Content area
Code-switching is a mixed-language approach where linguistic elements of one language are inserted into another language. This tactic is often used to target bilingual consumers. Most of the previous studies on the code-switching effects in advertising have focused on code-switching between languages having a common writing system.
This dissertation re-conceptualized written code-switching by focusing on code-switching between two different alphabetic languages: the Korean language (using Hangeul alphabets) and the English language (using Roman alphabets). It was theorized that code-switching between two different alphabetic languages can introduce a new type of code-switching (transliterated code-switching) due to the alphabetic languages' ability to transcribe other languages into their own. The author proposed that three practical code-switching types can be identified when code-switching is made between the Korean language and the English language: English-Korean (EK) code-switching (inserting a Korean word into an English slogan), Korean-English (KE) code-switching (inserting an English word into a Korean slogan), and Transliterated Korean-English (TL-KE) code-switching (inserting a transliterated English word into a Korean slogan).
Two studies were conducted to examine the process and effect of the three code-switching types in a Korean advertising context from the Markedness Model perspective. The Markedness Model explains the underlying mechanism of how code-switching can deliver social meanings of a certain language and how those meanings can be associated with an ad and an advertised product.
Study 1 examined the effect of the newly introduced code-switching (TL-KE code-switching) in relation to the two existing code-switching types. The results indicated that the TL-KE slogan was found more effective than the EK slogan as hypothesized, but no significant difference was found between the TL-KE code-switching and the KE code-switching. The author argued that the unexpected finding was due to the perceived easiness of the embedded English words used in both TL-KE and KE slogans.
Thus, based on the Revised Hierarchical Model which can explain how Koreans perceive and process easy versus difficult English words, Study 2 was undertaken to further investigate whether perceived difficulty level of English words moderates the effect of code-switching types on product evaluation. The findings showed that there was no significant difference between the TL-KE and the KE slogans when easy English words were embedded whereas the KE slogan was found more effective than the TL-KE slogan when the embedded English words were perceived difficult by bilingual Koreans.
This dissertation expands earlier code-switching studies in several ways. First, it introduced transliterated code-switching and explored its effectiveness in relation to pre-identified code-switching types. In doing so, it shed light on the processes involved in creating written code-switching. Second, it identified perceived difficulty level of English words as a moderating variable between code-switching type and produce evaluation.
The results also provide helpful guidelines for advertisers targeting young bilingual Koreans as well as for advertisers planning to mix two languages in their ads.