Understanding message (de)coding in multi-lingual slogans: industrial perspectives from Turkey and Russia
International Journal of Emerging Markets
ISSN: 1746-8809
Article publication date: 31 August 2021
Issue publication date: 14 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The main goal of the study is to investigate how same-brand slogans simultaneously in use in two emerging markets, namely Turkey and Russia, differ semantically. The study further examines in what ways the industrial competition structure impacts the semantic slogan design within these two contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the method of semantic explication that is based on a 19-device taxonomy. This method is applied to 56 slogan pairs in the Turkish and Russian languages launched for the same brands/products across 6 industries.
Findings
Results indicate that same-brand slogans differ semantically between Turkey and Russia. Moreover, firms tend to conform to a shared semantic pattern within a given industry, largely depending on the industrial competition structure. While strong local competition (as in the electronics and cleaning products industries in Turkey and in the personal care and beverages industries in Russia) leads firms to use self-reference, international competition (as in the automotive, personal care and beverages industries in Turkey and in the electronics and cleaning products industries in Russia) promotes them to use hyperbole in their slogan design.
Practical implications
Adopting a common semantic pattern within an industry may carry the risk of restricting brand differentiation and consumers' sense of novelty. Furthermore, the inclusion of brand names in slogans may make slogans sound assertive and lead consumers to overreact to the brand.
Originality/value
Unlike many studies exploring different-brand slogans through a syntactic or grammatical lens, this study investigates the semantic features of same-brand slogans launched in two emerging market contexts. It adopts a B2B perspective, unlike many extant studies that often focus on a B2C one.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
An initial version of this manuscript was presented at the Emerging Markets Conference Board 2020, Slovenia, 2–3 June.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there exists no conflict of interest in this work.
Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency.
The authors thank our colleagues who contributed to the research process for their useful comments and discussions. The authors also thank anonymous reviewers for their invaluable contribution to the paper.
Citation
Çal, B. and Hüseyinli, T. (2023), "Understanding message (de)coding in multi-lingual slogans: industrial perspectives from Turkey and Russia", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 18 No. 9, pp. 2281-2300. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-05-2020-0489
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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