Code-Mixing in Promotional Materials for Tourism: Effects of Format on Processing Fluency and Interest in Cultural Activities

Abstract

We examined the effects of English-Hawaiian code-mixing in promotional materials for tourist activities on audiences’ message processing and interest in the activities promoted, and whether these outcomes depended on the format of translations for code-mixed terms. We found that code-mixing both disrupted fluency for potential tourists—which indirectly diminished interest—and boosted their interest in advertised cultural activities. These countervailing effects largely offset each other, although materials that included narrative translations of Hawaiian terms ultimately promoted greater interest than English-only texts.