The use of English advertising in foreign countries is one that is well-studied. In Japan, for instance, the usage of English connotes sophistication and modernity, as it also does in South Asia countries like India. In India, the usage of English is used to convey sophistication and modernity, while the usage of Hindi, the lingua franca of India, is used to connote tradition and belonging. In the Hispanic population living in the United States, English advertisements is seen as not accommodating, yet is somewhat positive if the listener has linguistic insecurity. Spanish advertisements have the opposite effect they are accommodating, yet are somewhat negative for those with linguistic insecurity. Therefore, the researcher found that a mix of Spanish and English is most effective in these populations, as it mixes accommodation and respect (the Spanish part of the ad) with a positive feeling of linguistic security (the English part of the ad).
The use of English in the country of Japan is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon. The attribution of the high number of loan words in Japan dates back to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, in which Japan was transformed from feudal to a modern state by adopting Western civilization (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). There are a high number of English loan words in the Japanese language, much more so than loan words from European nations. English loan words represent 80.8% of Western loan words in Japan, with the other western loan words coming from France, Germany, Italian and Dutch (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). This is because the Japanese study English more than any other foreign language.
There is some thought that the Japanese people regard English as representative of something cosmopolitan and international, and modern English words are seen as conveying sophistication and modernity, especially in they are used in advertising. (Takashi, 1990, p.