The English and Swedish Languages’ Effect on Consumers’ Purchase Intention for Modernity-Related Products and Products Unrelated to Modernity

Abstract: English is a global language which is associated with modernity and in advertising, English is used to associate products with modernity in the minds of the consumers. In non-English speaking countries, modernity-related products are more often advertised in English than products unrelated to modernity. Despite this, no previous research has proven that consumers’ purchase intention is higher for modernity-related products advertised in English compared to the same product advertised in the native language. Through an online-survey with a between-subject design a quantitative field experiment was conducted. It was found that consumers had a higher purchase intention for modernity-related products advertised in English compared to the same products advertised in Swedish and that consumers’ purchase intention was higher for products unrelated to modernity advertised in Swedish compared to the same products advertised in English.