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Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
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Journal of Business Research
Advertising persuasion in China: Using Mandarin or Cantonese?☆
Shixiong Liu a, Xiaoshan Wen a, Lina Wei a, Weihong Zhao b,⁎
a
b
Shenzhen University, PR China
Jiangxi Normal University, PR China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 1 October 2011
Received in revised form 1 December 2012
Accepted 1 March 2013
Available online 14 June 2013
Keywords:
Accent
Advertising persuasion
Advertising appeal
Product involvement
a b s t r a c t
Advertising persuasion may differ based on different languages and/or dialects. Using Chinese samples, this
study experimentally tests how a spokesperson's accents (standard Mandarin accent and local Cantonese
accent) influence advertising persuasion across different product involvements (high- or low-involvement
products) and different advertising appeals (rational or emotional ads). The results show that ads promoting
high (low)-involvement products will produce higher persuasion when the ads use Mandarin (Cantonese)
rather than Cantonese (Mandarin). In addition, ads with rational (emotional) appeals will result in higher
persuasion when presented in Mandarin (Cantonese) rather than Cantonese (Mandarin). The findings
contribute to a better understanding of an ad's persuasion with respect to a spokesperson's accents, and
offer managerial implications for marketers doing advertising in a multilingual environment such as China.
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Advertising persuasion may differ based on different languages
and/or dialects. From a linguistic perspective, different dialects and
accents provide clues for a receiver with respect to a variety of information about the characteristics of a speaker (DeShields & Kara, 2011).
Research reveals that spokespeople who speak a standard accent can
evoke more favorable judgments on competence and status dimensions
than those who speak with a non-standard accent or dialect accent
(DeShields, Oscar, & Kara, 1996; Edwards, 1982). In comparison to a
standard accent, the literature provides a limited number of studies
that have addressed the effects of local accent on an ad's persuasion.
For example, Bell (1984) argued that a product for distinct regional
consumers can adopt different advertising by including a different
local accent. Though these prior studies provide some insights on why
different accents generate different advertising persuasions, there are
few studies within a Chinese context and it remains unclear how this
advertising strategy works within a Chinese context.
China is a vast and complex market, and it is also a multi-dialect
country. Thus, it is important to know how accents/dialects (such as
Mandarin vs. Cantonese) affect the persuasiveness of an ad. In addition,
it is interesting to know whether advertising appeals and product
involvement would affect such accent effects. This study conducts two
☆ The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Nature Science
Foundation of PR of China (Project Number: 71002081), and National Social Science Fund of
China (Project Number: 11&ZD023). The authors also thank Dr. Chenting Su and Dr. Nan
Zhou of City University of Hong Kong for their helpful comments to an earlier draft.
⁎ Corresponding author at: Business School, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang,
Jiangxi, PR China. Tel.: + 86 1587 0602 289.
E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Zhao).
0148-2963/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.05.024
experiments to investigate how these interrelated factors influence
advertising persuasiveness in a Chinese context.
Specifically, this paper aims to test the differences in persuasion
between a standard accent (the Mandarin accent) and a local accent
(the Cantonese accent) for different types of products proposed as high
involvement or as low involvement and also for different ad appeals
such as rational appeals or emotional appeals. In addition, most studies
measure consumer responses in terms of affective reactions, such as
attitudes, or in terms of purchase intentions or behavior. This study is
interested in the attitudes towards brands and a cognitive reaction,
namely recall of the advertised context and the recognition of brand
names, as they serve to cause consumer purchase intention.
2. Research background
Accent is one of the factors that may influence a receiver's judgments
of the spokesperson over a wide range of quality attributes (Foon, 1986).
Based on the spokespersons' vocal characteristics including accent, receivers evaluate personal characteristics by subjectively taking national
identity into account (Brown, Giles, & Thakerar, 1985). For example,
Luna and Peracchio (2001) find that advertising with the first-language
is more favorable to bilingual consumers, not due to social or cultural
factors, but the difficulty of processing the second-language, which is
hard to conceptually connect and recollect. Luna, Peracchio, and Maria
(2003) suggest that the consistency of image and language in advertising
can help processing and recollection. In light of these findings, a standard
language such as Mandarin in China may produce a higher level of advertising persuasion than a dialect such as Cantonese, because Mandarin as
the common language in China produces a higher level of image consistency and connection across regions.
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S. Liu et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty &
Cacioppo, 1986; Petty, Cacioppo, & Morris, 1983), consumer product
involvement and ad appeals may also affect advertising persuasion as
measured by credibility and likeability. Prior research demonstrates
that in high product involvement situations, consumers depend more
on the product-related information such as source credibility as the
central route of persuasion (e.g., Petty, Cacioppo, & Goldman, 1981).
The standard language may help enhance the source credibility because
of its function to recollect and consistency of image (Luna et al., 2003;
Lwin & Wee, 1999). Furthermore, rational appeals, which focus on
consumers' rational thinking and functional requirements of product or
brand (Resnick & Stern, 1977), may have a positive interplay with the
standard language in producing a higher level of advertising persuasion.
In summary, we propose a conceptual model that takes into
account interplays of spokesperson's accent, product involvement,
and ad appeals in producing advertising persuasion in the Chinese
context, as shown in Fig. 1.
3. Study 1
3.1. Hypotheses for Study 1
Prior research has consistently shown that the influences of message
source characteristics on consumer attitudes and behaviors depend on
the consumers' level of message processing motivation—that is, degree
of involvement (Gorn, 1982). When consumers' product involvement is
high, they tend to focus on central product cues such as information
credibility in making buying decisions (e.g., Arora, Stoner, & Arora,
2006; Yilmaz, Telci, Bodur, & Iscioglu, 2011). One vocal factor that
affects the spokesperson's credibility is accent (Lwin & Wee, 1999). A
match between a spokesperson with a standard accent and a product
is likely to lead to the perception that the spokesperson knows the
product (Lalwani, Lwin, & Li, 2005). The congruency is likely to enhance
the perceived credibility of the spokesperson. For example, Standard
Mandarin may function to create a “snob appeal” to convey a product's
prestigious image (Lalwani et al., 2005).
When consumers' product involvement is low, they may pay more
attention to peripheral cues such as information likeability (Kahle &
Homer, 1985). For example, advertisers may use colloquial language
such as Cantonese to portray products used in everyday life, and childish language for products such as toys (Lalwani et al., 2005). Therefore,
the study proposes that:
H1a. Ads promoting high-involvement products are likely to result
in more favorable brand attitudes when the ads use Mandarin rather
than Cantonese.
H1b. Ads promoting low-involvement products are likely to result in
more favorable brand attitudes when the ads use Cantonese rather
than Mandarin.
Similarly, high-involvement products tend to engender central processing, implying that consumers will exert the cognitive effort required
to evaluate the issue-relevant arguments presented to them (Brown et
al., 1985). Research reveals that commercials are more effective when
viewed in high involvement programs, which in turn leads to an increase
in memory (Luna & Peracchio, 2001; Singh, Rothschild, & Churchill,
1988). The standard accent may further facilitate processing and increase
the likelihood that customers will remember the ad claims, because it is
more congruent with high involvement products' credibility (Lalwani et
al., 2005).
On the other hand, ad persuasion also is a function of the listeners
perceiving the speaker as similar to themselves in accent (Krapfel &
Robert, 1988). Lalwani et al. (2005) find that for low-involvement purchase decisions, a spokesperson who uses a similar accent as the raters
will evoke more favorable judgments of likeability than a spokesperson
who uses a dissimilar accent. The local accent ads such as ads in Cantonese may function to build a relational closeness with the local customers
in the absence of other facilitating cues, and thus they may be more
likely to remember the ads. Therefore, the study proposes the following
hypotheses:
H2a. Ads promoting high-involvement products are likely to result in
higher memory when the ads use Mandarin rather than Cantonese.
H2b. Ads promoting low-involvement products are likely to result in
higher memory when the ads use Cantonese rather than Mandarin.
3.2. Method
3.2.1. Experimental design
A low-involvement product and a high-involvement product were
used in the study, respectively. To identify the high-involvement product, four products were carefully selected from the existing literature
(Laurent & Kapferer, 1985) and modified in order to be coherent with
the facets of involvement. It was also ensured that the products were
relevant to the population at large, and to respondents of both genders.
These four products include: computer, bicycle, battery and camera. The
pre-test involved a convenience sample of 21 males and 20 females.
Results indicated that the mean product involvement was the highest
for computer (M = 4.72) and that there were no significant differences
between male and female respondents in terms of their involvement
(p > .42). Hence, computer was selected as the high-involvement
Moderator Variables
Advertising Persuasion
of Different Languages
Product Involvement
Ad Appeal
Spokesperson’s Accent
Brand Attitude
Standard Accent
(Mandarin) VS
Local Accent
(Cantonese)
Control Variables
Language Proficiency
Cultural Identification
Fig. 1. The conceptual model.
Ad Memory
S. Liu et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
product. To identify the low-involvement product, similarly four
products were picked and tested: toothpaste, mineral water, biscuit
and beer. The pre-test involved a convenience sample of 21 males and
20 females. Results indicated that the mean product involvement was
the lowest for mineral water (M = 2.08) and that there were no significant differences between male and female respondents' involvement
(p > .48). So mineral water was selected as the low-involvement
product. In the main experiment, participants were asked to rate the
products on six, five-point disagree/agree items (Seungeun Lee, 2005).
The study controlled for subjects' language proficiency and cultural
identification to ensure validity. Macintyre, Noels, and Clement (1997)
and Luna and Peracchio's (2001) scales were used to evaluate the
level of language proficiency of the participants (from grades 1 to 5)
by asking them to use the language in different contexts (like reading,
watching movies, writing letters). In this study, three aspects of
language used in daily life (listening, speaking and writing) were selected
and revised to evaluate the subjects' language proficiency.
To evaluate the level of cultural identification, a scale coming from
the research of Oetting and Beauvais (1991) and Lee (2006) was used.
Two items which were related to self-assessment in the Oetting and
Beauvais's scale (orthogonal culture identification scale, OCIS) and
three items about specific cultural identity in Lee's (2006) scale
were selected, which constitute the scale of cultural identification.
A 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used in the study. Products
(high involvement or low involvement), and accents (Mandarin or
Cantonese) served as between-subject factors. Some 160 undergraduates and postgraduates drawn from a university in Guangzhou participated in Study 1; the participants had the chance to win a 20 gift
certificate to a store of their choice. They were randomly assigned to
the 4 conditions, with 40 participants in each condition. Participants
were shown two radio ads of fictitious brands. The fictitious brand
names were pretested to be similarly favorable. A hypothetical advertisement script that mimicked the actual advertisements on the local
radio was created. The script was written in a way that was appropriate
for advertising the products: mineral water and laptop. Finally, two
artificial brands named “Youran mineral water” and “Kexin laptop”
respectively were selected. There were two versions of the script for
each brand, a Mandarin version and a Cantonese version. In this study,
the Mandarin accent referred to the use of accurate Mandarin with
correct and legitimate pronunciation. So the Mandarin advertisement
script was written in such a way that it conformed to accurate grammatical structures. The Cantonese version of the script, with the primary
meaning, was revised with simon-pure Cantonese words in order to
highlight the unique characteristics of the Cantonese accent. The exact
information is shown in Tables 1 and 2.
3.2.2. Procedure
In the study, each participant listened to the radio ads for just one
product, either high involvement or low involvement, and one accent
(Mandarin or Cantonese). The ads were counterbalanced to reduce
order effects. After each ad, participants were asked for their attitudes
towards the brand, followed by the manipulation check items. They
were asked to rate the brand on four, seven-point semantic differential scales anchored by not appealing/very appealing, not interesting/
very interesting, dislike/like, and bad/good. As the Cronbach's α
Table 2
Advertising scripts of Kexin laptop.
Mandarin version
Cantonese version
你因个性而与众不同,生活因多彩多样而美
丽无比。科信笔记本电脑,采用新一代的
英特尔酷睿i5处理技术,一心一意,为你而
想,以你而为,使你的科技生活更美好。
彰显个性,科信以你而为。
你因为个性而与别不同,生活因为多彩多样
而美丽无比。科信笔记本电脑,采用新一代
嘅英特尔酷睿i5处理技术,一心一意,为你而
想,为你而为,令你嘅科技生活更美好。显
示个性,科信为你而为。
scores were high (above .92), average scores were used where higher
scores reflected more favorable attitudes.
After listening to the radio ads, the subjects were asked to perform
the following memory task: (1) an unaided recall test for the descriptive
sentences in the radio ads; (2) a recognition test for the brand names in
the radio ads after the unaided recall task. In the unaided recall test, subjects were given 5 min to write down as many sentences as they could
remember. After the unaided recall test, a 30-min long entertainment
video was shown, and the participants were required to focus their attention on the content of the video. When the video ended, the recognition test followed. The subjects were asked to identify the brand name
in the ad from a list of 10 brand names, 9 of which were distracters.
3.3. Results
The study collected a total of 159 valid questionnaires (see Table 3
for sample descriptions).
To confirm that the product involvement levels of were as intended, a
t test was conducted which showed a significant difference between the
high and low involvement products, that is, the laptop was perceived to
have higher involvement than the mineral water (Mlaptop = 4.70 versus
Mmineral water = 2.10, p b .01). According to the results of the t test, there
are no differences in the language proficiency and the cultural identification between the Mandarin and Cantonese groups. All of the items'
p-values were above .15, which shows that there were no confounding
effects from subjects' language proficiency and the cultural identification.
H1a predicts that ads promoting high involvement products will
result in more favorable brand attitudes when they are presented in
Mandarin rather than Cantonese. As shown in Fig. 2, the results of
one-way ANOVA tests indicate a significant main effect (MMandarin =
5.51 > MCantonese = 3.76, F(1,77) = 180.49, p b .01), which supports
H1a. H1b predicts that ads promoting low involvement products will
result in more favorable brand attitudes when they are presented in
Cantonese rather than Mandarin. The results also show a significant
main effect (MMandarin = 4.16 b MCantonese = 5.34, F(1,78) = 66.92,
p b .01), supporting H1b.
Table 3
Sample description.
Product type
Cantonese version
生命活力地保持需要各种天然矿物质加
分。悠然矿泉水,来自深山幽谷,为你补
充身体所需的钙、钾、硒等矿物质,使你
的每一天都有鲜活的感觉。闭上双眼,即
可以感受到生活清新、惬意的气息。甜
甜悠然泉,生命活力源。活力新生活,从
喝悠然矿泉水开始。
生命活力嘅保持需要各种天然矿物质加分,
悠然矿泉水,嚟自深山幽谷,为你补充身体
所需嘅钙、钾、硒等矿物质,令你嘅每一日
都有鲜活嘅感觉。眯埋双眼,即可以感受到
生活清新、惬意嘅气息,甜甜悠然泉,生命
活力源。活力新生活,由饮悠然矿泉水开
始。
Language
group
High-involvement Mandarin
Table 1
Advertising scripts of Youran mineral water.
Mandarin version
2385
Low-involvement
Whether Native
or not
Local people 32
(80%)
Non-residents 8
(20%)
Cantonese Local people 32
(80%)
Non-residents 8
(20%)
Mandarin Local people 25
(62.5%)
Non-residents
15 (37.5%)
Cantonese Local people 23
(59%)
Non-residents 16
(41%)
Gender
Education
Male 20
(50%)
Female 20
(50%)
Male 23
(57.5%)
Female 17
(42.5%)
Male 26
(65%)
Female 14
(35%)
Male 24
(61.5%)
Female 15
(38.5%)
Undergraduate
37 (92.5%)
Graduate 3
(7.5%)
Undergraduate
35 (87.5%)
Graduate 5
(12.5%)
Undergraduate
37 (92.5%)
Graduate 3
(7.5%)
Undergraduate
37 (94.9%)
Graduate 2
(5.1%)
2386
S. Liu et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
Fig. 2. The accent effect on brand attitudes for two types of products.
Fig. 4. The accent effect on brand recognition for two types of products.
H2a predicts that ads promoting high involvement products will
result in higher memory when the ads use Mandarin rather than
Cantonese. The results indicate that the main effects are significant for
both the unaided recall test (MMandarin = 2.75 > MCantonese = 1.82,
F(1,77) = 22.95, p b .01, see Fig. 3) and the brand recognition rates
(PMandarin = 65.70% > PCantonese = 46.15%, χ2 = 3.67, p b .05, see
Fig. 4.). Thus, H2a is supported. H2b predicts that ads promoting low involvement products will result in higher memory when presented in
Cantonese rather than Mandarin. The results also show that the main
effects are significant for both unaided recall tests (MMandarin =
2.38 > MCantonese = 2.98, F(1,78) = 12.63, p b .01, see Fig. 3), and
the brand recognition rates (PMandarin = 37.50% b PCantonese = 62.50%,
χ2 = 5.00, p b .05, see Fig. 4), supporting H2b.
friends, home, and hometown associations, leading to a more positive
attitude and higher purchase intention. Some scholars even claim that
there is no need to use special emotional words, simply the local language and the implication of an appropriate consumption environment
will enable the ad to be understood and memorized (Noriega & Blair,
2008). As a symbol and the carrier of the local culture, the local accent
gives a sense of intimacy and familiarity. It creates a certain feeling of
dependence and resonance, so the spokesperson with the local accent
always works through emotional persuasion. Based on the above logics,
the study offers the following hypotheses:
4. Study 2
4.1. Hypotheses for Study 2
Rational appeals inform consumers of one or more key benefits
about the advertised product, whereas emotional appeals aim at
evoking feelings or emotions in consumers (Nathalie & Patrick,
2010). Standard language itself possesses rational qualities, and the
spokesperson with a standard accent gives an impression of having
more reliability and credibility than a spokesperson with a local accent
(Edwards, 1982; Hermann, 1978). Thus, in the ads with rational appeal,
a spokesperson that adopts the standard accent would have a better
rational evaluation.
However, Noriega and Blair's (2008) study shows that since the
local language more closely connects the bilingual speakers with their
family and race, advertising with a local accent relates more with family,
H3a. Ads with a rational appeal are likely to result in more favorable
brand attitudes when the ads use Mandarin rather than Cantonese.
H3b. Ads with an emotional appeal are likely to result in more favorable brand attitudes when the ads use Cantonese rather than Mandarin.
This study also examines a psycholinguistic model of bilingual concept organization and extends it to the processing of advertisements
by bilingual consumers. The Revised Hierarchical Model (RHM) suggests that second-language (L2) messages result in inferior memory as
compared with first-language (L1) stimuli (Dufour & Kroll, 1995; Kroll
& de Groot, 1997). These language asymmetries in memory occur because processing an L2 message at a conceptual level is less likely than
processing an L1 message conceptually. As for the accent, the standard
accent itself possesses rational qualities (Edwards, 1982; Hermann,
1978), while the local accent has emotional qualities (Noriega & Blair,
2008). According to RHM, as Luna and Peracchio (2001) discussed in
their research, higher congruity levels may result in stronger linkages
between an accent and an ads' appeal, thus facilitating processing and
increasing the likelihood that customers are more likely to remember
the ad claims (Lippman & Morris, 1973). In other words, a high level
of congruity between a standard accent and a rational appeal, and a
high level of congruity of a local accent and an emotional appeal, both
will increase consumer ad memory. Thus, the study offers the following
hypotheses:
H4a. Ads with a rational appeal are likely to result in higher memory
when the ads use Mandarin rather than Cantonese.
H4b. Ads with an emotional appeal are likely to result in higher
memory when the ads use Cantonese rather than Mandarin.
4.2. Method
Fig. 3. The accent effect on unaided recall for two types of products.
4.2.1. Experimental design
A 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was used. Ad appeals (emotional appeal vs. rational appeal) and accents (Mandarin vs. Cantonese) served
S. Liu et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
2387
Table 4
Advertising scripts of two appeals.
Rational appeal
Emotional appeal
人体保持生命活力需要各种天然矿物质成
分。悠然矿泉水,来自深山幽谷,为你补
充身体所需的钙、钾、硒等矿物质。悠
然矿泉水,2011年北美销量第一,采用现
代最新工艺无菌灌装处理,品质优良,物
廉价美。健康生活,悠然快乐。
悠然矿泉水,吸天地之灵气,集泉水之精
华。高尚品味尽在悠然泉,它令你的每一天
都有鲜活的感觉。闭上双眼,就可以感受到
生活的清新和安逸。甜甜悠然泉,生命活力
源。活力新生活,喝悠然准不错。
as between-subjects factors. Another 160 undergraduates and postgraduates drawn from a university in Guangzhou for the chance to
win a 20 gift certificate to a store of their choice participated in the
study. They were shown one of the four radio ads of a fictitious brand
(Youran mineral water). There were two appeals used in the radio
ads, emotional appeal and rational appeal. Each appeal of the ads was
equipped with two accents, Mandarin and Cantonese. Two hypothetical
advertisement scripts that mimicked the actual advertisements on the
local radio were drawn up (see Table 4).
The scripts were written in a way that was appropriate for advertising mineral water. For the classification criterion of appeals in advertising, this study adopted the suggestion of Yehoshua and Flint-Goor
(1996). Accordingly, as for the two ads used in this study, one is highly
rational, and the other is highly emotional.
4.2.2. Procedure
Subjects were randomly divided into four groups, with 40 subjects
in each group. Each participant listened to the radio ads for just one
type of the ad appeals and one accent. The ads were counterbalanced
to reduce order effects. After hearing an ad, participants were asked
for their attitudes towards the brand, followed by the manipulation
check items.
The language proficiency and the cultural identification of the
participants were also regarded as control variables. The same scales
used in Study 1 were used to evaluate language proficiency and cultural
identification.
Brand attitudes and ad memory were also used as the dependent
variables. The same scale used in Study 1 was used to evaluate brand
attitudes. Hereof the Cronbach's α scores of brand attitudes were
above .95, and thus the average scores were used. The memory task
also consisted of an unaided recall test and a recognition test, and the
test process was the same as in Study 1.
4.3. Results
In this study there were a total of 159 valid questionnaires (for
sample description, see Table 5).
According to the results of a t test, there were no differences in the
language proficiency and the cultural identification in the two groups:
Mandarin and Cantonese. All items' p-values were above .15, which
shows that there were no confounding effects from subjects' language
proficiency and the cultural identification.
H3a predicts that with the rational appeal, Mandarin ads can
result in more favorable brand attitudes than Cantonese ads. As
Fig. 5. The accent effect on brand attitudes for two ad appeals.
shown in Fig. 5, the results of one-way ANOVA indicate a significant
main effect (MMandarin = 5.24 b MCantonese = 3.95, F(1,77) = 75.44,
p b .01), supporting H3a. H3b predicts that with the emotional appeal, Cantonese ads should result in more favorable brand attitudes
than Mandarin ads. The results also show a significant main effect
(MMandarin = 4.15 b MCantonese = 5.03, F(1,78) = 28.57, p b .01),
which supports H3b.
H4a predicts that with the rational appeal, Mandarin language ads will
result in higher memory than Cantonese language ads. The results as
presented in Figs. 6–7 indicate that the main effects were not significant
for both the unaided recall test (MMandarin = 2.41 > MCantonese = 2.38,
F(1,77) = 0.04, p = .85 > .05) and the brand recognition rates
(PMandarin = 51.28% b PCantonese = 55.00%, χ2 = 0.11, p > .05), rejecting
H4a. H4b predicts that with the emotional appeal, Cantonese ads will
result in higher memory than Mandarin ads. The results show that
the main effects were significant for both the unaided recall test
(MMandarin = 2.20 b MCantonese = 2.83, F(1,78) = 15.97, p b .01) and
the brand recognition rates (PMandarin = 42.50% b PCantonese = 72.50%,
χ2 = 7.37, p b .05), which support H4b.
5. Conclusion and discussion
5.1. Theoretical implications
The purpose of this study is to examine how a spokesperson's
accents affect advertising persuasion for different products and ad appeals. The results of the two studies support most of the hypotheses.
Study 1 investigated the positive interplay between product involvement and spokesperson's accent in producing advertising persuasion.
The study found that in high- involvement product advertisements, a
standard accent (Mandarin) will enhance consumer brand attitudes
and memory, whereas in low-involvement product advertisements,
a local accent will strengthen consumer brand attitudes and memory.
Study 2 examined the moderating effects of ad appeals on the relationship between spokesperson's accent and advertising persuasion.
The study found that when an ad uses a standard accent (Mandarin),
Table 5
Sample description (emotional appeal and rational appeal).
Ad appeal
Language group
Whether Native or not
Gender
Education
Emotional appeal
Mandarin
Local people 7 (17.5%)
Non-residents 33 (82.5%)
Local people 0 (0%)
Non-residents 40 (100%)
Local people 15 (38.5%)
Non-residents 24 (61.5%)
Local people 12 (30%)
Non-residents 28(70%)
Male 20 (50%)
Female 20 (50%)
Male 20 (50%)
Female 20 (50%)
Male 22 (56.4%)
Female 17 (43.6%)
Male 24 (60%)
Female 16(40%)
Undergraduate 37
Graduate 3 (7.5%)
Undergraduate 37
Graduate 3 (7.5%)
Undergraduate 37
Graduate 3 (7.5%)
Undergraduate 37
Graduate 3 (7.5%)
Cantonese
Rational appeal
Mandarin
Cantonese
(92.5%)
(92.5%)
(92.5%)
(92.5%)
2388
S. Liu et al. / Journal of Business Research 66 (2013) 2383–2389
5.2. Managerial implications
The findings add to markers' knowledge of doing advertising in
Chinese markets. Generally, when marketers are advertising products
of high involvement, they have to use standard accent such as
Mandarin to enhance Chinese consumer brand attitudes and memory.
Also, a rational appeal should combine with a standard accent (Mandarin) to improve the advertising persuasion in Chinese markets. When
advertising low-involvement products, however, marketers should use
a local accent such as Cantonese to create positive consumer brand
attitudes and stronger memory. Similarly, an emotional appeal should
combine with a local accent (Cantonese) to produce stronger advertising
persuasion in Southern China such as Guangdong Province and Hong
Kong.
5.3. Limitations and further research
Fig. 6. The accent effect on unaided recall for two ad appeals.
a rational appeal will further enhance consumer brand attitudes; on
the other hand, when an ad uses a local accent, an emotional appeal
will further enhance both consumer brand attitudes and memory.
However, Study 2 failed to support a positive interplay of a standard
accent and a rational appeal in improving consumer memory. One
possible explanation might be that the standard accent itself possesses
rational qualities (Edwards, 1982; Hermann, 1978) and a rational
appeal may not be able to provide more enhancements in consumer
memory. Furthermore, a rational appeal as presented as a set of technical information is more difficult to be remembered.
The results echo Lalwani et al.'s (2005) findings that accent and
product involvement significantly influence the spokesperson's perceived credibility and attitude towards the ads. In Study 1, the results
indicate that ads promoting low-involvement products will result in
more favorable brand attitudes when the ads use Cantonese rather
than standard Mandarin, whereas ads promoting high-involvement
products will result in more favorable brand attitudes when the ads
use standard Mandarin rather than Cantonese.
The findings also partially confirm the Revised Hierarchical Model
(RHM) that suggests that the congruity of an accent and an ad appeal
will enhance the advertising persuasion. Study 2, for example, found
that an emotional appeal in advertising is likely to result in more favorable brand attitudes and a higher level of memory when presented in
Cantonese rather than Mandarin, because Cantonese as a local accent
may produce a feeling of intimacy and resonance (Noriega & Blair,
2008).
Fig. 7. The accent effect on brand recognition for two ad appeals.
This study has the following limitations that suggest directions for
further research: (1) the local language selected in the paper is just
one of the various local languages in China, which limits the implications of the study; (2) the ads in the two studies used only the audio
part of the ads and neglected some other factors such as music and
pictures, which possibly have effects on the ad persuasion with
accents; (3) the study did not examine the effects of advertising
languages on long term memory.
Further research should look into the effects of more local
languages versus the standard language in text advertisements.
Also, future studies can explore more interplay effects to understand
how to extend the findings in this study to other product categories
(e.g., utilitarian and hedonic products). Finally, the experimental method
of neuroscience, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
may help cross validate the findings from a physiological view.
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