The differential roles of verbs, nouns, and adjectives in English and Chinese messages among bilingual consumers

Different word categories have distinct impacts on consumers’ perceptions of a good or a service. Through 3 studies, this article tests the use of verbs, nouns, and adjectives among bilingual consumers. Study 1 examines word category use among bilinguals who speak both English and Chinese through an open-ended questionnaire. Study 2 measures the participants’ reactions toward advertisements which are composed of different word categories. In Study 3, two experiments test the word category effect in the service domain. The findings indicate that: (1) to describe a good or a service, bilinguals prefer adjectives and nouns in general, while using more verbs in Chinese contexts; (2) English advertisements are perceived as more informative than Chinese ones, and noun-composed advertisements are perceived as more informative than the ones with verbs or adjectives; (3) the interaction effect of language and word category on purchase intentions is true for both advertisements and services; specifically, noun-composed messages are more efficient in affecting bilinguals’ purchase decisions in Chinese contexts, while adjective-composed advertisements work better in English contexts; and (4) in the service domain, the interaction of language and word category has an impact on positive word-of-mouth and website use experience satisfaction. Conceptual and managerial implications are provided.