Death or muerte? Effects of sales language use on the consumption of death-related products or services
Project Description
Death-related products or services (DRPS), such as life insurance and funeral services, help consumers prepare for death and handle its aftermath. The offerings of this massive market are universally necessary, but consumers often resist marketing information about DRPS, let alone their purchases. To help overcome this issue, the current research builds on terror management theory, psychological distance, and language use to propose a language-based communication strategy. The findings suggest that when DRPS sales messages appear in consumers’ second (vs. native) language (e.g., using muerte, Spanish for death, when talking to a native English speaker whose second language is Spanish), it decreases consumers’ fear of death and induces more consumption (e.g., actual purchases).
Our research offers important implications for different stakeholders in DRPS consumption. First, fear of death is a prominent barrier to DRPS consumption, so marketers need to find effective ways to convey death-related sales information to consumers, whether in direct marketing communications, such as sales encounters, or indirect marketing communications, such as advertising. We establish that communicating in a language that is not native to consumers represents a viable option to boost their interest in DRPS.
Second, our findings suggest that presenting information in a second language (L2) can help consumers overcome their fear of death, even when confronted with death-related topics about themselves or close others. For their own mental well-being, consumers are advised to browse relevant websites or discuss relevant topics in their L2. However, if they are not fluent in another language, consumers still can address their fear of death by focusing on the transcendent potential of DRPS or learning to perceive their greater control over death.
Third, public policymakers might also use L2 to promote DRPS, with potentially positive societal outcomes. For example, they could develop promotional information in multiple languages and default to the display of L2 to nudge consumers to review the information. Some DRPS, such as organ donation and green burial, readily link to transcendence notions. Policymakers might incorporate a sense of transcendence as a key element of their marketing and promotional practices to reduce the public’s psychological distance from and fear of death. Such efforts may be particularly practical when the service process involves an intermediate level of customer participation. Finally, if using L2 is not feasible, policymakers should promote messages to foster their sense of control over death, which can be managed, even if it ultimately is unavoidable.
Project Investigator
Professor Shirley LI (Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems)
Project Collaborator
Professor Kimmy CHAN (Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems)
Funding/Award
- Research Grants Council - Early Career Award
