Consumer Language Research©: The Key to Successful Creative Translation

Table of Contents

What is Consumer Language Research? How does it work? Applying market research to the translation process can help many businesses overcome challenges when implementing Consumer or Content Marketing strategies.

Join Thao & Co. to learn more about this Consumer Language Research service, including its benefits and process in this article.

What is Consumer Language Research?

In the field of Content Marketing in foreign markets, the constant changes in culture pose challenges for multinational companies when developing localization strategies. Therefore, Consumer Language Research is a powerful tool that helps businesses control localization quality.

Like any product, translation targeted at a large group of customers needs to be meticulously polished and checked. That way, the translator can ensure its compatibility with the consumer language.

Consumer language involves the way native people communicate and the language preferences of the target audience.

Consumer Language ResearchⒸ - Thao & Co.

Consumer Language Research refers to the process of collecting and analyzing consumer language. Besides, it is a method applied in Transcreation to manage and enhance the translation quality of slogans, taglines, product names, and more. This research plays a vital role in the localization process.

Thao & Co.’s Consumer Language Research© service offers a comprehensive solution for businesses. With expertise in Marketing Translation and market research, we are committed to delivering compelling transcreations that faithfully reflect your brand identity.

When is it necessary to conduct Consumer Language Research?

Consumer Language Research is essential in creative translation projects, which is required for marketing content that represents the brand. These include:

  1. ● Television Commercials (TVC)
  2. ● Slogans and Taglines
  3. ● Brand and product names
  4. ● Interface content
  5. ● Game Localization
  6. ● Product Packaging
  7. ● Brochures and Catalogs
  8. ● Marketing Emails
  9. ● User Guides
  10. ● Books, Stories, Films

The impact of language and culture on consumer behavior

Is there any difference in consumer behavior in different countries? If you are bilingual or multilingual, you’ll easily notice that each language bears significant differences influenced by culture and lifestyle.

A study by Columbia University in the United States demonstrated differences in consumer perception when using:

  1. ● Languages that have classifiers: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean…
  2. ● Languages without classifiers: English, Spanish, and French…

For example, in Chinese, the word “ba” is used to refer to objects that can be held, like “ba yusan” which means an umbrella. However, in English, the equivalent “umbrella” doesn’t come with any classifiers.

General Translation - Thao & Co.

They conducted an interview with two groups of respondents, one speaking Chinese and the other speaking English. They were asked about their opinions on two advertisements. One advertisement featured an umbrella held by a hand and one similar advertisement without a hand holding the umbrella. Results showed that the Chinese-speaking group found the umbrella with the hand more impressive than the other group did. 

Other similar surveys also suggest language factors likely have a significant influence on consumer perception, behavior, and interests. Cultural factors also have a substantial impact on consumer behavior.

Businesses should not underestimate language and culture when approaching new markets. Consumer Language Research© can help you navigate international business projects with ease.

Benefits for creative translation projects

As mentioned earlier, research shows that language and culture directly impact consumer behavior and preferences. Internationalization is an essential process for any business looking to expand globally.

But at the same time, marketers should consider the importance of localization to attract international customers. Consumer Language Research offers exceptional benefits to help brands make a strong and lasting impression.

Guaranteed accuracy

Transcreation that is customer-centric and evaluated by native speakers can guarantee the highest level of compatibility with local culture and utmost accuracy.

Stronger connections

When the localization resonates with consumer language, it brings customers a sense of familiarity. From then on, your brand can successfully appeal to their choices, and foster customer loyalty.

Reducing risk

When Coca-Cola was first translated phonetically into Chinese, the result accidentally sounded like “bite the wax tadpole.” After much deliberation, the brand managed to come up with a much better name “Kekou-kele”, meaning “tasty fun.”

The Consumer Language Research process includes content validation with native speakers. As a result, it effectively helps avoid risks of miscommunication that could negatively impact the brand’s reputation.

Boosting Marketing Efficiency

The interview process with respondents helps evaluate the efficiency of translation options and select the best translation. Thus, Consumer Language Research guarantees translation accuracy and appropriate incorporation of cultural nuances.

Furthermore, the tool assists businesses in choosing creative translations that have the most positive impact.

The Consumer Language Research process

Consumer Language Research - Thao & Co.

The Consumer Language Research© process at Thao & Co. includes the following steps:

1. Project information and consultation:

After receiving project requests, we select the most suitable Project Manager and linguists to discuss how to tailor our services to your needs.

2. Project research:

Our team of linguists will meticulously research relevant information and take note of any issues to be addressed. At the same time, the Project Manager will establish precise objectives and the target audience for the market research company. This includes:

  1. ● Selecting suitable respondents
  2. ● Outlining group interview sessions
  3. ● Preparing a comprehensive discussion guide

3. Preliminary Focus Group Discussion(s):

During the Focus Group Discussions with native respondents, the translation team will pose questions to understand consumers’ preferences and cultural norms.

This helps translators gain accurate insights and valuable reference materials for the translation process.

4. Developing a comprehensive glossary:

Based on the insights collected during discussions, the translation team will develop comprehensive translation guidelines and a precise glossary of specialized terminology.

5. Translation and Proofreading:

Our linguists meticulously translate content and documents, frequently referring to the glossary to ensure consistency and accuracy. For creative translation content, multiple versions will be created along with:

  1. ● Corresponding back-translations
  2. ● Detailed explanations for each translation

Following this, a dedicated proofreader meticulously reviews both the terminology and translation.

6. Targeted Focus Group Discussion(s):

After proofreading, the translations will be assessed for compatibility and efficiency in these group interview sessions.

7. Final Delivery:

Lastly, we will deliver the translated documents with comprehensive reports of the interview sessions within the agreed-upon deadline.

At your request, we can also provide you with additional services such as transcription or interpretation of the interview sessions.

FAQs about Consumer Language Research service©

As Consumer Language Research is a relatively new concept in the field of translation, you may have some questions related to this service. Here are the most common concerns about this service:

Is this service a worthwhile investment?

This is a wise investment to ensure appropriate translations and avoid risks, especially for crucial content representing your brand, such as:

  1. ● Brand names
  2. ● Product names
  3. ● Slogans
  4. ● Taglines

Is this research reliable?

With a strong foundation and extensive experience in market research, Thao & Co. employs professional, efficient, and reliable research methodology. We have strict criteria for selecting credible market research companies for our Consumer Language Research© service.

How is the research sample chosen?

The sample comes from a pool of native speakers in the specific region you are targeting. To ensure that respondents are truly representative of your target customer segment, they will be screened based on criteria such as:

  1. ● Age
  2. ● Gender
  3. ● Profession
  4. ● Preferences

For instance, if the products are baby essentials, the ideal respondents would typically include women with small children. Especially for products created for specific customer groups, such as doctors, engineers, technicians, specialists, and other experts, you can opt for our Industry Terms Research© service.

Why choose Thao & Co.?

Translation Services - Thao & Co.

Working with Thao & Co. Translation Agency, you can feel the dedication and meticulousness in every word we choose. Every translation delivered to our clients is carefully crafted and proofread by our team of seasoned linguists.

We understand every translated content is important to our clients, so our linguists are committed to providing high-quality creative translation services.

Thao & Co.’s Consumer Language Research© service is built on our solid foundation of expertise in market research. With a flexible and efficient workflow, you will receive compelling translations that transcend language barriers. Clients love us for:

  1. ● A skilled team of native linguists
  2. ● Transparent process and pricing
  3. ● Strict information privacy policies
  4. ● Our proprietary platform allows for effortless and convenient project tracking

For more detailed information, please visit our Get a Quote page for a free consultation today!

Source: Thao & Company
Professional Translation and Localization Services in Vietnam
Where Precision Meets Quality Standards
Get in touch
Let us know how we can help!
Our industries
Healthcare
We provide accurate translations of items such as clinical instructions, medical records, articles, product labels and questionnaires.
Advertising + Marketing
Get your message across in any language when we translate your informational materials, instructions and simple promotional content.
Banking + Finance
As you tap new markets, we can translate sales materials, emails, job applications, CVs, legal documents, and entire banking/trading platforms and apps.
Legal
Get fast, precise translation of legal documents, contracts, memos, emails and other forms of communication.
Real Estate + Construction
Our translators have sufficient familiarity with architecture, construction, real estate and civil engineering to help translate relevant documents.
Retail + E-commerce
If you’re selling to global markets, let us translate your sales materials, company announcements and meeting minutes for your international partners.
Travel + Tourism
We can provide general translation of content for internal communications and customer-facing text for hotels, restaurants, travel guides and more.
Entertainment
Relying on our experience translating films, plays and commercials, we give careful attention to word selection and meaning in every project.
Automotive + Aerospace
Look to our specialized linguists to translate and localize user guides, CAD drawings, repair manuals and business contracts.
Manufacturing
Get precise translation of technical terminology whether for instructions, safety, quality control or regulatory compliance.
Manufacturing
Explore new markets for your games once we translate the rules, instructions, storyline, dialog, graphics and technical details.
Education
Empower global education with our translation and localization services. Available for academic transcripts, diplomas, degrees, certificates, websites, apps, and more.
Technology
Our expert localization services are here to get your tech materials, websites, apps, software and other digital products into new markets.
Ready to take the next step? Tell us about your project.

Get a quote