Ads for multinational companies in English: impact on consumers

Details

Supervisors

Degand, Liesbeth

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en communication multilingue, à finalité spécialisée: langues des affaires

Abstract

This thesis investigates the impact on a Belgian consumer who, sitting in front of his television, watches an advertisement using an English slogan. Two hypotheses were put forward: the use of an English slogan in Belgium helps to attract customers because English is seen as a cool/dynamic language and the use of English makes the brand international and therefore leads to greater consumer confidence in the product. Numerous theories seemed to find justification along the same lines as the hypotheses. Following these discoveries, an Attitude Survey was carried out using the ‘between-group’ method. Participants were shown an advertisement: some had an advertisement with a slogan in English and others a slogan in French. Each participant then had to answer a series of questions to determine whether or not an impact could be observed. On the basis of the results obtained, it was concluded that the hypotheses had to be refuted and that the use of English (especially for an unknown brand) did not seem to be a good strategy.