Language Usage in Hispanic Marketing

By Holly Coleman and Madison McDaniel / Florida State University

Spanish is the second most used language in the world and English is third; In the United States, English is the most common and Spanish is second. According to Pew Research Center’s 2013 National Survey of Latinos, 36% of Hispanics in the United states are bilingual, while 25% mainly use English and 38% mainly use Spanish (Krogstad & Gonzalez-Barrera, 2020). When it comes to advertising to Hispanics, language plays a key role and it’s important to understand the best way to convey a message to make the consumer feel understood. When deciding on how to market and advertise to Hispanics in the United States it is beneficial to consider code switching versus Spanglish as well as culture in relations to language and how it will affect the campaign.

Code Switching vs. Spanglish

Code switching is when a person alternates between two languages such as English and Spanish, in a sentence, phrase, or conversation; An example of code switching would be “Hola, how are you?”. Spanglish is when an English word and Spanish word are combined and create a new word, for example “the roof” in Spanish is normally “La/el techo” but in Spanglish it could be “La/el rufa” (Garsd, 2012). One problem with Spanglish is that because they are made up words, it is hard to use them in advertising without overstepping or confusing the consumer. There have been advertisements for both code switching and Spanglish done successfully, Wells Fargo’s “First Paycheck” campaign used code switching while Wendy’s “Mucho Mejor” campaign used Spanglish, but only with the use of one word by a non-Hispanic actor which kept the commercial from becoming controversial (Leslie-Piper, 2016).

In Hispanic Marketing: The Power of the New Latino Consumer one reason behind the use of code switching and Spanglish is due to the large immigration and population of Hispanics in the United States. The immigrants are used to speaking their native language, Spanish, while also learning, listening, and speaking English. Also, for children growing up in the United States, they are predominantly spoken to in English in places like school or public settings but may be spoken to in Spanish at home so they may not be learning formal Spanish and go by the casual way it’s spoken in their families. It is because of this, many marketers want to advertise to the younger population in Spanglish but as mentioned previously, it is a made-up language and there are not any distinct words or phrases that everyone may know unanimously. For these reasons it has been determined that if one is to market to Hispanic consumers that they should proceed with caution (Korzenny, F., Chapa, S., & Korzenny, B. A, 2017). With this being said, using code switching or very broad Spanglish can help the audience relate to the campaign and has resulted in the successful campaigns previously mentioned as well as the ones mentioned in the book such as “Yo soy El Army” and the 2006 Superbowl Toyota Camry commercial. According to Pew Research, only 6% of Latino youths exclusively watch TV in Spanish while 32% say they mostly watch TV in English, and 24% report watching TV exclusively in English. Of the remaining surveyed 20% do not have a preference, 17% watch mostly in Spanish, and 6% watch exclusively in Spanish (2013). When interviewing a friend who came to the United States at the age of 9, he stated he learned English quickly despite not knowing any prior and now prefers all his information in English including television and websites. Keeping in mind who the audience is in terms of age is can be important when determining how language will be used in a campaign since younger consumers are more likely to be bilingual or English dominant while those who immigrated as an adult may mostly speak Spanish. An alternative to choosing between code switching or Spanglish in advertising would be a bilingual commercial such as the “My Tide” campaign where a Spanish speaking grandmother explains why she uses the detergent, and her granddaughter translates for her. This concept creates an emotional connection to the consumers while addressing multiple age groups and accommodating both Spanish and English speakers.

Language and Culture

Language is one of the primary reasons that cultures can be preserved. Without language, transmission and survival of cultures would not be possible. Language is “influenced and molded by culture. In the meantime, language is the way to spread culture” (Qian, 2018). This mutual relationship between language and culture is why line between them is so blurred. Language and culture are often discussed as if they are separate from one another but in actuality, they are connected at every level. Language is used to describe experiences that shape ones’ culture. The human experience can better be “Evoked or made relevant within a specific language” (Korzenny, Chapa & Korzenny, 137).

Beginning at an early age, humans learn social and cultural norms through different learning processes. In Hispanic culture, learning songs and prayers such as Ave Maria, for example, is the way in which children are taught. Because the Hispanic culture is so heavily language based, their culture is strongly influenced by language during upbringing and when learning cultural values. This is why language relates to more than just communication, but to behavior in different cultures. I interviewed a peer of mine that was born in Columbia and grew up in the United States. He said that for Hispanic people that were raised in the U.S., the use of Spanglish is a huge part of their culture, and that “no matter the country of origin, if I am around a Hispanic person that grew up in the United States, the way we speak makes us feel that we are a part of a common culture.” The common dialect is a big part of what brings people together, and it often signifies what he referred to as “similar experiences within that culture”.

The ways in which language is used carries cultural meaning as well. Low communication context cultures have very explicit language practices, whereas high context cultures, such as Hispanics, are more complex and therefore more difficult for people outside of the culture to understand. This is important when marketing to Hispanics because simply translating advertisements is not enough. Understanding a groups’ culture is equally important in order for the marketing efforts to be successful. Using Spanish can signal to consumers that the brand cares about them and their business, it can resonate with Hispanic consumers when advertisers make use of the ancestral language. Because many Hispanics in the United States understand or prefer to use English, it is important to understand how to appeal emotionally to Hispanic consumers based on values as opposed to language.

As English and Spanish become more and more intertwined, it is important for marketers to understand that marketing to Hispanics in Spanish is no longer a feasible strategy. Understanding culture regardless of language is how marketing will be effective.
 

References

• Cortes, M. (2020, September 28). [Phone Interview].
• Garsd, J. (2012, August 10). Puedes Believe It? Spanglish Gets In El Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2012/08/10/158570815/puedes-believe-it-spanglish-gets-in-el-dictionary
• Korzenny, F., Chapa, S., & Korzenny, B. A. (2017). Trends in Spanish Language. In Hispanic Marketing: The Power of the New Latino Consumer (pp. 157-161). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
• Krogstad, J., & Gonzalez-Barrera, A. (2020, July 27). A majority of English-speaking Hispanics in the U.S. are bilingual. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/03/24/a-majority-of-english-speaking-hispanics-in-the-u-s-are-bilingual/
• Leslie-Piper, N. S. (2016, March 8). There’s A Difference: Code Switching, Spanglish and Bilingual Advertising. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/theres-difference-code-switching-spanglish-bilingual-leslie-ph-d-/
• Morales, R. (2020, September 27). [E-mail interview].
• Pew Research. (2009). Language Use. In Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2009/12/11/iv-language-use/
• Rodriguez, L. (2020, September 27). [Online interview].
• Qian, J. (2018). The Relation between Language and Culture.