Despite the fact that advertising and marketing are multi-billion dollar per year language-driven industries, little research has been conducted to measure the effect of linguistic factors on the product desirability. The following study is a marketing survey in which survey takers were randomly asked to watch one of three advertisements for a fictitious sports drink. The commercials differed only in voice-over. One voice-over artist spoke Standard English, another African American Vernacular English, and another Southern English. Participants were then asked to make judgment about the artists in relation to the advertisement. The results illuminate social characteristics (such as perceived wealth, poise, and intelligence) that people from different demographics associate with the aforementioned varieties of American English.
INTRODUCTION
As much as language is a human phenomenon, it is also a social phenomenon. When someone utilizes language they are acting out a certain behavior. Thus, all language users have specific beliefs about what kinds of language are appropriate in different social situations. Furthermore, it is common knowledge and linguistic fact that there are many regional and ethnic varieties of English spoken across the United States (and, more broadly, around the world). These varieties can differ from the standard dialect in grammar, phonology, and lexicon. However, because some of these varieties are valued higher than others, when a speaker uses a dialect that is nonstandard they are often taking a social risk. Choosing the wrong dialect at the wrong time can have heavy social consequences. It is also common knowledge and even considered acceptable that using nonstandard grammar on a resume or in an interview might cost a potential applicant employment.But should someone’s dialect, for example, keep them from being able to buy a home? Many would argue that the previous example is an extreme one, but such incidents known as “linguistic profiling” occur frequently, and on grounds much more subtle.
Having mentioned that language plays an active role in society and that certain linguistic varieties are more desirable than others, it should come as no surprise that language also plays a crucial role in society where desirability matters most: the marketplace. Language is used to sell virtually everything, but consumers rarely stop to think about what linguistic varieties are being used to market certain items.
The purpose of this project—a marketing survey—is to determine how linguistic attitudes affect the economic marketplace. Furthermore, the project was meant to examine the social attributes that consumers project onto speakers of certain dialects, and whether those attributes contributed negatively or positively to the desirability of a certain product. This is especially important because there is not much research on this topic. Because those interested in the subject tend to be those involved in business, research usually resembles manuals about how to use the most effective language to sell a product more than scholarly texts.The dialects examined in this project are Mainstream United States English (MUSE, though also known as Standard American English), African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and Southern American English (simply called Southern English from this point forth).
PREVIOUS WORK
In his paper on British English in Norwich, Peter Trudgill stated that women use more standard forms than men do, and found that men tend to favor more working-class varieties. These working class varieties allow men to index masculinity. In carrying out this project, it was my hope that the survey would reveal whether Trudgill’s findings were applicable to white American males with regard to Southern English and African American Vernacular English. The idea that Southern English could be perceived as ideal by those outside the speech community is interesting because many studies focusing on Southern English illustrate the fact that Americans perceive it as one of the most inferior dialects in the country (Preston 399).
Such attitudes are also portrayed in the media. For example, Cynthia Bernstein from the University of Memphis argued that film writers often use the Southern English dialect to portray a lack of culture, education, and civility (339). In the 1988 documentary “American Tongues,” which is also cited by Bernstein, Texas columnist Molly Ivins goes further, saying that the Southern accent represents both “ignorance” and “racism” to the Northern mind (i.e. to anyone who is not from Southern United States).
Geneva Smitherman argued that there are acceptable and unacceptable forms of AAVE in her 1977 book Talkin and Testifyin. The lexical forms of AAVE are considered “hip,” and are often used without reservation by middle-class African Americans, while the syntax and grammar of AAVE is considered unacceptable and is associated more with the working-class. This phenomenon has been called the “great divide” by the Reverend Jesse Jackson.In her linguistic analysis of African American Vernacular English, Lisa Green writes about how AAVE is portrayed in the media. Specifically, she states that AAVE is often used to reference street life (209). This said, this study will examine who exactly is referencing urbanness when using or listening to AAVE.
Sparse until recently, works concerning the role of language attitudes in advertising have recently begun to surface. In 2011, Hungarian linguist DorottyaP´etery studied 208 prime-time Hungarian commercials and found that there was a trend concerning when advertisers chose to include English in their advertisements (21). English is used in Hungarian advertising to market to a demographic that identify as young, innovative, and modern (28). Robert Baumgardner and Kimberley Brown came to a similar conclusion in their analysis of over 300 Farsi magazine advertisements (292). Though such studies can result innew findingsconcerning language attitudes, they do not directly measure the attitudes of the consumer. In addition to this, what remains to be seriously studied is whether such efforts to appeal to linguistic preferences and opinions are truly effective.
METHODOLOGY
I made a set of three commercials for a fictional energy/sports drink called JouLes. Each commercial was identical, except for the voiceover. One voiceover artist spoke in Mainstream United States English (MUSE), one in Southern English, and another in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The words that each voiceover artist said were also identical. The reasoning for this is to account for the “great divide.” Also, I wanted to have what was said be control within the study, and I thought that it would be interesting to study whether the phonology of AAVE and Southern English would have a negative effect on the language attitudes of those studied even if those speaking were using MUSE grammar.
It is important to note that in my initial search for voiceover artists, I was adamant that each person be a native speaker of the dialect that he or she was representing. Due to time constraints, I had to abandon my search for a male native speaker of AAVE who could deliver the lines in the manner that I wanted them read and simply had someone deliver the lines with the appropriate phonological alterations that I wanted.
Frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of this project?
The purpose of this project—a marketing survey—is to determine how linguistic attitudes affect the economic marketplace. It examines the social attributes that consumers project onto speakers of certain dialects, and whether those attributes contributed negatively or positively to the desirability of a certain product.
What dialects are examined in this project?
The dialects examined in this project are Mainstream United States English (MUSE, though also known as Standard American English), African American Vernacular English (AAVE), and Southern American English (simply called Southern English).
What previous work is relevant to this project?
Previous work by Peter Trudgill, Cynthia Bernstein, Molly Ivins, Geneva Smitherman, Lisa Green, Dorottya Pétery, Robert Baumgardner, and Kimberley Brown are relevant. Trudgill's work on British English in Norwich found that women use more standard forms than men, and that men tend to favor more working-class varieties to index masculinity. Bernstein and Ivins have argued that Southern English is used to portray a lack of culture, education, and civility. Smitherman argued that there are acceptable and unacceptable forms of AAVE. Green writes about how AAVE is portrayed in the media. Pétery, Baumgardner, and Brown have found that English is often used in advertising to appeal to a young, innovative, and modern demographic.
What is "linguistic profiling?"
“Linguistic profiling” refers to incidents where someone’s dialect can negatively impact them, such as preventing them from buying a home or getting a job. The text notes that such instances occur frequently, and on grounds much more subtle than overt discrimination.
What is the "great divide" in relation to AAVE?
The "great divide," as coined by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, refers to the distinction between acceptable and unacceptable forms of AAVE. Lexical forms are considered "hip" and are often used by middle-class African Americans, while the syntax and grammar of AAVE are considered unacceptable and more associated with the working-class.
How was the methodology structured for this project?
The project involved creating three identical commercials for a fictional energy/sports drink called JouLes. The only difference between the commercials was the voiceover, which was delivered in Mainstream United States English (MUSE), Southern English, and African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
What were the phonetic characteristics of the AAVE speaker?
The AAVE speaker utilized [n] word-finally where a MUSE speaker would have [ŋ], and word-initial [d] corresponding to MUSE [ð]. He also showed fronting/raising of the vowel [ɑ] to [ʌ] in the word water, and one instance of monopthongization in the word chloride, making it sound like [klɔrɑ:d].
What were the phonetic characteristics of the Southern English speaker?
The Southern English speaker showed uniform monopthongization of [ɑʸ] in words like lifestyle, by, why, iron, chloride, and vitamin. There was also fronting of many vowels characteristic of the Southern Shift.
- Quote paper
- Samantha Mauney (Author), 2011, Language Attitudes and the Marketplace, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/209960
