Acceptance of anglicism in the german advertising

Table of contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Problem definiton
1.1 The aim of the survey

2 Methodical process
2.1 Method of data collection
2.2 Difficulties of data collection

3 Abstract of the quantitative data
3.1 The statistical population
3.2 Realization of anglicism
3.3 Alternatives
3.4 The effect of anglicism
3.5 Capability of understanding
3.6 Recognization
3.7 Comparasion to German
3.8 Differences between the four types
3.9 Restriction by the government

4 Summary

5 Conclusion

List of figures page

1. Understanding

2 Recognization

3 Comparison to German

4 Proportion between translation and original

5 Differences between the four types

List of tables

1 Statistical population

2 Ranking of selections

Appendix

Questionaire

Evaluation form

1 Introduction

1.1 Problem definiton

The English language has become such a great part of our culture in Germany that we hardly notice its presence. Especially the way of communication in advertising is usually filled with English notions and slogans. This assumption of the English by the German is literarily described as “anglicism”. The “Duden - Das große Fremdwörterwörterbuch” declares this approach as the “Übertragung einer für das britische Englisch charakteristischen Erscheinung auf eine nicht englische Sprache im lexikalischen od. syntaktischen Bereich, sowohl fälschlicherweise als auch bewusst (z.B. jmdn. feuern = jmdn. hinauswerfen; engl. to fire)“.¹ Generally speaking this linguistic phenomenon describes the English way of expressing something in an other language. According to the actual discussion in the public, the relation between this assumption of the English by German, especially in the way of doing advertising, is not balanced. The objective of the following analysis is to determine the customer´s acceptance of this development. Is the constant application of English notations necessary and useful, or is it just an act of disturbance instead of being profitable for the companies? In which way does the buyer accept this tendency, or is it time to protect the classic culture of Goethe and Schiller against the influences of the American and Britain English? In 1997 the “Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V (VDS)” was established in Düsseldorf and, according to the statute, one of their aims is to prevent successfully the circulation of English words in the German language.² Since the foundation the number of members (approx. 11.000 members Germany-wide) is increasing constantly, and I interpret this as one indicator for the changing consciousness in our society. Our neighbours in France went one step further and introduced the “Loi Toubon” for language in public. This law, named by the former Minister of culture, Mr. Jaques Toubon, prohibits the publication in a foreign language without a translation in letters as big as the original ones. Up to now, 15 companies had to pay a high fine (up to approx. DM 30.000,00) for breaking this law.³ According to my personal experience, the problem of this tendency in Germany is the difference between knowledge, understanding and usage of anglicism. The reason for that may be caused by both, the “not-understanding” of the messages and the capability of pronounciation.

1.2 The aim of the survey

The task of this written assignment was to make a survey based on a qualified scientific tool. All surveys have three characteristics in common: “These are to describe certain aspects or characteristics, based on information collected by asking questions, from a sample of an accessible population”.⁴ Following this definiton I tried to investigate the acceptance of this linguistic tendency by the customer by means of a self-administered questionaire. The statistical population consited of respondents without any limitations regarding the social, economical, and educational circumstances. In this connection, an additional aim was to investigate to which extent the German customer perceives the massive assumption of the English language in the domestic advertising. Does the normal average consumer understand the exact meaning of the notions and slogans published in the domestic media? Another objective of this research was the investigation of the possibility to remember a product or company related to the German or English slogan. In comparison to both languages what was better remembered? I tired to find out whether differences exist between the four types of anglicism according to the sense respectively the senseless. Many politicians throughout all parties participated in the discussion abot the protection of the German language culture, and even the President of the German Parliament, Mr. Wolfgang Thierse (SPD) summons for the social opposition against the “Sprachverhuntzung”.⁵ This tendency lead me to the question about the general attitude concerning state control in the public language. In this assignment advertising is defined as published on radio and TV, in print media, cinema and the internet. As usually done in literature about this phenomenon, no differences between the British and the American English is made. The claim of the following survey was to point out tendencies and trends. It is not meant to be representative.

2 Methodical process

2.1 Method of data collection

The appropriate format of data collection for this investigation was the method of the self-administered questionaire. The planning, construction and designing is based on the course book 2 “communication research” by Prof. G.M. du Plooy.⁶ Most of the received data should of course reflect the subjective feelings of the respondents regarding the question. Therefore I decided to offer a variety of question types (closed-ended-, paired-comparison-, contingency- , ranking- and inventory questions) to obtain an overview about the opinions as widely spread as possible. The personal data were established with multiple-choice and ranking questions. For the later analysis the precise description of the single types is not essential in this case. The form sheets consit of four pages with an introduction, personal details, and the 15 questions (please see attachment). I either distributed the questionaires on my own, or I sent them by mail or by e-mail. Source for most of the slogans was the periodical magazine “Stern”, the daily newspaper “Hamburg Abendblatt”, and some TV commercials.

2.2 Difficulties of data collection

“An important requirement (…) is that the language and terms must be commonly understood by respondents”.⁷ One problem of data collection was based on the misinterpretation of question eight. I formulated this question that way in order to get an overview about the proportion of the different emotions caused by English slogans. Therefore I made two columns side by side, with nine positive expressions on the one and nine negative expressions on the other side. My intention was to investigate the direct comparison of the positive and negative way to describe the personal impression. Unfortunately, however, only a minority of the respondents understood my intention in that way, and so they selected just a few answers in a row. Nevertheless, I decided to count the answers with most of the selections (see table 2) to get a tendency about the overall impression caused by English words in the advertising.

3 Abstract of the quantitative data

3.1 The statistical population

The questionaire was arranged anonymously with 51 people The statistical population consited of four age groups, both genders and different professions. In the end of the survey the proportion between female and male was exactly 2:1 (34 female / 17 male) and the structure of the age as follows:

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Table 1 - Statistical population

Regarding the language capability 43,13% of the respondents stated their knowledge as “average”, 31,37% as “little”, 15,68% estimated themselves as “good” and only 9,82% “ indicates “without any knowledge”. The conclusion of this result: Only one tenth of this statistical population does not have the ability to understand English parts in the advertising at all due to lack of knowledge. In the whole survey a difference in the evaluation of the data between male and female was not realized.

3.2 Realization of anglicism

The aim of the second question was to receive information about the general realization of anglicism. Nearly all respondents (98%) declared that the English notions and slogans are still conspicuous. The additional open-ended question about the contents of english advertising was answered in most cases with words like: “light”, “free”, “cool”, “look”... In fact, these additions were made to encourage the respondents to write down their first toughts. The intention was to ask so called “throw-away question” (…) which will not be coded or analysed, but which [should] kept the respondents´ interest.⁸ Unfortunately this open-ended question were not answered very often so that this part was not very effective for the evaluation. Some respondents mentioned slogans instead that were listed in question ten. Maybe they just took over these notions or they knew them on their own. This assumption can not be answered without any doubts.

Question three referred to a first comment about the permanent necessity of the english language in advertising. The predominant part of the respondents (92,15%) answered negatively. This first statement indicated that the general acceptance of using English does not seem to exist.

Question five consisted of the investigation regarding the realization of other languages. Is English the only one used in advertising which is realized? The result: 19 respondents answered in the positive and 32 in the negative way. The additional open-ended question indicates that particularly the French language was remembered. Precisely the current slogan of the French car-company Renault “créateur d’automobiles” was mentioned five times. The reason for that maybe caused in the frequent appearance of this advertising campaign in the media. Apart from French other languages do not seem to have such an importance.

3.3 Alternatives

The intention of question seven was to find out the general opinion about alternatives in advertising. Does the German language not offer an adequate communication tool for a campaign? 50,98% stated that there is sometimes an alternative for the English language. 41,17 % of the respondents were in the opinion that there are always alternatives, and only 1,96% (!) thought that the use of the english language in the current advertising is still necessary. The rest 5,89% made no selection. Even in this result a general tendency towards a rejection of the used language can be detected.

3.4 The effect of anglicism

As already mentioned in capitel 2.2, I originally wanted to make a comparison of positive and negative descriptions of emotions caused by anglicsm. Due to the misunderstanding about the effect most of the respondents named just a few words.

The ranking of the three most selections within both categories is shown the following table:

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Table 2 - Ranking of selections

At this point the first impression of anglicism was mentioned. Only 14 selections for the description “aufgesetzt”, 15 selections for “unnötig”, and 21 selections for “umgangssprachlich”. On the other side, 28 selections voted for the term “zeitgemäß, 26 for “modern” and 17 for “einprägsam”. This interesting numbers clearly emphasize: Although the opinion about the necessity hardly exists, the impression of these terms is still a positive one. With the English language the respondents associated a feeling of “up-to-date”, “modern” and “memorizable”.

3.5 Capability of understanding

The main problem of communication in advertising is the understanding. A former survey came to the result: There is a distinctive difference between the knowledge and the understanding of selected anglicism. Regarding the knowledge of English the survey discovered that the group of the 18-30 and 30-40 year old people reached the best results. Regarding the use and understanding only the 18-30 year old people were able to obtain the best outcome. This means the desired target group for advertising, the 30-50 year old people, have not just problems with the pronounciation, but they also hardly understand these terms.⁹ The evaluation of question four and question nine shows a similar tendency.

Question four asked for the understanding of the exact meaning of the english notions and slogans. Only a third of the respondents indicated that they fully understood the meaning of the advertising, i.e. the remaining two thirds still had problems with the understanding. This result is independent from the knowledge of foreign languages. The following pie chart is used to displays the percentages.

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Figure 1 - Understanding

In comparison to question four, question nine came to an astonishing result. Here most of the people (61%) stated that they had no problems to translate the offered slogans. At this point it is not possible to check to which extent these answers were correct, because the respondents did not have to prove their statements. Maybe the assessment of the own capabilities is higher when a certain slogan is offered in written form.

3.5 Recognization

Product information must be intelligible to be effective. This means that the advertising can only be effective when the impression created in a consumer`s memory can be remembered. The process of brand evaluation depends on verbal and emotional impressions created by advertising in the consumer´s mind. Is this desired creation possible in a foreign language, or are there any differences? What is more memorizable in the direct comparison of both. In question ten the respondents were offered ten English and ten German slogans. The task was to make an allotment between the slogan and the company respectively the product. The following histogram decribes the interesting result:

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Figures 2 - Recognization

From all possible allotments just 16,27% (83) of the English slogans were correctly remembered. In proportion to this number, the correct German allotment amounted to more than a double, i.e. 34,31% (175). The sense of an advertising campaign is to increase sales, to build brands and, in the end to make profit. The main requirement for that target is the association of the slogan with a company when it comes to make a brand decision. According to this result, the German language is more suitable to achieve this aim.

3.7 Comparison to German

The “Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V.” investigated publications of big companies in Hamburg regarding the language. One of the companies was the “Hamburger Elektrizitäts Werke HEW” and the board member, Dr. Hans-Joachim Reh, said about the own negative result: “Gerade wenn es darum gehe, griffige, gedrängte Begriffe zu finden, biete sich das Englische mehr an als das Deutsche“.¹⁰

The claim of question eleven was to investigate the direct comparison between a German and an English slogan. The respondents were offerd a list of eight slogans both in English as well as in German. The original English slogans were directly translated in the german and vice-versa. The intention was to investigate which slogans advertise the company in a better way. The following pie chart indicates the first result.

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Figure 3 - Comparison to German

60% of the respondents thought that a German slogan promotes the company in a better way. Only 22% states that an English slogan sounds better, and 18% considered that both are equally suitable. These numbers shows a clear tendency but the investigation within both languages shows a further astonishing result.

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Figure 4 - Proportion between translation and original

Theoretically, the respondents were offered four opportunities to make a selection. They could choose between the translation form the German into the English language and vice-versa, or between the original German respectively English slogan. The result was that only ten respondents (3%) chose the translation from German to English. The reason for that maybe caused in the company itself. The parent company of the Financial Times is an English institution. The original English selection was made 71 times (22%) but in comparison to the original German selection is this result clearly set aside. 115 times (36%) the respondents chose the original German slogan, but the result of the translation from the English into the German is in my opinion the most striking aspect. 122 respondents (39%) were in the opinion that a one-to-one translated German slogan is the better one to promote the company. In fact, the slogans were translated directly into German without any marketing aspects or alterations, but most of the respondents thought that this translation describes the company in a better way! I guess this is an amazing result and in the same way a clear signal against the sensless usage of foreign terms.

3.8 Differences between the four types

The aim of question 12 was to investigate the impressions about the four types of anglicism regarding the sense. Are there any agreements or differences in the valuation? Literarly these types are described as follows:¹¹

1. Konventionaler Typ: This anglicism is generally known and strongly integrated in the German language, e.g. computer, cool, new
2. Dem deutschen Phonem-Graphen-System angepaßte Anglizismen: Typical for this typ are the prefixes and the suffixes, especially in the usage of verbs, e.g. gestylt, gemanagt, gecancelt
3. Anglizistische Kombinationstypen: The combination between German and English words connected with a hyphen, e.g. open-air-Konzert, PumpHairlack, stütz-soft Effekt
4. Neue Anglizismentypen: The origin of new words integrated succesfully in the normal language or not, e.g. geswatcht, five-pocket-Jeans

The following histogram can be used to summarize the large amount of data:

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Figure 5 - Differences between the four types

An extremely clear trend can not to be detected. Only the first type stands slightly out against the others types. The reason could be that this type contains terms, which have already entered very strongly into the German linguistic usage. Words as computer, cookie, and cool are equally used by all. Nevertheless, the proportion of the respondents, who are in the opinion that such terms are senseless, is very high. The slightly decreasing trend from first to the fourth type can be explained by the frequency of useing such words in the everyday language.

3.9 Restriction by the government

The Bavarian Minister of Science, Mr. Hans Zehetmair (CSU), expressed sympathy for a law to protect the own language: “Ich habe viel Verständnis für die Bemühungen der französischen Regierung, die Landessprache auf dem Verordnungwege rein zu halten”.¹² Question 13 related to this statement and asked for the opinion about a protection law for the German language like in France. More than the half (51%) answered negatively and only one fifth (21%) positively. The rest (28%) stated that they do not care at all. The reason for this result may be caused by the general opinion that the sum of laws in Germany is already too high. Another reason could be that the assumption exists that things of the mind like the language could and also should not be restricted by the government.

4 Summary

In the summary of the data a unambiguous trend is shown. In almost all areas of the investigation the acceptance of anglicism was not as high as the the marketing experts want to make us believe. The notice-quote of anglicism showed almost 100%. This quote means that these terms were not regarded as natural in the public. The majority of the asked respondents did not indicat to know always the exact meaning of the terms. The consequence from this result: This kind of advertisement did not fulfill its sense as a method of communication. When it comes to recognize a product or company the quote of the ratio to the German slogans was also clearly higher. The conclusion could be that the one who can understand the meaning is able to remember the product or company in a better way. Many supporters of anglicism stated that the German language is not suitable to describe a product or company in an appropriate way. Particularly the result of the question 11 showed that the German language can be used very effectively in the advertising. Nevertheless, for most people the English language gives the impression of modernity and an up- to-date feeling. Although the evaluation of the data proves the fact that the acceptance is not very high in the population, the result of the two last questions was unbalanced. “It applies” or “it sometimes applies” proves the fact that the English language in the advertisement is more suitable. 78,43% of the asked people gave this response. In addition to this only, 5,88% indicated that alternatives are missing. The consequence from both questions is: Although the application of the English language is more suitable, alternatives still exists. The main conclusion of the questionaire could be that the acceptance is not clearly recognizable. There are sufficient alternatives in the German language, but they are not used, and this tendency will not be accepted by the consumer anymore.

5 Conclusion

The intention of this survey was to point out what happens to the normal customer every day. German and foreign companies advertise their products or services in the English language and the consumer, especially the elderly people, are not be able to understand the messages. There is no doubt that the English language offers a variety of good-sounding words, but alternatives also exists in the German language.

The evaluation of the questionaire shows clearly that the acceptance for this linguistic development decreases more and more in the society. David Ogilvy, an extremely successful advertising practioner suggested in his guidelines for press advertisement: “The message should be couched in the customers´ language, not [in] the language of the advertiser.”¹³ I think this should be the eligibility criteria for the future advertising campaigns. The tendency is clear: It is unquestionable that the advertising language in most cases does not find its adressee in the consumer. The problem of the advertising industry is the blind assumption of the english language instead of the attempt of own particular mental performance.

As a last aspect, I would like to mention that, due to historical reasons, it is difficult in Germany to examine the acceptance of something “foreign”. According to my personal opinion, the vote for or againts the influence of another language has nothing to do with hostile tendencies in our society. If someone considers the abundance of the English language in the German public exaggerated, the opinion is not directed against a nation. The statement of the said Bavarian Minister about the purity of a language is, in this connection, unnecessary and thoughtless. The aim of this discussion should be an improvement of handling our own language and its influences from foreign cultures.

On the other hand the positive economical effect on an intended treatment of the own language was described by the board member of the HEW, Dr. Hans-Joachim Reh:”Wenn wir englische Wörter zurüchschrauben, dann nicht, weil wir die Sprache Goethes und Schillers bewahren, sondern weil es undere Aufgabe ist, Erfolg zu haben.“¹⁴

Sources

- Bohmann, Stephanie: Englische Elemente im Gegenwartsdeutsch der Werbebranche, Marburg, (Tectum Verlag), 1996

- du Plooy, G.M.: Introduction to communication, course book 2, Ndabeni (The Rustica Press), 1996

- Duden - Das grosse Fremdwörterbuch. http://www.mr-check.de/index.html (10. Juni 2001)

- Exler, A: Der lange Arm der Sprachpolizei, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 27.04.2000

- H.S./upo: Kampf um Schutz der deutschen Sprache, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 11.02.2001, Hamburg

- Kramer, Katharina: Sprache ist mehr als Verkaufshilfe, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 25.02.2001, Hamburg

- Ogilvy, David: Ogilvy on advertising, Düsseldorf, (Econ-Verlag), 1984

- Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. (VDS)

http://www.vds-ev.de/ueberuns/index.htm (10. Juni 2001)

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¹ Duden - Das grosse Fremdwörterbuch. http://www.mr -check.de/index.html (10. Juni 2001)

² Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. http://www.vds -ev.de/ueberuns/index.htm (10. Juni 2001)

³ Exler, A: Der lange Arm der Sprachpolizei, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 27.04.2000

⁴ du Plooy, G.M.: Introduction to communication, course book 2, Ndabeni (The Rustica Press), 1996 (S.153)

⁵ H.S./upo: Kampf um Schutz der deutschen Sprache, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 11.02.2001, Hamburg

⁶ du Plooy, G.M.: Introduction to communication, course book 2, Ndabeni (The Rustica Press), 1996

⁷ du Plooy, G.M.: Introduction to communication, course book 2, Ndabeni (The Rustica Press), 1996 (S.134)

⁸ du Plooy, G.M.: Introduction to communication, course book 2, Ndabeni (The Rustica Press), 1996 (S.145)

⁹ Bohmann, Stephanie: Englische Elemente im Gegenwartsdeutsch der Werbebranche, Marburg (Tectum), 1996 (S. 256)

¹⁰ Kramer, Katharina: Sprache ist mehr als Verkaufshilfe, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 25.02.2001, Hamburg

¹¹ Bohmann, Stephanie: Englische Elemente im Gegenwartsdeutsch der Werbebranche, Marburg (Tectum), 1996 (S. 19)

¹² H.S./upo: Kampf um Schutz der deutschen Sprache, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 11.02.2001, Hamburg

¹³ Ogilvy, David: Ogilvy on advertising, Düsseldorf (ECON-Verlag), 1984, (S.154)

¹⁴ Kramer, Katharina: Sprache ist mehr als Verkaufshilfe, in: Welt am Sonntag vom 25.02.2001, Hamburg