An Investigation into the Influence of Language and Culture on the Results of the Questionnaire as Method of Marketing Research

This paper investigates the influence of language of questionnaire and culturally value laden items on the responses of respondents answering a marketing research questionnaire. In order to test these hypotheses, 4 groups of students at the Vaal Triangle Technikon were asked to complete a typical marketing research questionnaire inquiring into the consuming and buying behaviour of students. Twenty-nine of the students answered questionnaires in Sesotho (their mother tongue) and 29 Sesotho speakers answered questionnaires in English (their second language). Twenty-five Afrikaans speaking students answered questionnaires in Afrikaans (their mother tongue) and 28 Afrikaans speaking students answered questionnaires in English (their second language). It was found language of questionnaire had no influence on the responses of students to typically marketing research. T-tests however indicated that respondents’ responses varied when “culturally value laden” were involved.