Advertising 1

“ADVERTISING is a paid form of communicating a message by the use of various media. It is persuasive, informative, and designed to influence purchasing behavior or thought patterns.”
(Source: www.definethat.com)

Localization of Avertisements
-------------------------------------------------

 From above definition, we can derive following important aspect of advertising process:
  * Communicating a message - Cause
  * Influence purchasing behavior & thought patterns - Effect
  * Persuasive & Informative – Enabler
Language is the key criteria for effectiveness of these three aspects. Message must be communicated in a language which is comfortable to the audience and influence them in a positive manner. At the same time it will be more effective if the communication is persuasive and informative.
Language to be used in an advertisement should be determined based on the product and the user group for the product. For instance, advertisement for a luxury good should be publicized in English whereas same for a necessity is preferred to be done in local language for greater communicability and mass reach.
Two Indian Americans, Aradhna Krishna and Rohini Ahluwalia of University of Michigan and Minnesota, respectively, examined the role of language in advertising in India. Their results indicate that multinationals marketing products, among bilingual populations, should pay special attention to language.
They determined how the language hits viewers mind in relation to a product category. This happens as different products have different user groups. They found that participants’ perceptions of advertisements changes significantly when different languages are used.  “While Hindi is associated with belongingness (close, personal, friendly, family), English is associated with sophistication (global, cosmopolitan, urban, upper class),” they wrote. They found that whereas detergents can be advertised effectively in Hindi, English is preferred for...