Abstract
The establishment of a professional online corporate presence is an indispensable step for most companies. However, this online presence must consider linguistic, cultural, and technical differences, as well as variations in user expectations across markets. The language industry has responded to these needs by offering two services, namely localization and transcreation, which may act as valuable tools for the adaptation of corporate communications and whose benefits may be particularly advantageous for smaller companies. This study analyzes the application of localization and transcreation processes and strategies in the corporate context, with a focus on Spanish SMEs and English-speaking markets. Results suggest that the signs of the application of these activities in the corporate online field are still scarce. Furthermore, the online presence of both Spanish SMEs and large US corporations show numerous deficiencies, such as partial translations, typos, a non-updated use of social media, and little adaptation to the addressed markets.
TopLiterature Review
In recent times, companies belonging to nearly all industries and sectors have acknowledged the importance of having a professional online presence. Even when there is no intention of carrying out online transactions, the so-called practice of webrooming has driven the large majority of physical enterprises to realize the necessity of publishing information on their products and services on the Internet. Webrooming consists in searching for information on a product online and purchasing it in a physical store to reduce uncertainty and increase the level of trust with which the decision to purchase is made (Flavián et al., 2016). Webrooming is becoming ever more frequent. 35% and 48% of European consumers of electronics, clothing, and footwear, respectively, get their information on products from the Internet before purchasing them in a physical establishment (Google Consumer Barometer, 2015). In this sense, IAB Spain (2018) indicates that 57% of Spanish users employ the Internet, and specifically social media platforms, to inform themselves on products and services, 4% up on the previous year.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Target Text: The text that the translator, localization/transcreation specialist or another language specialist produces from the source text; for example, the product of the translation.
Webrooming: The process of searching for information on a product online and purchasing it in a physical store to reduce uncertainty and increase the level of trust with which the decision to purchase is made.
Locale: The target country and the language in which a product subjected to a localization process will be used and sold.
Transcreation: A reinterpretation of a text to adapt it to the readers of a target language taking into account conceptual, linguistic and cultural differences. This process takes into account numerous aspects that go well beyond a translation or cultural adaptation, since it also considers the expectations of the target audience or the need to maintain the company’s brand voice across markets in the case of corporate texts, among other elements.
Register: A variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular communicative situation.
Usability: The ease with which a specific product can be used by its intended users to achieve a specific purpose.
Source Text: A text that a translator, localization/transcreation specialist or another language specialist is given to translate into another language or languages.
Localization: The process of taking a product and making it linguistically, culturally and technically appropriate for a locale.