The Impact of Language for Marketers.

Today it is estimated that there are over 48.5 million Hispanics living in the United States. Approximately 80 percent speak Spanish at home and of those people, 70 percent speak English well or very well. What does this mean for marketers trying to reach the growing Hispanic market? Marketers are struggling with decisions on whether or not they should use Spanish translations of their English advertising and marketing strategies, create separate marketing plans in Spanish and in English, or create materials in Spanglish to reach the young demographic, Language is not viewed as an entity by itself. It is always tied to experience, emotions, and most importantly for marketers, culture.

“A culture represents the sets of tools that a human group assembled over time in order to preserve the physical, intellectual, and spiritual integrity of its members. One of these tools is the language that this group managed to use in order to maintain cohesion, share experience, allow for coordination, and enable self defense,” as written in Korzenny & Korzenny. The goal of every marketer is to create an emotional tie between its consumer and product. Recently, the Hispanic market has become an important segment for them to capture and many are debating on the best ways to deliver their messages.

According to Korzenny & Korzenny in Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Experience, it can be argued that the best way for marketers to reach this growing Hispanic segment is to market in Spanish with an understanding of their culture. The industry professionals encounter a number of problems when trying to translate their messages from English to Spanish. As stated earlier, language is tied to emotions, experience, and culture. Anyone trying to sell their product strives to create an emotional tie with their consumers; however the language the message is created in depends on the feelings associated with those words. It is difficult to switch from English to Spanish and create the same emotional tie because the message was not created with the second culture in mind. The cultural insights need to be evident for a consumer to connect with a product, and translations, even though correct, usually fall short of the goal (Korzenny & Korzenny, 88-89).

A study done by Synovate in 2004 revealed that 67 percent of all Hispanics feel most comfortable speaking Spanish. In Latino Boom, Cartagena points to an idea that Hispanics have a tendency to “self segregate” linguistically in order to keep their distance and not allow for an overwhelming amount of assimilation into American culture. This is a highly debated subject and for every bilingual target, there is a different preference. Genny Almiera, a native Spanish speaker, is comfortable communicating in both English and in Spanish. When asked what language she prefers to communicate in, English was her response. Her entire family speaks Spanish and that is how she communicates with them, but as far as her friends go, English is the most comfortable. I asked Genny if she felt any emotional attachment to advertisements in Spanish. She told me that when a commercial for Goya or some other Hispanic product it instigates a sense of self and pride for who she is and where she comes from. Marketers need to consider that even though some may prefer English as a means of communication, Spanish still produces a desired effect attaching the product to the consumer.

Another question in many marketers’ minds is whether or not to create a marketing plan utilizing the new communication referred to as “Spanglish.” This term refers to the common practice of mixing the lexicon of both Spanish and English in the same sentence. They have been told that in order to reach the younger demographic, they should communicate using Spanglish (Korzenny & Korzenny, 99). The problem is that there is no such language as Spanglish, it is a way of communication and is not recognized by scholars today. Choosing a language or means of communication should reflect the values and culture of the demographic. I would recommend that marketers avoid such means, as it would most likely offend the older Hispanic culture and respected individuals who consider Spanish a close tie to themselves. If however it would tie into the product, then I would agree it would be an acceptable means.

With the amount of Hispanics who speak English well and the studies that have shown that people of Hispanic dissent watch half of their television in Spanish and half in English marketers are questioning what to do with their messages. According to Korzenny & Korzenny, several studies have provided that approximately 60 percent of Hispanic adults prefer to communicate in Spanish. It is extremely common for Hispanic households to have both Spanish and English speakers, but the study provides support that the most effective way to tie the product to the consumer is to use Spanish as a means of communication. For the marketer, the reality of the situation is that Hispanic consumers rely on what they know and have a sense of pride for who they are. The key is also to understand that both Hispanic cultural identities and the languages associated with them are in flux (Korzenny & Korzenny, 116-117).

By
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Works Cited

1. Almiera, Genny. Personal interview. 28 September 2005.

2. Cartagena, Chiqui. Latino Boom. New York: Random House, Inc., 2005.

3. Korzenny, Felipe, and Betty Ann Korzenny. Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural
Perspective. Oxford: Elsevier, Inc., 2005