The role of advertising language in relations between acculturation, culturally symbolic brands and brand attitude among biculturals

This research examines the roles of brand cultural symbolism and advertising language in influencing brand liking among biculturals (i.e., people who identify with two distinct cultures). Biculturals can be distinguished into multiple types depending on their acculturation (i.e., whether biculturals are synthesized biculturals or host-culture-oriented biculturals). Across three experiments, it is shown that acculturation type moderates the impact of brand?s cultural symbolism and bilingual advertising (vs. English-language advertising) on brand liking. Brands that have high cultural symbolism are appealing to both synthesized biculturals as well as host-culture oriented biculturals. However, brands that have low cultural symbolism can appeal to some types of biculturals (i.e., synthesized biculturals) by engaging in bilingual advertising. This dissertation research also highlights the role of bicultural identity integration as a key process mechanism that mediates these effects. By directly manipulating bicultural identity integration, this study demonstrates why different bicultural types have varying levels of brand liking following exposure to bilingual advertising.?