Foreign Languages in Advertising as Implicit Country-of-Origin Cues: Mechanism, Associations, and Effectiveness

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the three studies.

Figure 2. The three ad conditions compared in Study 3.

Table 1. Participant characteristics (Studies 1, 2, and 3).

	Study 1	Study 2	Study 3
N	92	138	120
Age	M = 31.50	M = 31.73	M = 24.14
	SD = 14.28 range: 18–88	SD = 14.57 range: 17–76	SD = 7.33 range: 16–61
Gender	74% women	69% women	70% women
Primary education	0%	1%	0%
Secondary education	4%	26%	1%
Intermediate vocational education	10%	23%	0%
Higher vocational education	27%	31%	19%
University	59%	20%	79%

Table 2. Frequency tables of country choice in function of foreign language and product (Study 1; n = 59, baseline excluded).

		Country choice
English language		UK	USA	Other*
tea (COO: UK)		43	10	6
hamburger (COO: USA)		10	47	2
German language	Germany	Austria		Other*
beer (COO: Germany)	56	1		2
ski (COO: Austria)	24	25		10
Spanish language	Spain		Cuba	Mexico	Other*
olive oil (COO: Spain)	38		3	3	15
cigars (COO: Cuba)	24		19	6	10
guacamole (COO: Mexico)	19		4	20	16

*This label covers cases in which participants chose more than one country, selected the option “don't know,” or wrote down a country other than the target countries.

Table 3. Number of associations evoked by congruent foreign language (FL) and congruent COO ads (F = French/France, G = German/Germany, S = Spanish/Spain) (Study 2).

	Congruent FL				Congruent COO
	Total	F	G	S	Total	F	G	S
Positive about product	45	13	7	25	47	15	−1	33
Negative about advertising	16	10	2	4	15	6	5	4
Negative about text	13	5	0	8	18	8	2	8
Language mention	8	5	2	1	5	1	3	1
Country mention	9	5	2	3	8	3	3	2
Comment language/country	23	10	5	8	0	0	0	0

Table 4. The three versions of the material used in Study 3 (FL = Foreign language).

Version	First ad	Second ad	Third ad
1	Incongruent COO	Congruent FL	Congruent COO
	- “Dutch product”	- “Dutch product”	- “French product”
	- Dutch slogan	- Spanish slogan	- Dutch slogan
	- Sausage	- Oranges	- Wine
2	Congruent FL	Congruent COO	Incongruent COO
	- “Dutch product”	- “German product”	- “Dutch product”
	- French slogan	- Dutch slogan	- Dutch slogan
	- Wine	- Sausage	- Oranges
3	Congruent COO	Incongruent COO	Congruent FL
	- “Spanish product”	- “Dutch product”	- “Dutch product”
	- Dutch slogan	- Dutch slogan	- German slogan
	- Oranges	- Wine	- Sausage

Table 5. Effectiveness in function of congruent foreign language (FL), congruent COO, and incongruent COO (Study 3); cell size: n = 120.

	Congruent FL		Congruent COO		Incongruent COO
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Ad liking	2.90	0.98	2.69	0.86	2.50	0.89
Perceived quality	3.43	0.91	3.33	0.88	3.22	0.87
Product attitude	3.45	0.98	3.38	0.80	3.16	0.92
Purchase intention	2.60	0.93	2.52	0.87	2.31	0.89