Spanglish and Code-Switching: Impacts on Hispanic Marketing and Culture

By Derrick Raphael Pacheco – Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communications ( ADV 5415: Hispanic Marketing Communications/ Dr. Sindy Chapa )

Throughout history, we have had many ways to identify and define cultures and civilizations. We as human beings have been fascinated with studying ourselves, both on an individual level and in our identity groups and communities. To better understand the evolution of cultures and civilizations to what we know them today, we need to better understand the ways that language has influenced our perceived notion of society. This piece will address the importance of acknowledging not only “proper” languages that are more formulated and hold a unique dialect, but also understanding languages that are byproducts of our diverse world, such as Spanglish, and the ways that code-switching has impacted our market. For marketers to better understand the ways that the Hispanic/Latino market operates with its high communication context (Korzenny et al., 2017), they need to understand the unique factors that language plays in contextualizing products and services.

One of the many ways that anthropologists have studied human beings throughout history is through language, a central part of culture (Hickey, 1980). Culture has been central to the understanding of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups and communities and the ways that these groups interact with one another in our larger societal context. According to Schein (2010), there are three levels of culture: (1) artifacts, (2) espoused beliefs and values, and (3) basic underlying assumptions. Since language is something that can be tangible, as seen in advertisements and products, it is seen as an artifact of a cultural group. Although many individuals around the world speak Spanish, English, or a combination of both, the term Spanglish has been used by many individuals who speak some variation of both languages, but with its widespread reach across the world, Spanglish has also been considered its language due to its geographical ties and unique language structure (Ardila, 2005).

As defined by Blanchard (2021), code-switching “involves adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others, in exchange for fair treatment, high-quality service, and employment opportunities” (p. 87). When individuals are code-switching, they not only engage in adapting their spoken language, but their body language and practices also transition. Due to these reasons of transitions and comfortability with the status quo, groups create their own versions of languages, even with unique dialects, and languages like Spanglish become more widespread across cultural groups. In his book surrounding raciolinguistic ethnographies, Rosa (2019) explores how race and ethnicity are central to the ways we imagine and engage with language and linguistics due to distinctive dialects and the dynamics of subgroups as they interact with one another. This shows us that to effectively study Hispanic/Latino communities, we need to assure that the effects of code-switching, and the merging of languages (for example, Spanglish) are considered when engaging with and researching this population.

As we know from Korzenny et al. (2017), the Spanish language has many dialects, especially based on the nationality of the Spanish speaker and the geographical area in which individuals are coming from. Many researchers have drawn interest to these unique areas and communities, in specific, studies have been done on Nuyorican (Semenova, 2021), Chinese (Semenova, 2023), and Cuban (Rogers, 2015) communities have been studied for the ways that they engage in this bilingualism phenomenon and create unique dialects or whole other languages in collaboration with the already established English language. Because of this, marketers must understand the importance of learning the specific dialects of the markets they are trying to engage with to properly position advertisements in ways that are perceived correctly by those in that specific segment of the market.

To better understand these specific markets a marketer is going to engage with, they must also be able to understand the ways members of these communities utilize different forms of Spanglish and engage in code-switching. In specific, the connotation and denotation that certain phrases can have on some subgroups over others can be perceived differently than intended (Korzenny et al., 2017). These connotations and denotations can be seen heavily in the show Jane the Virgin, especially with Alba, the grandmother in the show. Alba, played by Ivonne Coll, emphasizes her Catholic upbringing at the beginning of the show, where the opening scene shows a younger version of Jane, the main character of the show, being spoken to about the fragility of her virginity. In this scene, Alba uses a flower as symbolism for this conversation, where she compares virginity physically and figuratively to the crushed flower. If a marketer were to engage with a market with similar demographics as the ones on the show, their perceptions of products like flowers, which were directly shown in the show, or wallpaper that was present in the background of the home in the scene took place may not fully be aligned with the perceptions of the current market.

As we engage with diverse heterogeneous markets with the homogenous Hispanic market, marketers need to understand the impact of using relevant language, not necessarily proper language in marketing campaigns and communications. As mentioned in Korzenny et al., field tests should be conducted in different markets to understand the effects of marketing and advertisements across the entire Hispanic market (2017), In addition to these tests, marketers trying to enter a new market should conduct focus groups, field observations, and engage in product testing to gain firsthand data on the experiences of those in their markets. As mentioned by Korzenny et al. (2017), the questions that are being asked of these individuals should uncover both the tangible and intangible aspects of culture. This is a way that marketers have a unique way of assuring a deeper understanding of an encoded message to be received by the consumer as intended, which in and of itself, is the key goal of marketing communications.

Although very closely related, Spanglish can be seen as its own language, with certain dialects and grammatical rules, which has led to its widespread survival as a language form. On the other hand, code-switching is the switching between different languages to reinforce the comfortability of others in the status quo. While uniquely neither of these is more “powerful” or “necessary” than the other, they both heavily influence the Hispanic market and its respective submarkets. Both concepts are central to understanding the Hispanic market, especially as we engage in a more diverse population of Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. To tap into the entire market, it is necessary to better understand the subgroups that encompass the entire marker, and understanding these two concepts of code-switching and Spanglish is the start. The effects of language go beyond just what is spoken, it is of utmost importance to understand the ways that individuals interact, the unique language and dialect that is shared within communities, and above all, how can marketers engage with these aspects of language.

All in all, to best serve our Hispanic/Latino market, we need to understand the behaviors of the market, not just when it comes to products, but when it comes to language and context. In this new era, the goal of marketing communications should be to engage in its original intent, but from an asset-based and socially just approach to be respectful of cultures that are not their own while still marketing products and services. The role of the marketer is now, more than ever, crucial in developing the positionality of a brand. Acknowledging the differences and similarities within this homogeneous market, including the power that code-switching and Spanglish have on the market, is just one of the many steps in the right direction we can take to achieve successful integrated marketing communications.

References

• (2014, October 13). Pilot. (Season 1 Episode 1). [Television series episode]. In J. S. Urman. (Executive Producer) – Jane the Virgin.
• Ardila, A. (2005). Spanglish: An anglicized Spanish dialect. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 27(1). 60-81. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0739986304272358
• Blanchard, A. K. (2021). Code Switch. The New England Journal of Medicine, 384(23). 87-88. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMpv2107029
• Hickey, L. (1980). Ethnography for Language Learners. Foreign Language Annals, 13(6), 475-481. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/ethnography-language-learners/docview/1311696587/se-2
• Korzenny, F., Chapa, S., & Korzenny, B. A. (2017). Hispanic marketing: The power of the new Latino consumer (3rd ed.). Routledge.
• Rogers, G. (2015). “Spanish is a language tu”: Hemingway’s cubist Spanish. NOVEL 48(2). 224-242. https://doi.org/10.1215/00295132-2882649
• Rosa, J. (2019). Looking like a language, sounding like a race: Raciolinguistic ideologies and the learning of Latínidad. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190634728.001.0001
• Schein, E. (2010). The three levels of culture. In E. Schein & P. A. Schein (Eds.). Organizational culture and leadership: A dynamic view (4th ed.). pp. 23-34. Jossey-Bass.
• Semenova, M. (2021). Code-switching and translated/untranslated repetitions in Nuyorican Spanish. E3S Web of Conferences (273). https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202127312139
• Semenova, M. (2023). Ecolinguistic sustainability of Spanglish and Chinglish communities. E3S Web of Conference (371). https://doi.o