Turkish consumers' response to luxury vs. necessity product ads in Turkish, English and mixed Turkish-English: An exploratory experiment with Turkish consumers.

Abstract

Many researchers have investigated the effect of language on consumers’ response. Little research has been conducted on this topic in a low English proficient country such as Turkey. Earlier studies have not included possible predictor variables such as actual English language proficiency, attitude towards the English and their native language, and degree of consumer ethnocentrism. The present study examined the possible effect of language of the ad on Turkish consumers’ attitude towards the ad, product and purchase intention when evaluating a luxury and necessity product. It also investigated whether English language proficiency, attitude towards the English and Turkish language, and consumer ethnocentrism held predictive values for consumers’ attitude to the ad, product and purchase intention. According to the findings, MNCs can use which ever language strategy they deem best for their company, and that they do not have to take certain respondents’ characteristics into account as they do not predict consumer response.