Flattering Me in the Right Way: Exploring Language Use and Ethnic Cues in Localized Advertising Among Singaporean Consumers

Global brands have been experimenting with localized advertising strategies, such as using local languages, to build rapport with ethnic consumers. This study examines the assumptions of communication accommodation theory and offers new insights. Specifically, in a Singapore context that boasts two English language systems (i.e., standard English and Singlish), this study investigates how language variation in ad copy, the use of ethnic cues, and product type interact in affecting consumer responses. The results of study 1 reveal that, for a utilitarian product (laptop), Singlish ads (vs. English ads) are less favored by Singaporeans when ethnic cues also appear in the ads, whereas Singlish and English ad copy lead to equivalent levels of ad attitudes and brand attitudes when there are no ethnic cues. However, for a hedonic product (coffee), English (vs. Singlish) ad copy elicits more favorable brand attitudes regardless of whether ethnic cues are present in the ads. In study 2, we further test the interaction effect found in study 1 by adopting a different utilitarian product (office chair). Our findings of study 2 replicate the interaction effect between language use and ethnic cues on ad attitudes and brand attitudes found in study 1. The findings of this study yield theoretical and practical implications for global brands to design effective localized advertisements.