogeneous market. Therefore, it was decided to focus on a single segment of Hispanic-American consumers—Mexican-American youth, ages 18-30 who
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are literate in some amount of English and Spanish. This follows the recommendation of Dr. Felipe Korzenny of Florida State University, co-author of a recent book entitled Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective (2005).
According to Korzenny and
Korzenny (2005), advertisers are currently very confused concerning the best way to reach these youth in terms of the language approach. In terms of sampling, there appears to me no consensus on the “best” way to obtain a sample to when testing language issues. Instead, a wide variety of sample types and sampling techniques have been employed. Zhang and Schmitt (2004) used Chinese students based on English language proficiency in China. Field sampling among U.S. Hispanics at a grocery store was employed by Koslow et al. (1994). Data from a diverse group of U.S. Hispanics was obtained by Ueltschy and Krampf (1997), including students from three universities, employees of an electric company and members of a MotherDaughter group. Therefore, following Ueltschy and Krampf (1997), it was decided to use a mixture of individuals to participate in the study based on several conditions. Specifically, they needed to be of Mexican-American origin, have some level of language proficiency in both English and Spanish, and be between the ages of 18-30. Three Hispanic youth groups (n=26, n=27 and n=28), one Latino college student group (n=22) and individuals recruited at two local fundraisers (n=17, n=10) participated in the study, amounting to a total of 130 respondents. Each organization or fundraiser received a $20 donation per person that participated in and completed the study.
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6.3.2 Procedure The procedure employed in this research aligns with the procedure of Luna and Peracchio (2001), who tested for message recall issues based on language proficiencies. Subjects received one of the four treatments under investigation and were randomly assigned to a condition. Subjects first received bilingual written instructions about the procedures for reading the materials and that they would have to answer several questions following their completion of this task (Appendix A). No mention was made about the memory test. They were next instructed to read the first magazine article about Daddy Yankee, a popular reggaeton singer. This article was either in all-English or all-Spanish. Individuals were given 1.5 minutes to read this article, as this had proved sufficient time in the pretesting stage. Following this, they were instructed to turn the page and read the ad. This ad was either in mostly English with some switches to Spanish (Appendix B) or in mostly Spanish with some switches to English (Appendix C). Individuals were given 1.5 minutes to read this ad. Finally, they were instructed to read the final magazine article entitled, “The Sweet Smell of…Happiness?”
This article was in the same
language as the first article—all-Spanish or all-English. The purpose of this second article was to reinforce the language context of the medium as well as to provide a brief distraction activity in order to test for message recall. They were given two full minutes to complete this article. These lengths of time had proven sufficient to read all the ads fully during the pretests (though the Spanish articles and Spanish dominant ad took a little bit longer to read, as the Spanish language tends to be “wordier” than the English language).
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After exposure to the reading materials, subjects then took the first recall test, which was unaided (Appendix D). In this test, subjects received written instructions in both English and Spanish to write down as much as they could remember about the claims or statements that were in the ad. The paper was blank except for lines upon which to record their answers.
Following Woike, Lavezzary and Barsky (2001),
respondents were given three minutes to record all that they could remember about the ad. They could record their responses in either Spanish or in English, or both. Next, subjects were given the aided recall test, which had a fill-in-the blank format. Instructions for this test were also provided in both English and Spanish at the top of the page. In this test, subjects viewed the language version of the ad which they had received in full, with several omissions of phrases that included the codeswitched elements (see Appendices E and F). Rather than only omitting the single codeswitched noun, it was decided to omit the entire short phrase in which the codeswitched noun appeared to counter the possible guessing or inferring of the word based on the context. Pretesting had revealed that individuals admitted to guessing the word when only one word was omitted during this second recall test. Through omitting the entire phrase, the possibility of guessing or inferring the word was reduced, as demonstrated through interviews during the pretesting stage. Respondents were given 2.5 minutes to complete this task, as this time amount had proved sufficient to read through the claims and write a response, though not enough time to try to infer or guess a response. After completion, individuals were instructed to put this test away and were given the rest of the survey, which was not subject to time limitations.
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Respondents chose between taking the remainder of the survey in English or in Spanish. Of the 122 usable surveys (discussed in chapter 7), 78 were completed in English and 44 were completed in Spanish. The first page of the survey consisted of items related to the dependent variables, including perceptions of advertiser cultural sensitivity and expectations of responsiveness and empathy of the service provider. The following pages consisted of questions related to the control variables, including attitudes toward codeswitching, general language attitudes, language proficiencies, level of involvement in the ad and the articles, and age of respondent. Choice of questionnaire language did not have a significant impact (p’s>.10) on any of the dependent variables tested for in the survey. Furthermore, the five locations of testing also did not have an effect on any of the experimental factors in the study (p’s>.10). On the final page of the survey, manipulation check questions were provided to ensure individuals could identify the language versions of the ad and articles.
For
example, they were asked if each of the articles were in all-Spanish or in all-English. Further, they were asked if the ad was in only English, only Spanish, in mostly English with some switches to Spanish or in mostly Spanish with some switches to English. After completion of the survey instrument, individuals received a debriefing letter explaining the purpose of the experiment (Appendix I). They were also allowed to remain after the experiment and talk with the lead experimenter if they had any more questions.
Furthermore, they were provided with contact information for the lead
experimenter.
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6.4 Coding of Recall Data After all surveys were completed, two Spanish/English bilingual professional individuals blind to the hypotheses were hired to code the recall data. Individuals were given one point for each item, phrase or claim they could recall from the ad. As the codeswitched (embedded) elements were single nouns, individuals received a point for each of these nouns that they wrote down. This word could appear as a single word or could be written in the phrase in which it occurred. For example, responses that stated “Call your amigos” was scored the same as those that just included the single codeswitched noun, “amigos” or “friends,” regardless of what translation they had received. Any of these responses received one point for recall of an embedded element. All of the codeswitched words or phrases could be recorded in either Spanish or English, regardless of which language the person had read in the ad. Therefore, translations of the words were acceptable as long as they were equivalent translations, based on the judgments of the two coders. This process was the same for both the unaided and the aided recall test.
A maximum score of ten points was possible for the embedded
elements, as ten words were codeswitched throughout the ad. Scoring recall of the matrix elements was not as clear-cut. There were 14 total claims or phrases that could be recorded for points. These are numbered and underlined in Appendix G. An entire phrase or just a single noun from each of these phrases that was recorded received a point. Recall did not have to be exact, as a paraphrase of the claim could be acceptable. For example, individuals could have written the entire phrase “We offer reliable cellular reception!” or they could have written “good reception” and
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received one point for either response.
The coders again made judgments as to the
proximity of the responses to the original claims when wording was not exact. Coders first independently scored each recall test for both matrix and embedded element recall. When scores differed, the two discussed the differences and jointly came to a solution. The average number of items recalled across conditions in the unaided recall test of embedded elements was 1.41 (standard deviation=1.26). For the aided recall test of embedded elements, the mean was higher at 3.33 (standard deviation=2.28). The average number of items recalled in the unaided recall test of matrix elements was 1.78 (standard deviation=1.47). Although this number was higher than the mean of the unaided recall of embedded elements (1.41), there were also more items that could receive points under matrix elements as compared to embedded elements (14 vs. 10, respectively).
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CHAPTER 7 RESEARCH METHOD (RESULTS) The purpose of this chapter is to present and discuss the results from testing the hypotheses proposed in Chapters 3-5. First, the respondents of the study are profiled. Second, an evaluation of the measures is presented. Third, a statistical analysis for each hypothesis under investigation is provided. The statistical software used in this research was Number Cruncher Statistical Software (NCSS). 7.1 Profile of the Sample A total of 130 Mexican-American individuals participated in the study. However, eight individuals were eliminated from the study because they failed to answer the manipulation check questions correctly. This resulted in 122 usable surveys, with 59 males and 63 females taking part in the study. The average age of respondents was 22.5 years, with an age range of 18-30 years, and a mean time of living in the U.S. of 11.4 years.
Individuals had an average education of 12.1 years and reported average
household expenses to be $1589 per month. Individuals scored an average of 5.6 on the Spanish language test (standard deviation=1.42) and 5.2 on the English language test (standard deviation=2.18), with ranges of 0-7 correct answers for both tests. As for the self-reported reading abilities of the respondents, an average score of 5.9 for Spanish reading ability was reported (standard deviation=1.61) as compared to an average score of 5.6 for English reading ability (standard deviation=1.80).
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Scores for these self-
reported abilities ranged from very low to very high. In sum, individuals perceived themselves as slightly more proficient in reading Spanish than in reading English, as demonstrated by the self-reported measures. Per relevance of the ad, only 24 individuals did not own a cell phone. Of these, 20 individuals stated that they would like to own a cell phone. Therefore, the service used in the experiment was deemed relevant to the population under investigation. 7.2 Descriptive Statistics Table 7.1 presents the means, standard deviations and Cronbach’s alphas (for multi-item measures) for each of the dependent and control variables for this study, as described in Chapter 6. Nunnally (1978) recommends a minimum reliability score of .70 as acceptable. As shown, all of the reliabilities are acceptable, except that for perceptions of English empathy (this is a control variable in Essay 3). Here, the Cronbach’s alpha is .64 for this two-item measure. However, as will be seen, this variable did prove to be significant covariate in Essay 3 (see Table 8). Table 7.1: Descriptive Statistics SD
M
Dependent Variables Unaided recall (embedded) Aided recall (embedded) Unaided recall (matrix) Cultural sensitivity Empathy Responsiveness
1.26 2.28 1.45 1.20 1.25 1.18
1.41 3.33 1.78 4.84 5.05 4.77
* * * .81 .81 .76
Control Variables 1. Spanish reading (self-report) 2. English reading (self-report)
1.61 1.80
5.92 5.62
** **
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Cronbach’s alpha
Table 7.1 Continued 3. Spanish reading (test) 1.42 5.62 * 4. English reading (test) 2.12 5.16 * 5. Attitudes toward codeswitching 1.49 3.67 .91 6. English responsiveness 1.15 5.42 .64 7. Spanish responsiveness 1.48 4.68 .78 8. English empathy 1.30 4.52 .71 9. Spanish empathy 1.39 5.45 .88 10. English attitudes 0.99 5.85 .80 11. Spanish attitudes 1.05 5.92 .82 12. Article#1 involvement 1.24 4.16 .93 13. Article#2 involvement 1.16 5.29 .96 14. Ad involvement 1.34 4.39 .95 ________________________________________________________________________ * Single score **Single item measure 7.3 Essay 1 Analysis The purpose of Essay 1 was to examine the roles media context and direction-ofcodeswitching play in impacting message recall. H1 stated that when an ad’s embedded language differed from the context language, recall of embedded elements would be higher than when the ad’s embedded language was the same as the context language. The dependent variable of recall of embedded elements was measured at two levels— unaided and then aided. H2 stated that when the matrix language of an ad matched the context language, recall of matrix language elements (non-codeswitched) would be lower than when the matrix language differed from the context language. Recall of the matrix language elements was measured at only one level—unaided recall. In all cases, since the
independent
variables
were
categorical
(media
context
and
direction-of
codeswitching) and the dependent variables metric (unaided recall of codeswitched elements, aided recall of codeswitched elements and unaided recall of non-codeswitched
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elements), this experiment lends itself well to analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), as several covariates were proposed. (MANCOVA is also performed in this Essay as an additional analysis technique and can be found in Appendix K.) The data was first analyzed for missing data and outliers. As for missing data, none of the dependent variables had missing data. However, several of the control variables did have missing data. The self-reported English reading ability had 1 missing case, the self-reported Spanish reading ability variable had 3 missing cases, and age had 3 missing cases. As these were all single item measures, the mean could not be assessed based on other information provided by the respondent. Furthermore, the multi-item English and Spanish test scores were in tact for these respondents. All three of the nineitem measures for involvement had missing data (3 cases for Article #1, 2 cases for Article #2, 3 cases for the ad). In these cases, the mean was imputed for the missing data points. Regarding outliers, a box-plot was run to pinpoint any outlying observations. No outliers were found for the dependent variables of aided and unaided recall. Assumptions that must be checked in ANOVA include normality, independence of observations and equality of variance-covariance matrices. Regarding normality, a histogram with a normal curve was run to check distribution and a skewness score for the two dependent variables was obtained. Both of the dependent variables were slightly positively skewed. The aided recall variable had the most normal distribution with a skewness score of .30. The unaided recall score of embedded elements had a skewness of .65, while that of the matrix elements was .55. Skewness scores are not usually serious unless they are over 1, as ANOVA is fairly robust to a violation of this assumption.
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The assumption regarding independence of observations was met based on the design of the experiment. Subjects were randomly assigned to each condition and all had an equal chance of participating in each condition. Furthermore, the same participants did not participate more than once in the study. Finally, a Modified Levene’s Test was run to assess the equality of the variance-covariance matrices. The Levene’s test was not significant (p=.22 for unaided recall; p=.68 for unaided recall), meaning that this assumption was not violated. Upon completion of assumption testing, separate ANCOVAs were carried out for the dependent variables in H1 and H2 to assess for the significance of the proposed covariates (listed in Table 7.2). Although H1 had theoretically the same dependent variable (recall of embedded ad elements), it was measured at two different levels. This occurred through an unaided and then an aided recall test. These results will be discussed separately. The results of covariate significance for all three dependent variables are shown in Table 7.2. (The selection of these covariates was discussed earlier in Essay 1.) Table 7.2: Analysis of Covariates for Message Recall
Source Covariates***: Eng test Span test Eng self-report Span self-report Age Article1 Involve Article2 Involve Ad Involve
Unaided recall (embedded) MS F p
Aided recall (embedded) MS F p
Unaided recall (matrix) MS F p
1.25 0.35 1.89 2.47 0.13 4.12 0.13 9.04
39.01 14.44 2.08 0.18 12.01 0.46 4.54 17.45
23.03 10.04 0.00 3.62 0.01 0.00 3.26 4.52
.94 .26 1.41 1.84 .09 3.07 .10 6.74
.34 .61 .24 .18 .76 .08** .75 .01*
10.30 3.81 0.55 0.05 3.17 0.12 1.20 4.60
*significant at p
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