The Effect Of Structural Constraints On Language Perception In Chinese-English Code-Switched Advertising

This paper intends to examine consumer perception on structural constraints of Chinese-English code-switched advertising based on Myers-Scotton’s matrix language frame (MLF) model with the following issues by five experiments.(1) Whether there is a significant difference between consumer perception of grammatical and ungrammatical Chinese-English code-switched slogans under the structural constraints of MLF model.(2) Whether type of information processing will affect the results of structural constraints on the consumers’ perception of Chinese-English code-switched slogans.(3) Whether there is a significant difference on effect of consumer perception in Chinese-English code-switched slogans of high fluency and low fluency.(4) Whether type of information processing will moderate the effect of processing fluency on consumer perception in Chinese-English code-switched slogans.(5) Whether there is an interaction among structural constraints, type of information processing and processing fluency in consumer perceptions of Chinese-English code-switched slogans.Three pretests are conducted to select slogans for the main experiments according to the statistical analysis of80valid questionnaires with96Chinese slogans with English code switching. Experiment1is an empirical study investigating the application of MLF’s structural constraints in Chinese-English code-switched slogans. The moderator type of information processing is added in Experiment2compared with Experiment1. Experiment3explores the effect of processing fluency on consumer perceptions in Chinese-English code-switched slogans. Experiment4applies type of information processing as a moderator on the basis of Experiment3. Experiment5aims to find out what the consumer perception towards Chinese-English code-switched slogans will be under the joint effect of structural constraints, types of information processing and processing fluency. Subjects are all Chinese college students who have passed CET6. This thesis takes sixteen slogans of four target products as stimuli and analyzes five issues mentioned above in the experimental studies of Chinese-English code-switched slogans.Analysis by independent-samples t Test reveals that:(1) Language perception in Chinese-English code-switched slogans is not significantly affected no matter following or breaking the structural constraints in MLF model.(2) Processing fluency has a significant effect on language perception in Chinese-English code-switched slogans.(3) Type of information processing does not moderate the effect of structural constraints and processing fluency on language perception in Chinese-English code-switched slogans. Univariate analysis shows that:(4) Processing fluency interacts with type of information processing and structural constraints respectively in language perceptions of Chinese-English code-switched slogans.(5) There is an interaction among grammatical structural constraints, processing fluency and type of information processing in language perceptions of Chinese-English code-switched slogans.This paper extends Myers-Scotton’s MLF model by investigating the application of structural constraints of MLF model in Chinese-English code-switched advertising. The results manifest that the structural constraints of MLF model may not completely adapt to Chinese-English code switching. Type of information processing may have no moderating effect on language perception in Chinese-English code switching, while the processing fluency may be one of the factors influencing language perception of Chinese-English code switching.