Comprende Code Switching? Young Mexican-Americans' Responses to Language Alternation in Print Advertising

“Code switching” in advertising refers to the alternation between two languages in a single advertisement.

Comprende Code Switching? Young Mexican-Americans’ Responses to Language Alternation in Print Advertising

Melissa Bishop

University of New Hampshire

Mark Peterson

University of Wyoming

INTRODUCTION

Advertisers often employ foreign words in marketing communications in attempts to influence the audience’s perception of the advertised product.

For example, an Italian brand name or word may be inserted into an advertisement in the United States to make the product appear more “chic,” or a German brand name or word may used to give the perception of quality and reliability (LeClerc, Schmitt, and Dube, 1994).

Alternatively, in Japan, using English words in television commercials and...

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