Elsevier

Journal of Business Research

Volume 72, March 2017, Pages 158-167
Journal of Business Research

The effects of Hispanic bilinguals language use and stereotype activation on negotiations outcomes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.10.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Service encounters often become negotiations between the customer and the service provider. For speakers of multiple languages, the language used in a negotiation can be a critical factor in the success of that encounter. By investigating how U.S. bilinguals negotiate in either English or Spanish, this research examines the effect that the activation of the stereotype related to the minority language-speakers has on negotiation outcomes. The results of two experiments support the general notion that, among U.S. Hispanic bilinguals, the majority language (English) yields more favorable outcomes compared to the minority language (Spanish); a third study with a comparison group of bilinguals in Mexico, where no language-related stereotype exists, shows no effect of the negotiation language on the outcome. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of the findings and areas for future research.

Introduction

More than 60 million Americans over the age of 5 (or 21% of the population) speak a language other than English at home, with the majority of those speaking Spanish (Ryan, 2013). In many U.S. cities, being bilingual, or fluent in more than one language, gives people an edge in the job market (Parker, 2013), and even political candidates are taking notice and producing websites and campaign literature, and giving speeches, in both English and Spanish (Associated Press, 2015). But as Grosjean (2013, p. 12) put it, “bilinguals acquire and use their languages for different purposes, in different domains of life, with different people.” Speakers of multiple languages might find themselves more successful in a given situation using one language or another based upon a number of factors, such as: which is the dominant language of the workplace, which is the primary language spoken by the consumer or members of the household, and even which language seems to better fit the situation. In a service setting, one might be interested in knowing which language would lead to a more successful service encounter for all parties. Service encounters quite often involve various forms of negotiation, particularly when interacting with an agent or customer service representative or when attempting to resolve a complaint. Indeed, in today's global service environment, customers commonly deal with a representative who is in another country or belongs to a different ethnic group. In these negotiations, service providers and consumers usually seek to maximize their own outcome while still ensuring they achieve an agreement. When both the customer and the service provider are bilingual (proficient in two languages), the language in which the negotiation takes place might become an advantage or a disadvantage in attaining the desired outcomes for both counterparts. The question then becomes, what will be the impact of language on the outcome of the service negotiation. Once the impact of language is clear, such knowledge will allow bilingual customers and service providers to maximize their outcomes in different negotiation situations.

While much of the existing service literature merely calls for more service providers, such as doctors, nurses, or social workers, to be bilingual in order to more effectively meet the needs of their clients or patients (e.g., Chen, 2006, Engstrom et al., 2009), some more recent literature has begun to investigate the impact of the language (native or second language) on consumers of services (Holmqvist and Van Vaerenbergh, 2013, Van Vaerenbergh and Holmqvist, 2014). On the other hand, despite the enormous literature on cultural differences in negotiations (e.g., Adair et al., 2001, Graham et al., 1994, Salacuse, 1998), only limited research examines the role of language in negotiations (e.g., Ulijn & Verweij, 2000).

This research extends these prior efforts by investigating the role that language, as a component of the person's social identity, has on negotiation outcomes. Social identity is defined in terms of individuals' knowledge of their membership in a group, and the value and emotions attached to that membership (Tajfel, 1981). Language is not only an important component of the individuals' social identity (Grosjean, 1982), but also has the potential to signal membership in an ethnic group (Giles & Johnson, 1987). Thus, this paper will build on the previous work by employing an ethno-linguistic perspective to examine the impact that language (English and Spanish) can have on negotiation outcomes within an ethnic group (U.S. Hispanic). To investigate these effects, the proposed research relies on the threat that being judged unfavorably poses for individuals, affecting their performance and consequently their negotiation outcomes (Steele, 1997, Steele and Aronson, 1995). The language-related stereotypes associated with the ethnic group with lower economic, political, and numeric status (Spanish) would then activate the stereotype threat (Grosjean, 1982, Lambert and Lambert, 1973, Montes-Alcala, 2000, Peñaloza, 1980).

Theoretically, this research contributes to the literature in several directions. Specifically, (1) the research extends the service and language literature by incorporating an ethno-linguistic perspective to the effects of language on service encounters beyond language proficiency and language preference; (2) the research also contributes to the literature on stereotype threat, by extending the effects to language-related stereotypes in a non-academic task; and (3) the research expands the negotiation literature by providing evidence that language can affect negotiation outcomes. Pragmatically, service providers and consumers will benefit from learning about the key role played by language when negotiating and using that knowledge to maximize the outcomes when negotiating service encounters.

Section snippets

Language in service encounters

While some prior research shows language to be a useful segmentation criterion in various service sectors (Redondo-Bellon, 1999), much of the literature on bilingualism in services merely discusses the need for, and experience of, bilingual service providers. For example, Chen (2006) offers a personal account of one doctor's experience attempting to work with a patient with limited English ability. The account notes how relying on interpreters, often family and friends, presents a challenge in

Hypotheses development

Stereotypes have the potential to impair an individual's performance when he or she is in a situation for which a negative stereotype about the individual's group applies (e.g., students from low socioeconomic backgrounds compared to those from high socioeconomic backgrounds on intellectual tasks, Croizet & Claire, 1998; White versus Asian males on math tasks, Aronson et al., 1999; or females negotiating against males, Kray, Thompson, & Galinsky, 2001). According to Steele (1997), the

Participants and design

In a screening phase, graduate students from a major state university in Florida either self-identified as bilinguals (participants that reported being fluent in English and Spanish) or non-bilinguals. Non-bilingual students in the class participated in an alternative exercise and were not included in the sample. One hundred and four Hispanic bilinguals participated in the negotiation as part of a class exercise, and all were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental cells and to a

Participants and design

This study manipulates a single factor, negotiation language (English and Spanish), in a between-participants experiment, and the negotiation role was again part of the role-play exercise. Forty-two bilingual undergraduate students from a major state university in Florida participated in exchange for extra course credit. Thirty-two participants were recruited from business courses in management and marketing, while additional ten participants were recruited from the college's research

Participants and design

Study 3 was conducted at a private university in Mexico City, Mexico. A single factor between-participants experiment manipulates negotiation language (English and Spanish), and as before, randomly assigns the negotiation role as part of the role-play exercise. The sample consists of thirty bilingual business students recruited from marketing courses, and a convenience sample of six participants that were recruited from the university staff in order to improve sample sizes; all participants

General discussion

This paper investigates the proposition that U.S. bilinguals' language usage can affect the outcome of service negotiations. The research employs an ethno-linguistic perspective to examine the impact that language (English and Spanish) can have on negotiation outcomes of U.S. Hispanic bilinguals. Under this perspective, English is associated with higher vitality, economic power, political prestige, and demographic status in America and Spanish is considered the minority language. These

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Cesar García Brena and Louis Melbourne for their assistance in the data collection and stimulus design. They express their gratitude to the editor and the three reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. They also gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Asociación Mexicana de Cultura, A.C.

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