Emotive responses differ across SA language groups

Various factors could influence the manner in which different language groups, who in effect represent different cultures, engage or reconcile with the message being advertised.

This follows the BMR recent study that found that different South African language groups display different emotive responses to similar television advertisements.

The acknowledgement of emotions as an essential factor in decision-making is well documented. Television advertisements are ubiquitous information sources in consumer decisions and are often aimed at target markets spanning a range of language and cultural groups.

Against this background, the division conducted empirical research investigating different language groups' emotive responses to advertisements aimed at a target market inclusive of diverse language groups. The research follows a series of studies on consumers' emotive response to television advertising conducted by the BMR in the recent past.

The sample included a representative sample of English, Afrikaans and Nguni/Sotho speaking adult television viewers. The research was conducted in three provinces, namely Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Capturing emotion

To capture immediate, positive and negative emotive responses towards a series of test advertisements, the study used the Self-Assessment Manikin (AdSAM), a nonverbal instrument consisting of manikins depicting three primary emotions, namely pleasure, arousal and dominance.

According to Jacolize Poalses, a BMR researcher, clear emotive differences across language groups are evident from the study. Inter-language group differences revealed significantly opposing ways as to how Nguni/Sotho and Afrikaans participants reacted to three of the five sampled advertisements. Furthermore, significant differences in emotive reactions between Nguni/Sotho- and English-speaking participants were evident for two advertisements while no significant differences were detected between the emotive responses of Afrikaans and English-speaking participants.

The reasons for more intensely felt emotions were mostly related to humorous, entertaining, clever and fun themes being prevalent. Attributing human-like attributes to animals, coupled with the subliminal play with popular idioms and relating these to the product benefits, appears to result in stronger emotive reactions. Participants, who reacted with little or no emotion, tend to interpret advertising literally and at face value, with little or no understanding or appreciation of symbolism and metaphors, showing lack of clarity and apathy.

Culture still intensely personal

Furthermore, cultural aspects related to language groups are personal as they represent everything about a person in totality and refer to the person's value system (ethical/moral, doctrinal, ideological, social and aesthetic), beliefs and attitudes affecting behaviour. Some people are proud of their culture, yet others, such as those in the process of acculturation are less so, and attempt to avoid being confronted by it.

Unless all South African cultures are included in a way that is generally acceptable to all, in a manner in which all can relate to and appreciate the content, advertising with specific cultural nuances should be considered carefully. These findings confirm the challenge that is faced by creative teams and marketers, namely the importance and difficulty of having one advertisement to reach a culturally diverse audience.

As with the previous study conducted by the BMR on generational emotive differences, this study also maintains that challenging researchers with innovative research models could result in greater insights enabling marketing and advertising companies to reconfigure or extend current branding, communication and marketing strategies.

According to Joubert and Poalses, the insights obtained from this research reiterate the power of emotive engagement, as liking of an advertisement and product may not be enough to persuade consumers to buy into the advertising takeout. Any attempt to determine the impact that television advertisements may have should include a multi-dimensional measure reflecting not only liking, but also the level of emotive takeout and consequent engagement.

The 87-page report (Research report No 418) is available from the BMR.