Journal article
Beyond Seeing McDonald's Fiesta Menu: The Role of Accent in Brand Sincerity of Ethnic Products and Brands
Journal of advertising, v 44(3)
01 Jan 2015
Abstract
Given the significant increase in the number of ethnic consumers, firms attempt to utilize various marketing communication strategies and tactics to promote their brands to these ethnically diverse groups. Similarly, many marketers are striving for brand crossovers by introducing ethnic offerings to new audiences. This research focuses on one such ethnic marketing communication strategythe use of accented spokespersons. Building on a prosodic theory of accent, we propose that certain prosodic features (i.e., intonation) connote associations of sincerity and trustworthiness and thus affect brand sincerity perceptions. The current research also demonstrates that the effect of intonation depends on the degree of congruity between product ethnicity and a spokesperson's accent. Our results reveal that when these variables are congruent, consumers rely on the cues that are consistent with the advertising appeals. Thus, when a message uses a sincerity appeal, falling (versus rising) intonation leads to greater attributions of brand sincerity, whereas when a message uses a competence appeal, rising (versus falling) intonation triggers higher perceptions of brand sincerity. In the condition of incongruity, consumers aim to resolve the incongruity and rely on cues that connote the trustworthiness of a message (i.e., falling intonation). Theoretical and managerial implications conclude the article.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Beyond Seeing McDonald's Fiesta Menu: The Role of Accent in Brand Sincerity of Ethnic Products and Brands
- Creators
- Marina Puzakova - Lehigh UniversityHyokjin Kwak - Drexel UniversityMonique Bell - California State University, Fresno
- Publication Details
- Journal of advertising, v 44(3)
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Number of pages
- 13
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Marketing
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000356385800005
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84931575491
- Other Identifier
- 991019168621704721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Business
- Communication