To slang or not to slang? That is the question for marketing pros

""We looked at slang as a linguistic element as well as its social function," Xie said. "Slang identifies your social affiliation. It's an identity that tells you who is in the group versus who is not in the group. For someone with whom you don't have this relationship, slang might be considered inappropriate. We think that's valuable insight in a marketing context.""

""Xie and her co-authors dove into the topic after two of her colleagues conducted several lab experiments to see how consumers reacted to slang use in social media brand campaigns. Based on those observations, Xie, whose research focuses on social media in marketing, gathered and analyzed likes and shares from the social platform X (formerly Twitter) to study the phenomenon.""

Effectiveness of slang in marketing depends on brand personality and audience. Slang serves as a social identifier that signals group membership and can alienate audiences outside that group. The slang term "67" lacks a definitive meaning and is often paired with ambiguous hand gestures interpreted as "so-so" or "maybe this, maybe that." Lab experiments examined consumer reactions to slang in social media brand campaigns. Analysis of likes and shares on X quantified engagement patterns. Slang words appeared in nearly 20% of brands' social media posts, and many brand managers incorporate slang into campaigns.

Read at Phys