The authors apply sociolinguistic theories of accommodation to investigate how consumers in a minority subculture respond to the use of their ethnic language in advertising. Specifically, Hispanic consUrT1ers' responses to the varying degrees of Spanish-language usage in print advertising were examined. It was found that the effects of Spanish usage in advertising can be usefully explained by accommodation theory. Spanish-language advertising increased Hispanic consumers' perception of advertiser sensitivity to Hispanic culture and people, and this perception in turn enhanced affect toward the advertisements. Yet, after controlling for perceived advertiser sensitivity, it was also found that advertising exclusively in Spanish decreased affect toward the advertisement. This finding may be interpreted to mean that though Spanish-language advertising appears to signal solidarity with the Hispanic community, exclusive use of Spanish in advertising may arouse Hispanic insecurities about language usage. Implications for future research and theory on language choice and usage in communication to consumer subcultures are discussed.

No abstract

In the U.S., the Community Reinvestment (CRA) and Home Mortgage Disclosure Acts (HMDA) have focused attention on fair lending practices. The CRA mandates banks to serve all communities, including minority and low-income populations, within their geographic boundaries. One test regulators use to determine compliance examines percentages of minority group loans in banks' HMD A data. In 1993, HMD A data showed lower percentages of home loans to Latinos l in California. This finding belies a study by Dataquick Information Systems showing that Latinos constitute the fastest growing home buyer group in Los Angeles County. However, iristead of seeking löahs fröm banks, maiiy Latinos ütilize non-bank resources. Touchstone (1995) argues that Latinos use non-bank sources because Los Angeles banks provide inadequate minority language Services. Kaplan, Touchstone, and Hagstrom (1995) have focused on one area of such Services: written brochures and their translation problems. From this research, they developed a translationmiscue paradigm implicating three types of problems: i) translation error, ii) translation misfit, and iii) translation omission. The current study focuses on English and Spanish home mortgage brochures, demonstrating that these are also marked by the same translation miscues.

No abstract