Foreign language use in corporate narratives, an experimental study on the effects of Dutch (L1), English (L2) and French (L2) on narrative persuasion.

Abstract

Language choice in advertisements is increasing in importance in the global marketing scene, since many companies tend to standardize their corporate language. However, only one study (Spring, 2017) investigated the effects of foreign language (English) on narrative persuasion. To broaden the existing framework of literature, this study examined the influence of Dutch (L1), English (L2) and French (L2) on narrative persuasion. A between-subjects experiment was set up in which 201 Dutch high school pupils took part, with 72 participants reading a narrative in Dutch, 75 in English and 54 in French. A questionnaire measuring the items emotional involvement, identification, transportation, comprehensibility, attitude towards the company, attitude towards the language, self-assessed and tested proficiency and purchase intention was used. The results show that a narrative is most persuasive in L1 and subsequently in L2, as the Dutch participants were the only group willing to buy the product after reading the narrative.