Are slogans in a foreign language less emotional and more persuasive?

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the Foreign Language Effect (FLE) and mode (auditory and written) in a persuasive context. Keysar et al. (2012) suggested that “‘‘thinking in a foreign language’’ may reduce decision biases because a foreign language provides a greater emotional and cognitive distance than a native tongue.” (Pavlenko, 2012, p. 406). In the current study, the impact of the Foreign Language Effect on emotion and rational thinking was investigated through evaluations of auditory and written ads in German (L2) and Dutch (L1). This was measured with the dependent variables: reasoning with respect to the ad, comprehensibility, attitude towards the ad, emotionality of the ad, attitude towards the product, purchase intention, general reasoning, and general reduced emotionality. In a study with a 2x2x2 mixed design, 87 native Dutch participants filled in a questionnaire about either two Dutch written ads, two Dutch auditory ads, two German written ads or two German auditory ads.