Impressions of businesses with language errors in print advertising: Do spelling and grammar influence the inclination to use a business?

Abstract

There has been minimal research investigating the effects of language errors (e.g., grammar or spelling errors) on persuasion or impressions of the source, and research on errors in business advertising is nearly non-existent. We examined whether language errors would reduce the effectiveness of a business advertisement. Participants were presented with an error-free or an error-laden advertisement for a “white collar” service or a “blue collar” service. It was predicted that errors would reduce the persuasiveness of an advertisement, especially for a white collar service. An interaction effect revealed that participants had less interest in using the business with the error-laden versus error-free advertisement only when the business was for a white collar service. However, advertisements containing language errors significantly decreased perceived employee quality and perceived business/advertisement quality regardless of the type of service offered. All of these effects held only for those participants who noticed at least one error in the error-laden advertisement. Future research could examine how language error effects may vary across different forms of media presentation, as well as compare the effects of different types of language errors.