Journal of Creative Communications current issue

Introduction

Bhatia, T. K. — 2009-02-12

Creating a Mock-Western Identity Through English in Japanese Ads: A Study of Occidentalist Invocations

Loveday, L. J. — 2009-02-12

This study focuses on the forms and purposes of English codeswitching behaviour in Japanese advertising discourse today. By investigating a limited set of data, that of Japanese chocolate wrappers, a picture emerges of the way the global commodity of English is exploited primarily as a metaphor invoking a ‘mock-Western’ identity. The various playful techniques Japanese admen employ to achieve these ends are analyzed and illustrated. Among the linguistic ploys uncovered include the extensive use of the Latin alphabets to encode items that are originally part of the Japanese language, the adoption of Western-style names and the exploitation of snappy, short slogans that work like charms. The ideological dimensions behind the commercial discourse are also explored in connection to the theory of global English domination and the common convention of segregating English and Japanese to different spatial zones in the copy layout. Throughout the study, the cosmetic construction of a Western-style identity enhanced by resources drawn from English and the Roman script is referred to by a term coined by the researcher, namely linguistic ‘occidentalization’. Ultimately, it can be concluded from the study that Japanese admen manipulate English in a way that leads to the defusion and containment of its inherent potential threat as a carrier of neo-imperialist domination.

Glocalization and English Mixing in Advertising in Taiwan: Its Discourse Domains, Linguistic Patterns, Cultural Constraints, Localized Creativity, and Socio-psychological Effects

Jia-Ling, H. — 2009-02-12

This article intends to provide a socio-linguistic profile of the role and impact of English in advertising in Taiwan in an era of globalization, by integrating results obtained from discourse analysis, readers’ attitudinal surveys, and copywriters’ interviews. Results show that from copywriters’ advertising design to consumers’ underlying psychology, English has consistently cast its magic spell even on the English-illiterate public. Regardless of one's proficiency or literacy in English, English mixing mainly represents attention-getting, internationalism, premium quality, and the trendy taste of the younger generation, and in addition, a graphic design for real estate advertisers. However, specific socio-psychological features of English correlate with the language ratios of code-mixing in advertising copy, product type, and the public's level of English proficiency. Furthermore, the charm of English is culturally and linguistically constrained. Culturally, English does not agree with the advertising of traditional products. Linguistically, English mixing is best received with the bilingual advertising copy composed of easy-to-read vocabulary. Existing alongside the globalization of the local marketing discourse is the localization of English, which is mainly characterized by verbatim translation of Chinese grammatical structure into English. Participants’ evaluation of localized English patterns correlates with their English proficiency. Overall, in spite of the public's generally low proficiency in English, it is predicted that English mixing will continue to flourish in advertising in Taiwan.

Communicating in China's Lower Tier Markets

Sinha, K. — 2009-02-12

Reaching the Unreachable: Resolving Globalization vs. Localization Paradox

Bhatia, T. K., Bhargava, M. — 2009-02-12

Due to globalization and the need to seek out new markets (sometimes labelled as business to 4-billion [B2-4B]), rural marketing is gaining new importance in India as well as across the globe. This article examines three facets: the marketing, linguistic and advertising of these markets. Our study shows that global companies are engaged in devising new strategies to market their products. Indian media planners have pioneered new media forms (for example, Video Vans) combining conventional and non-conventional advertising to meet the challenge of reaching rural India. The result is that messages are customized effectively to meet their audiences’ regional sensibilities and tastes.

The main focus of this study is on the analysis of the messages in the ‘unconventional’ media and wall advertising. We base our study on an empirical investigation of over 2,000 ads in rural settings. The ads include commercial, social and service advertisements. The findings indicate that the advertisers favour the ‘cooperative’ view as opposed to the ‘competitive’ view. They mix languages and scripts to optimize the strength and appeal of their messages. The strengths and limits of the ‘standardization’ versus ‘adaptation’ strategies are accounted for with special reference to the structural properties of wall ads. The directions for future research are outlined.