چکیده:
The present study examined the effects of using English in products advertisements published in magazines in Iran on their Persian-speaking target audiences. 180 respondents, classified based on their gender and education, participated in this study. Respondents’ perceptions of the product/brand image and attitudes towards the advertisements, their purchasing intention, and degrees of their comprehension of the English texts used in the advertisements were measured through a written questionnaire, which included ten advertisements containing English phrases or sentences. Findings revealed that the use of English in Persian advertisements positively affects Iranian target groups. However, in terms of their attitudes towards the product/brand and towards the advertisement and their purchasing intentions, this had more positive effects on Iranian women than men, on Iranian non-English students than English students, and finally, on Iranian MA and MS students than Iranians having a high-school diploma, BA or BS respectively. The findings of this study confirm the claims in the literature about the positive effects of using English in international advertising because of its symbolic value and its function as a prestige language evoking positive connotations regarding the brand. The results of this study are useful for ESP courses of business and marketing.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Shokrollahi Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch Received: 22 March 2014 Accepted: 10 August 2014 Available online: January 2015 Abstract The present study examined the effects of using English in products advertisements published in magazines in Iran on their Persian-speaking target audiences.
However, in terms of their attitudes towards the product/brand and towards the advertisement and their purchasing intentions, this had more positive effects on Iranian women than men, on Iranian non-English students than English students, and finally, on Iranian MA and MS students than Iranians having a high-school diploma, BA or BS respectively.
Chi-square tests were used to determine whether the differences between males and females, English and non-English students, and students with different levels of education on the dependent variables, ‘perception of product/ brand image’, ‘attitude toward the advertisements’, ‘purchasing intention’, ‘perceived comprehension’ and ‘actual comprehension’ (of the English texts of the advertisements) were statistically significant.
Perceived Comprehension Perceived comprehension was measured on the basis of three items namely the simplicity, difficulty and clarity of the English text used in the advertisements (see Table 4) The results showed that the differences in the frequency of males and females’ responses were statistically significant (sig = 0.
The findings of the present study are in line with the assumptions made in the advertising literature about the potentially positive effects of using English on non-English speaking target groups’ attitudes because of its symbolic value (Kelly-Holmes, 2000, 2005; Martin 2002a, 2006; Piller, 2001, 2003; Ray, Ryder, & Scott, 1991; Ustinova and Bhatia 2005; Lee 2006).