Engels als lingua franca in sociale media marketing van de Vlaamse biersector: Een vergelijkend en kwalitatief onderzoek van generatie X en Z over Instagram merk accounts

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“ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA ON

INSTAGRAM BRAND ACCOUNTS

A COMPARATIVE AND QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE

ATTITUDES OF GENERATION X AND Z TOWARDS THE LANGUAGE

USE OF INSTAGRAM BRAND ACCOUNTS OF THE FLEMISH BEER

BUSINESS”

Word count: 10,673

Salina Braet

Student number: 01406317 Supervisor: Prof. Geert Jacobs

A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Multilingual business communication

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Completing this thesis serves as a perfect ending to my Master in Multilingual Business Communication. This Master has been a year of development, self-reflection and of pushing limits. Through Multilingual Business Communication, I have figured out what I want in life, I have discovered who I am as a person and I had to do more than what was ever expected of me. This year has been wonderful, but it was not a piece of cake. However, with the help and support of the following individuals, I have successfully ended my year as an MBC-student and I have written this master’s thesis, which I am proud to present.

Thank you, Geert Jacobs, for the academic support during the entire process of writing my thesis. Your clear and professional advice helped me an enormous amount. With your help, I found my thesis subject and proudly present the end result now. It was a pleasure to have you as a supportive supervisor throughout this whole process.

Thank you, Wout Meuleman, for giving me the opportunity to work for BeerSelect and thank you, Alexander Lampaert, for guiding me whenever needed. It has been a pleasure working for BeerSelect and I hope this master’s thesis helps you on your road to success.

Thank you to my dear family, for the endless support and trust. Mommy and Daddy, I love you. Your support and advice have made me into the strong and intelligent woman I am today. Without you as my parents, I would not have had this wonderful education. And thank you, Senne and Seppe, for always making me laugh.

Thank you, Nathan, for the love and the food on the table. Without your patience and help, this master’s thesis would have been a lot harder to write. You helped me work when I had to and helped me relax after a long day of writing. I love you, Chico.

Thank you, Stef, Els and Chiara, for helping me with the final revision of this master’s thesis. Thank you for the time you spent on the revision of this investigation and thank you for the support. I will never forget the help you gave me, especially Stef: a loyal friend, forever.

A last thanks to all the people who were interviewed for the purpose of this thesis. An enormous thank you to all interviewees who took the time to help me write my thesis. Your insights have contributed to the conclusion of this paper.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose - This study contributes to the research on social media marketing and focuses on Instagram marketing. In this master’s thesis I investigated the position of English on Instagram business accounts and the attitudes of Generation X and Z towards English on Instagram. To analyse the position of English on Instagram I carried out two complementary qualitative investigations: first, a benchmarking and desk research of the language use of the Flemish beer industry on Instagram and, second, a comparative investigation with in-depth interviews with Generation Z compared to Generation X on language use of Instagram business accounts.

Research questions - In this paper we respond to three main research questions: RQ1: Does English serve as a lingua franca on Instagram?

RQ2: Is there a difference in preference between Generation X and Z towards the use of English by Instagram beer accounts?

RQ3: Does an individual’s level of competence in English influence their preference of English in Instagram brand accounts?

Methodology - To answer RQ1 a desk research was held, analysing three Flemish beer distributors, three international Flemish beers and three national Flemish beers on Instagram. For each Instagram beer account, I investigated its identity, its following, likes and posts, the overall language use on Instagram, the language use in comments on posts and its weekly and monthly Instagram activity. To find an answer to RQ2 and RQ3, ten in-depth interviews were conducted, six with Generation Z, individuals in their twenties, and four with Generation X, individuals in their forties and fifties. These interviews with Generation X and Z enabled me to compare their opinions on English on Instagram. Finally, an overall conclusion and recommendations were made through the results of the benchmarking and the in-depth interviews.

Findings - English is the lingua franca of Instagram and is omnipresent on the feeds of the Flemish Instagram beer accounts. Generation X and Z do not share a preference for English on Instagram. Generation X still prefers Dutch on Instagram, while Generation Z prefers English on this international social media platform. GenZers prefer English as a consequence of their general high competence in English and because they are used to this heavy presence of English on social media, but Generation X has a general lower competence of English because they did not grow up in a global English world and therefore are less fond of this omnipresence of English. Generation Z is a lot more present on Instagram, as the largest active group and as general heavy Instagram users. Therefore, Instagram marketeers should take into account this immense importance of the language preference of Generation Z on Instagram.

Recommendation - It is recommended for the Flemish beer industry to adjust their Instagram account to the language preferences of Generation Z and thus to use English in posts, stories and bios. It is highly discouraged to use a mix of languages on Instagram. The use of both Dutch and French to address the Belgian population on Instagram is perceived as unpleasing. Next to the linguistic landscape, it is finally recommended to focus on other relevant preferences of Generation Z on Instagram, such as focusing on the experience of the product or service rather than the promotion, a need for interesting, real and professional pictures, a balance in posting and a touch of humour.

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Appendix 2: Transcriptions ... 30 INTERVIEWEE 1GENERATION Z ... 30 INTERVIEWEE 2GENERATION Z ... 33 INTERVIEWEE 3GENERATION Z ... 36 INTERVIEWEE 4GENERATION Z ... 39 INTERVIEWEE 5GENERATION Z ... 42 INTERVIEWEE 6GENERATION Z ... 45 INTERVIEWEE 1GENERATION X ... 48 INTERVIEWEE 2GENERATION X ... 51 INTERVIEWEE 3GENERATION X ... 53 INTERVIEWEE 4GENERATION X ... 56

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FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: Digital around the world in 2019 (We are social Inc.,, 2019) ... 4

Figure 2: Social platforms: active user accounts (We are social inc., 2019) ... 4

Table 1: Instagram activity AB Inbev ... 10

Table 2: Instagram activity BeerSelect ... 10

Table 3: Instagram activity Brussels Beer Project ... 11

Table 4: Instagram activity Stella Artois ... 12

Table 5: Instagram activity Duvel ... 12

Table 6: Instagram activity Delirium ... 13

Table 7: Instagram activity Hoegaarden ... 14

Table 8: Instagram activity Leffe ... 14

Table 9: Instagram activity Liefmans ... 15

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ABREVIATIONS

Bio Instagram biography

EIL English as an International Language

ELF English as a Lingua Franca

Gen X Generation X

Gen Xers Generation X

Gen Z Generation Z

GenZers Generation Z

MBC Multilingual Business Communication

RQ Research question

Tweens Generation Z

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1 Introduction

The growing importance and omnipresence of social media has become undeniable in our day to day life. With this increasing importance of networking sites, companies are forced to join the trend and need to create a social media strategy for every campaign. Brands do not only find in these social media platforms a new way of communicating with their customers, but also a strong tool to advertise their products and services, to create awareness and build a loyal online community. Advertising on social media has become a central given in every company's marketing strategy, but not all social media platforms are the same. Each social media platform is used for different purposes with a different following and should therefore be handled independently from other social media platforms. With a need for a specific Instagram marketing strategy, new questions arise. Although, in practice, Instagram marketing is a central part to every brand’s strategy, academic research on the subject is rather scarce.

Even scarcer is the academic research on Instagram marketing from a linguistic perspective. Nevertheless, language use on Instagram is of the utmost importance. Instagram is an international tool of communication and therefore companies ever so often use English to communicate to their international following. On the other hand, we must note the presence of an array of languages that reflect the abundance of cultures on Instagram. Some brands want to emphasize this diversity of cultures and create a more personal bond with their community through Instagram by using the more personal native language. This results in a complex Instagram reality of a heavy use of English, next to the enormous diversity of languages present.

Nowadays, everyone uses social media, but there is only one generation that was born during the arrival of this social media world: Generation Z. Generation Z forms tremendous opportunities for companies and is heavily investigated in the marketing world. This new generation of buyers uses social media as its key communication tool, like no other generation before. Unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook, with an extreme diversity in users, Instagram is heavily used by Generation Z. To master Instagram marketing, you therefore need to understand Generation Z.

These observations give rise to important questions: What is the impact of language use on Instagram? What are GenZers’ preferences in Instagram marketing? Do GenZers’ preferences differ from those of other generations? And does Instagram marketing need to change? In this paper I will investigate the presence of English on Instagram, more specifically on the Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry. In addition to this investigation I will interview both Gen Z and X representants, to reveal the preferences of Generation Z on language use on Instagram and to investigate if the attitudes of GenZers differ from Generation X, their parents.

In the next chapter, I will discuss the most prominent research questions to this master’s thesis and I then continue the investigation with an overview of the relevant literature on the subject in chapter 3. The qualitative investigation will consist of both a benchmarking and in-depth interview, discussed in chapters 4 and 5 respectively, to finally come to a conclusion and formulate recommendations for the Flemish beer industry in chapter 6.

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2 Research questions

The main research question of this thesis is the following: What is the impact of English as a lingua franca on the Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry and what are the opinions and attitudes of Generation Z, in opposition to those of Gen X, towards this presence of English on Instagram?

This question can be divided into three main fields of investigation. Firstly, this paper identifies the impact of English as a lingua franca on Instagram. It has been universally acknowledged that English is omnipresent on the internet, but the position of English on Instagram has not been investigated properly. Secondly, this paper focuses on Generation Z, the generation of technology, and their opinions on the position of English as a lingua franca on Instagram. We then compare the opinions of Generation Z to Generation X, their parents. With this comparative investigation, our study will reveal the contrast between these two generations and a need to address Generation Z on Instagram. Thirdly, this study investigates the factor of competence in English and how this influences language preference on Instagram, more specifically on Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry.

The main research question can thus be divided into three research questions with additional sub-questions:

• Does English serve as a lingua franca on Instagram? (RQ1)

o If so, is English omnipresent on the Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry like English as a lingua franca on the internet? (RQ1a)

o Does the Flemish beer industry need to change their approach to language use on their Instagram accounts? (RQ1b)

• Is there a difference in preference between Generation X and Z towards the use of English by Instagram beer accounts? (RQ2)

o Does Generation Z prefer the use of English on Instagram brand accounts? (RQ2a) o Does Generation X prefer the use of English on Instagram brand accounts? (RQ2b) • Does the level of competence in English of an individual, influence their preference of

English on Instagram brand accounts? (RQ3)

o If so, does the general high competence in English of Generation Z influence its attitude towards English captions on Instagram posts? (RQ3a)

o If so, does the general lower competence in English of Generation X compared to Generation Z influence its attitude towards English captions on Instagram posts? (RQ3b)

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3 Theoretical framework

3.1 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON INSTAGRAM

3.1.1 Social media and Instagram

The virtual world has evolved into a part of everyday life, moving from the online stage into the real world. The online and offline world are so intertwined that it becomes difficult to separate the two. Social media can be defined as all online media that involves conversation and a sense of community (Saravanakumar, 2012). This reality is incomparable to any other medium of communication and that is why it is an extremely popular medium of communication.

“During different time eras different methods of communications have developed and changed the day by day life. Social media has become the method of statement in the 21st century, enabling us to express our belief, ideas and manner in an absolute new way.” (Saravanakumar, 2012)

Social media’s most popular platforms are “Blogs, Microblogs, Social Networks, Media-Sharing Sites, Social Bookmarking and selection Sites, analysis Sites, forums and effective worlds” (Saravanakumar, 2012). These popular forms of social media are used in every part of the world and by an excessive amount of people. In 2019, 4.4 billion people out 7.7 billion people used the internet, with 3.5 billion active social media users. (Figure 1) This means that about two-thirds of the entire population used the internet and more than one third of the entire human race is active on social media. These numbers are astonishing and are predicted to increase even further in the future. Network websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube are extremely popular and together they created a new era of social media: that of polymedia. Carton (2018) describes polymedia as the fragmentation of social media into different social media platforms that enjoy huge popularity among the global population. The arrival of these social media platforms caused the Social Network Revolution. Social network websites first appeared with the invention of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and have since grown in importance to become the most used forms of social media. Facebook is still the most popular Network website in 2019, followed by YouTube, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat and Instagram. (Figure 2) However, new social network sites keep popping up and trending, like the new hype of 2020: TikTok.

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Figure 1: Digital around the world in 2019 (We are social Inc., 2019)

Figure 2: Social platforms: active user accounts (We are social inc., 2019)

3.1.2 Social media marketing

“Social media has become a crucial part of many people’s lives, which makes it an attractive advertising medium for companies” (Bertgström, 2013). Social media is full of business content and has become a new marketing strategy: social media marketing. Businesses nowadays need a social media strategy in this rapidly changing digital reality to boost their brand online (Saravanakumar, 2012). Before the social media era, traditional media was the only way of communicating a business’ mission and values and to create awareness around the brand. Today, with social media, marketeers can increase awareness and create a community online. “The number of companies with Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, or online communities continue to grow” (Dijkmans, 2015). Almost all companies are active on social media to stimulate the recognition of their brand. Social media marketing is the only marketing with which you can reach the most customers in one place and can reach a consumer in every stage until the actual purchase of a product (Dijkmans, 2015).

“Many companies use social media platforms to support the development of their brand. It allows companies to engage with customers at a lower cost and to a higher efficiency compared to traditional media. The utility makes social media an effective and powerful tool for large, medium and small-sized companies.” (Bergström, 2013)

Instagram can be used by companies to connect and start a conversation with present customers and potential customers, and it can create a more personal and honest picture of the brand (Bergström, 2015). With Instagram, a company can create a relationship with its customer of the more personal kind. With the possibility of a two-way communication, companies can produce user-generated content to further create a feel of community. User-generated content is very present on Instagram and consists of reposting a post of a follower. This leads to a more honest picture of the brand because people generally belief the opinions of a consumer more than the promotion of the brand itself. Furthermore, with each repost of a customer’s picture, a company creates a personal relationship with that consumer. With Instagram, companies can visualize the whole idea behind a

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product in an attractive, interactive and accessible way through pictures and videos and create awareness and a community at the same time.

3.2 ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA ON INSTAGRAM

3.2.1 ELF: English and the world

‘English as an international language or EIL’, ‘World Englishes’, ‘English as a global language’ and ‘English as a world language’ are all terms used to refer to English as the most prominent globally used language (Seidlhofer, 2005). English is everywhere in the 21st century. This new reality of ‘English everywhere’ has created a new global environment. Many researchers have been investigating this global presence of English, but there is still an abundance of questions left unanswered. What we know for sure is that English is lonely at the top of the mountain, as the most prominent hyper-central language of our century. Hyper-central languages “are major standard languages with transnational reach” and English is the most prominent hyper-central language of the century with no competition whatsoever. No other language is used so often by both native and non-native speakers (Mair, 2018).

‘Lingua franca’ is derived from the Arabic term ‘lisan-al-farang’ first used to refer to the form of communication used between Arabic speakers and travellers from Western Europe in trade (Carton, 2018). Later on, this term evolved, and the meaning of the word expanded to refer to all language of commerce. More recently, it moved away from its original meaning and it can now be used to refer to more than just a language of commerce. ELF or English as a lingua franca can be defined as a mode of communication between speakers with different first languages that use English to communicate with one another (Seidlhofer, 2005). Most interactions where English as a lingua franca is used, are between two non-native speakers of English. It is even estimated that “on a global basis non-native speaker of English now outnumber native speakers” (Firth, 1996). Conversations between people with different first languages are extremely common in the world we live in. When people from different backgrounds, with a different culture and a different first language want to talk to one another, they resort to English. English can hence be called a “contact language” as a chosen foreign language to enable communication (Firth, 1996). English has moved from a native language to an international language, “as a useful way to make yourself understood in an international encounter” (Carton, 2018).

3.2.2 ELF: English and social media

The World Wide Web arose in the 1990’s, during the start of globalisation. This was a time when English had already taken up its central role as the lingua franca of the world. The World Wide Web had become the communication medium par excellence to connect a global world and thus English was often used to communicate in this global medium.

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“By the time the internet and the World Wide Web started taking off as a mass phenomenon in the mid 1990’s, English had been established as the global lingua franca for several decades.” (Mair, 2018)

Throughout the evolution of the internet, English held its position as the dominant language and emerged as the language of cyberspace (Murray, 2000). “English-related communicative phenomena are increasingly practised in online encounters” (Seargeant, 2011). Like in the offline world, English is used as a contact language to facilitate communication with different cultures and languages. Globalisation goes hand in hand with “the increasingly complex and multifaceted interactions of localism and globalism” and therefore, English has the central role of connecting local to global (Mair, 2018). Just like in the real world, ELF serves as a useful way for speakers with different first languages to communicate.

However, this global dominance is not only the result of English as the lingua franca in online communication, but also as a consequence of the development of technology. The first computational machine was invented by English speakers and the development of the internet arose in the United States (Murray, 2000). The first computer was invented by Charles Babbage to solve a mathematical problem instantly and, later, Alan Turing invented a universal machine during the Second World War. These two men were the first in creating a computer-like device and were both English. The further evolution of the online world then followed in the United States. The internet was first developed by the U.S. Department of Defence and then transformed into the World Wide Web. The most important browser of our age, Google, originated in the United States and even most of the apps and electronic devices we use on a daily basis are English. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat were all invented in English speaking countries and the pioneer in creating electronic devices, Steve Jobs of ‘Apple’, was an American citizen.

3.2.3 Language preference on social media

Although we have established that English as a lingua franca occupies a central position in all global communication and social media communication in particular, this does not evidently lead to the language preference of English on Instagram by the Flemish population. Language preference has been researched by academics all over the world, but they do not come to a general consensus. Gerritsen (2000) concludes that Dutch subjects’ attitudes towards English in advertisements are generally rather negative, but the attitude of the subjects towards English language use changes when English appears textually and is not only spoken. Hornikx (1973) and Nederstigt (2018), on the other hand, analyse that different languages in a slogan do not seem to affect the attitude of the consumers towards the product. Foreign language use does not necessarily make an advertisement more effective than the same advertisement in the native language of the consumer (Nederstigt, 2018). It does not matter which language you use to convey a message, as long as it is understood. All academic research agrees on the fact that “comprehension affects appreciation” (Hornikx, 1973). People need to understand a language to have a positive attitude towards advertisement in that language. “Young subjects always have a more positive attitude towards English” because their level of competence in English is generally higher than the general population and they are more familiar with English as an international language (Gerritsen, 2000).

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In the case of Instagram, English only appears in text and people generally react more positively towards the use of written English. On Instagram, English is used to communicate with an international following, and because the difference in language does not affect the consumer’s attitude, there is no reason not to use English as a lingua franca on Instagram (Hornikx, 1973). Instagram captions are generally short and clear and should therefore not pose a problem for the general Instagram user.

The Belgian population has a general high knowledge of the English language and English is therefore often used on international platforms of Belgian brands. These national brands follow the social media trend with the overuse of English, because they believe it is understood by the Belgian population and the use of English opens the possibility for a Belgian brand to become internationally known. By creating an all-English Instagram, Belgian companies can communicate with both their Belgian and International following at the same time. This use of English by Belgian brands can also be explained by Belgium’s complex linguistic landscape (Van den Heede, 2019). Our country has three official languages, Dutch, French and German, and to address the entire Belgian population, Belgian companies rely on English as the lingua franca to convey a clear and homogeneous message.

3.3 GENERATION Z

3.3.1 Generation Z: characteristics

Generation Z or GenZers are born from 1990 to 2000 and are the twenty-something people of our age (Tulgan, 2013). They were brought up in a world full of uncertainty with “global terrorism, the aftermath of 9/11, school violence, economic uncertainty, recession and the mortgage crisis” (Williams, 2015). In this world they had no time to be a child and lost their childhood completely. They were taught to be independent and strong but they, at the same time, were protected by everyone around them. Although they were brought up in such dangerous times, they are generally confident and optimistic. Zoomers believe that they can change the world and are very imaginative in doing so. Because of this slight arrogance, GenZers do not like to be told what to think. In this generation it is “cool to be smart” (Williams, 2015). GenZers are the new conservatives for they are fond of tradition, family values and they are self-controlled and responsible. This generation is located in the midst of globalisation and is vulnerable for all the online and offline dangers the world throws at them. Therefore, it is their priority to stay safe (Williams, 2015).

GenZers “are accustomed to high-tech and multiple information sources, with messages bombarding them from all sides. They have never lived without the internet” (Williams, 2015).

They mastered technology like none other and use it every day. With all this possible scamming on the internet, the GenZers prefer realness. Generation Z is “highly educated, technologically savvy, innovative and creative” (Priporas, 2017). With social media they, more than ever, seek human connections (Tulgan, 2013). They live in a world in which they can connect to anyone any time, while being alone in their room. This generation seeks for the real human connection through the online world, a real paradox. They are the key generation in our online reality and “it will be

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increasingly important to understand where they are coming from” (Tulgan, 2013). Generation Z will become more powerful than any generation before them in marketing and, therefore, it is necessary that we understand them (Priporas, 2017).

3.3.2 Generation Z in relation to Generation Y and X

Many academics criticise the term “millennials” for having a too broad time frame. Men and women in their thirties cannot be compared to tweens and therefore, millennials were divided into two different generations: Generation Y and Generation Z. Generation Y is born in 1978-1989 and are now in their thirties. They are now often called the millennials of our age (Tulgan, 2013).

“Millennials, after all were raised during the boom times and relative peace of the 1990’s, only to see their sunny world dashed by the Sept. 11 attacks and two economic crashes, in 2000 and 2008. Theirs is a story of innocence lost. Generation Z, by contrast, has its eyes open from the beginning, coming along in the aftermath of those cataclysms in the era of the war on terror and the Great Recession.” (Williams, 2015)

Generation Y was born during a time of peace, corrupted by chaos, while Generation Z was born in the midst of this chaos. This causes enormous differences in personality. Millennials were brought up in a digital world, but “Generation Z is the first generation to be raised in the era of smartphones” (Williams, 2015).

GenZers are highly defined by their parents, Generation X (Tulgan, 2013). Because of Generation X’s unsafe youth, they wanted to create a safe environment for their children that made the GenZers turn into the optimistic and confident youth they are today. Generation Z became, in many ways, the opposite to Generation X. Generation X “tried to give their children the safe, secure childhood that they never had” (Williams, 2015). Both generations experienced hard times while growing up. Generation X representatives are born in 1965-1981, beginning with the end of the baby boom (Williams, 2011). Just like GenZers they prioritise family values (Ortner, 1998) and they are characterised by the destruction of the old middle class. “The top and the bottom of the middle class began pulling away from one another” (Ortner, 1998) and the wealthy middle class of baby boomers split into the lower middle class and the upper middle class. The biggest difference between Generation X and Z, however, is that Gen Xers were not raised in a world of technology.

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4 Qualitative approach: The Flemish beer industry on Instagram

4.1 METHODOLOGY

4.1.1 Selection

I started this qualitative investigation by selecting Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry. To select the right Instagram accounts that portray the presence of the Flemish beer industry on Instagram in all its diversity, I had to first look through as many Flemish beer brand accounts as possible. After looking through all the Flemish official beer accounts I could find, I divided the Flemish beer industry on Instagram into three main groups: the beer distributors, the beers with international fame and the more national beers with less international success. I randomly selected nine Instagram accounts of brands in the Flemish beer industry within these three groups. For beer distributors, I chose to further investigate AB Inbev as the big player, Brussels Beer Project as the middle player and BeerSelect as the smaller player. Among international Flemish beer, Stella Artois was chosen to represent the big player among international beers, Duvel as the middle player and Delirium as the underdog. In the category of national beers, Leffe, Hoegaarden and Liefmans were selected as, respectively, the big, middle and smaller player.

4.1.2 Instagram analysis

I then moved to Instagram to analyse the Instagram activity of the selected beer brands and beer distributors. In every case, I looked at the number of followers, posts and the number of likes of the most liked post. I continued the investigation by analysing the Instagram activity of every beer brand or beer distributor, each day, for one month. Starting on Monday 30th of March until Monday 27th of April, I investigated the daily Instagram activity of each selected Instagram account. I made a list of the amount of posts they created each week, the number of stories they uploaded each week, if they chose English or Dutch to convey the message and if followers chose to respond to posts in English, Dutch or other languages.

4.2 RESULTS QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION

4.2.1 Distributors

AB Inbev has several accounts on Instagram, but for the purpose of this Instagram analysis I chose to only analyse the Instagram account directed to the Flemish Instagram users. AB Inbev Careers Europe (@abinbev_careers_europe) posted 167 times, has a following of 2.552 Instagram accounts and its most liked post has 163 likes. @abinbev_careers_europe is the account directed to Europe and the only account directed to Belgium and is entirely in English. Followers always respond to

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posts in English. Because of their position as an international player, they have an international following on Instagram. @abinbev_careers_europe posts one post each week with an English caption, but they did not post any stories during the investigated month. Everything they communicate towards their following is in English. Followers respond to these posts in English as well.

Week Number of posts Language of posts Number of stories Language of stories

Week 1 1 English 0 /

Table 1: Instagram activity AB Inbev

Beerselect, on the other hand, has one account on Instagram (@beerselect) with 8 posts, 981 followers and a most liked picture with 118 likes. Its following is limited on Instagram, but this is to be expected as they only started in 2016. Beerselect’s bio is in English but the account alternates between English and Flemish captions, stories and story collection titles. Followers respond on posts in English and Dutch. BeerSelect is a national and small player and has a national following on Instagram. @beerselect was inactive on Instagram during the entire month. In the investigated month, they posted nothing, and they created no stories. I could not analyse their language preference on their story and post, but earlier posts show a mix of English and Dutch captions, with the majority being in English.

Week Number of posts Language of posts Number of stories language of stories

Week 1 0 / 0 /

Week 2 0 / 0 /

Week 3 0 / 0 /

Week 4 0 / 0 /

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Moving on to Brussels Beer Project, they have one business account on Instagram

(@brusselsbeerproject) with 527 posts, 22.400 followers, and a most liked post of 1.089 likes. It is impressive for a starting business to be this present on a social medium like Instagram. The

Instagram bio, captions and stories are always in English. Followers respond to posts in English, Dutch and their own native language. There is a lot of linguistic diversity in comments on Brussels Beer Project posts, but the presence of English is overpowering. Brussels Beer Project is a national player in the beer industry but enjoys a national and international following on Instagram.

@brusselsbeerproject is very active on their stories and feed. Most stories are user-generated and are therefore in the language of choice of the follower, but own content stories were always accompanied by English text. English was most frequent in the user-generated stories as well, followed by Dutch and French. Followers comment on their posts in English, Dutch and French.

Week 1 4 English 50 English/Dutch/ French

Week 2 4 English 30 English/Dutch/ French

Week 3 1 English 20 English/ Dutch/ French

Week 4 2 English 24 English/ Dutch/ French

Table 3: Instagram activity Brussels Beer Project

4.2.2 International Beers

Stella Artois has one Instagram account (@stellaartois) with 532 posts, 181.000 followers, and a most liked post of 38.022 likes. Stella Artois has a large following, presumably because of their strong position in the international beer market. Both the Instagram bio, captions and stories are always in English. Because of the international audience they have, Stella Artois is forced to use English as a lingua franca. Followers respond to posts in English, Dutch and their own native language. There is a lot of linguistic diversity in comments on Stella Artois’ posts, but the presence of English is overpowering. Stella Artois is sold worldwide and has a loyal and global fanbase. Because of their worldwide fanbase, their Instagram is directed at their international community. @stellaartois has an average Instagram activity. They posted an estimated three posts each week, always accompanied by an English caption and they always create own content stories with English text. English comments were most frequent, but the cultural diversity of their following was noticeable in the responses.

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Week 1 2 English 12 English

Table 4: Instagram activity Stella Artois

Duvel has one account on Instagram (@duvel_belgium) with 226 posts, 34.900 followers, and a most liked post of 1.885 likes. The large following and likes on the Instagram account might probably be the result of the success Duvel has in the beer market. The Instagram bio is in English, their stories are mostly in Dutch and their posts are in English with a sporadic use of Dutch once in a while. Followers respond to posts in English and Dutch, but English responses are more frequent than Dutch comments. Duvel is an international player, but their most loyal community is mainly Flemish. On Instagram they need to address the international following they enjoy and keep their Flemish community loyal to the brand. @duvel_belgium is very active on Instagram and both their posts and user-generated stories are a mixture of English and Dutch, although only one post in the investigated month is in Dutch. The followers often react on posts in Dutch, but English comments were more common.

Week 1 3 English/Dutch 46 English/ Dutch

Week 2 1 English 35 English/ Dutch

Table 5: Instagram activity Duvel

Delirium has one account on Instagram (@delirium_brewery) with 423 posts, 31.800 followers and a most liked post of 7534 likes. Delirium has been a popular national Belgian beer for a long time

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but is now moving to the international scene. Delirium’s Instagram is entirely English. Both bio, captions and stories are only in English. This could be the result of their recent international success. Followers respond to posts in English, Dutch and their own native language. There is a lot of linguistic diversity in comments on Delirium’s posts, but the presence of English is overpowering. Delirium is a new player on the global playground and therefore needs to address their international community on Instagram to work on their international image. @delirium_brewery is moderately active on Instagram and all their posts have English captions in the investigated month. Delirium always shared user generated stories, which for the large majority were in English, followed by Dutch and a small number of Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic stories. Followers commented mostly in English, but Dutch, French and Spanish comments appeared as well.

Table 6: Instagram activity Delirium

4.2.3 National Beers

Hoegaarden has one account on Instagram (@hoegaarden) with 207 posts, 27.500 followers, and a most liked post of 1.693 likes. Both the Instagram bio, captions and stories are always in English. Followers respond to posts in English, Dutch and their own native language. There is a lot of linguistic diversity in comments on Hoegaarden posts, but the presence of English is overpowering. Hoegaarden has a loyal Flemish fanbase but is also sold internationally. They need to address both their Flemish and International community on Instagram. @hoegaarden is rather inactive on Instagram, with only one post on week one. Their posts are always in English. Hoegaarden was completely inactive on Instagram on week two, three and four: no posts and no stories. In this week I could not analyse their language preference on their stories, but they did create one post, which had an English caption.

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Week 2 0 / 0 /

Week 3 0 / 0 /

Week 4 0 / 0 /

Table 7: Instagram activity Hoegaarden

Moving on to the middle player, Leffe has one account on Instagram (@leffe_belgium) with 37 posts, 10.600 followers, and a most liked post of 1.581 likes. Leffe has a rather large Instagram community in comparison to their activity on Instagram and their position in the beer industry as being more of a middle player in the Belgian beer market. However, most posts get around a hundred likes. The Instagram bio is in English, but the captions and stories are a mix of English, Dutch and French. Posts are often repeated: the same informational post is first posted in a French version and then reposted in a Dutch version. Leffe followers comment on the post in the language they are addressed in. A Dutch post gets Dutch comments, an English post gets English comments. Leffe is a national beer and therefore needs to address their national community on Instagram. @leffe_belgium was entirely inactive on Instagram during week one and three but created posts on week two and four. Leffe always posted in English during the investigated month and their stories are own content and in English as well. Followers commented on the posts in English, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian.

Week 1 0 / 0 /

Week 3 0 / 0 /

Table 8: Instagram activity Leffe

Liefmans has one account on Instagram (@liefmans) with 193 posts, 4.023 followers and a most liked post of 1.222 likes. Liefmans is a true underdog on the Belgian market. Liefmans is part of a smaller unit within the beer business as a fruit beer and has a limited following. Both the

Instagram bio and captions are always in English. Their stories are a mix of English and Dutch. Followers respond to posts in English and Dutch, with equal Dutch and English comments on the

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Liefmans’ feed. Liefmans is a national beer, but with their relaunching they need to connect to a larger community on Instagram to attract new customers. @liefmans is active on Instagram. They always post in English, but their stories are mostly user-generated and therefore they are often a mix of English and Dutch. Comments on the posts were in English and Dutch, the first being more common.

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5 Qualitative approach: Interviews

5.1 METHODOLOGY

5.1.1 Interview guide

To start this qualitative part of the study, an interview guide was made to use as an example for all in-depth interviews to come. All interviews started with general questions on demographics and the daily Instagram activity of the participants. Then followed photo related questions to three examples of posts by beer accounts, to sketch the general attitude of the interviewee towards English captions on Instagram posts of the Flemish beer industry. Following the funnel technique, the interview guide first continued with transitional questions and then moved towards the three main questions: 1) Does English enjoy the same position as a lingua franca in Flemish Instagram marketing? 2) Is there a difference in attitude between Generation X and Z towards English on Instagram? 3) Does the level of competence in English influence preference towards English on Instagram?

The complete interview guide can be found in Appendix 1. All the questions of the interview guide are based on own insights.

5.1.2 Participant recruitment

After the creation of the interview guide, I had to find ten suitable interviewees that wanted to participate in this study. To compare the attitudes of Generation Z towards English on Instagram to the opinions of Generation X, sixty percent of the interviewees had to be part of Generation Z and forty percent of the interviewees needed to be Gen Xers. This division was made to mainly hear the opinion of Generation Z but have the opportunity to compare their attitude towards English on Instagram to that of Generation X, their parents. GenZers needed to own and use an Instagram account and the Gen Xers were equally divided into representatives owning an Instagram or not, to demonstrate the contrast between GenZers as the technology driven generation and Gen X, born in a world without social media. Both Generation X and Z needed to be fifty percent female and fifty percent male to have an equal representation of the sexes.

5.1.3 The interviewees

The participant recruitment resulted into the participation of ten interviewees: six GenZers and four of Generation X. In the figure below (Table 10) the interviewees are listed with information on their age, place of residence and if they are Generation Z or X.

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Name Gen X or Z Age Instagram? Residence

Interviewee 1 Z 26 Yes Waarschoot

Interviewee 2 Z 24 Yes Lembeke

Interviewee 3 Z 25 Yes Gent

Interviewee 4 Z 28 Yes Balgerhoeke

Interviewee 5 Z 27 Yes Balgerhoeke

Interviewee 6 Z 24 Yes Zelzate

Interviewee 7 X 54 No Waarschoot

Interviewee 8 X 48 No Waarschoot

Interviewee 9 X 47 Yes Destelbergen

Interviewee 10 X 51 Yes Adegem

Table 10: Interviewees

5.1.4 Interviews

Due to the COVID-19 virus, all interviews were taken online through Skype. On the 14th of April, I interviewed the first interviewee and ended with the last interview on the 27th of May. Each interview was approximately 30 minutes and was planned to fit the interviewee’s schedule. Each time, I leaned towards the more personal and informal style of communication to enable the interviewees to share their true opinion, as unaffected as possible by the purpose of the interview. In each interview, I tried to encourage the interviewee to talk and tried to limit my own talking to the bare minimum, to result in a somewhat stream of consciousness of the interviewee to come to the authentic attitude of each interviewee towards the subject.

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5.2 RESULTS

5.2.1 Zoomers attitudes towards English on Instagram

All interviewed Zoomers were active on Instagram and spend a lot of time on social media with a maximum of five hours each day. Instagram is always present in their day to day lives, even if only for ten minutes a day. Zoomers often check their Instagram out of habit, without even thinking about it. Instagram has become such a fixed part of their daily routine that they handle out of habit: “I go to Instagram out of habit”. When asked to describe the perfect Instagram business account, the interviewees often emphasize the need for good pictures, a balance between not posting enough and posting too much, not only promotional posts, no photoshop but a real representation of life and a touch of humour. What popular brands have in common is that they do not focus on the promotion of the product, but they focus on the experience of their audience on Instagram. They show their following how to use their products, they create mini-series, they address other interests of their following, etc. GenZers like short and clear captions and they do not mind for a caption to only make sense in relation to the picture. “The caption itself is very good like I said, funny note, fun use of the hashtag, maybe too little to do with the beer itself, of course it is related to the beer when you look at the picture.” Zoomers did not like giveaways and contests on Instagram. When the Generation Z subjects are asked about their attitude towards business accounts on Instagram, they are always negative about sponsored advertisements on their stories but are positive or neutral about following business accounts on Instagram. They stress the importance of free will. If they made the choice to follow a business account, they have no problem with promotional posts, because they chose to follow the brand themselves. All participants agree that companies need to make Instagram accounts and need to join the trend.

“Every brand has to have an Instagram account because it is easy publicity and you can reach a big audience with it; you have to join the trend. But I don’t notice these ads on my feed anymore, I’m used to it.”

Moving on to the linguistic landscape on Instagram, all interviewees of Generation Z do not mention the fact that Flemish beer brands often use English in their caption. They tell me they do not notice this omnipresence of English because they are used to English on Instagram or that they did not mind because it is obvious that businesses use English to address an international following. “All posts on Instagram are in English nowadays, so I don’t even notice anymore.” All participants were asked if they would choose English or Dutch if they were responsible for the creation of a Flemish business Instagram account. All but one chose English. One subject of the interviewed GenZers chose Dutch, because her knowledge of English is not sufficient in her opinion. She does mention that this would limit the reach of her brand, because in some scenarios you have to use English, such as when a brand is international. All other interviewees chose English because you can only use Dutch when a business only sells locally. And even when you only sell locally, you could use English as well because the main audience of Instagram, youngsters, understand English in Belgium. They would not promote the usage of Dutch on Instagram because every company wants to grow, and if they go beyond the Flemish borders, English is necessary. “Almost all companies want to go international so just all start in English, then you don’t make it too hard on yourself.” Another

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reason for their abundant choice of English is the complex reality of Belgium. Belgium has three official languages and if you use Dutch, you also have to incorporate French and German into your Instagram account, and that is just too confusing for the audience and too much work for a marketing team. All interviewees agree that if you are bad in English you will not be so fond of the omnipresence of English on Instagram and these people might not follow Flemish Instagram business accounts that write in English. However, they always refer to the present reality: Instagram is mostly used by Generation Z and they generally have a high level of competence in English. The general consensus is that, yes linguistic competence influences language preference but Instagram users are generally capable of understanding the short and easy English captions on Instagram. “No, the English on Instagram is simplified and short and everyone can understand these easy and short captions, no matter what their level of English is.” Every subject thinks it is a positive thing that English is so present on Instagram. When asked why they think their generation has a such a positive attitude towards English on Instagram, they agree that this is a consequence of the high competence of English of their generation. Because they are generally good at English, they understand every English caption on Instagram and do not mind this omnipresence of English on Instagram.

“All my friends are good at English, so I think so. Our generation is better at English than previous generations like our parents and, therefore, we have no trouble with all this English on Instagram.”

5.2.2 Generation X’s attitude towards English on Instagram

Generation X spends a lot less time on social media. The Gen Xers who do have an Instagram account do not spend a lot of time on this social media platform. One individual says that he spends 20 minutes a day on Instagram and another participant checks her Instagram only once a week. Gen Xers prefer longer captions and they like posts with giveaways or contests and a link to current events. The picture of the post to them is very important and they are fond of a caption that conveys a positive message. When asked what they thought about business accounts on Instagram, opinions were rather divided. A striking comment by one participant is that, to him, perfect Instagram business account needs to use easy English sentences for him to understand.

When discussing the linguistic landscape on Instagram, Generation X subjects do not come to an agreement. Two Generation X subjects mentioned the use of English by the Flemish beer brands, but the other two interviewees did not notice. Participants address that you have to use English on Instagram as a business to communicate to an international following, but two interviewees are frustrated to be confronted with English on a daily basis, because their level of English is not high enough to understand everything. They put their position in contrast with Generation Z, who were brought up in a world where English classes are obligatory, and you encounter English in every corner of your life. Nevertheless, they find that English in Instagram captions generally uses easier grammar and vocabulary, so most of the time, they can also understand the English captions on Instagram. There is no consensus on the language they would choose if they owned a Flemish company that was active on Instagram. Two of the interviewees would post in English, because it is the international language of our age and the language most often used on Instagram. The other two subjects would use English if the company is international and use Dutch if a brand is solely known on a local level and targeted an older generation. Every Gen X interviewee agrees that if you

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cannot understand English, you would not be positive about an all-English campaign on Instagram and you would not follow that brand. However, all subjects do admit that they hardly encounter any difficult captions on Instagram and are, therefore, not often confronted with their lacking English.

“Yes, I do think that people who are bad at English will not be positive about brands that only post in English, but if they use short, clear and simple phrases, I think everyone will understand, the people who are bad at English as well. Maybe men in their seventies still won’t understand, but that is a very small group of people, so I would not take them into account. They are not on Instagram anyway.”

None of the informants would recommend a brand to use a mix of Dutch and French to address their Belgian following. They would prefer Dutch because they are more familiar with the language than with English and would understand everything the company wants to communicate. “My preference goes to one language, Dutch, because then I can understand everything.” They all agree that if you use English on Instagram and address Generation X, you would limit the opportunities of the brand. Generation X will only be interested in an Instagram business account in English if they are already interested in their products and want to know more. We have to nuance this critique, because Generation X is not the predominant target group on Instagram and they do understand this omnipresence of English, because it is an international platform.

“To me, it’s not important, but to companies, I think it’s very important to communicate internationally. The Belgian economy lives of international trade, so you have to communicate in English to encourage that.”

5.2.3 Differences in attitude towards English on Instagram in Generation X and Z

A first difference between Generation X and Z is that Generation Z is a lot more active on social media, particularly on Instagram. Generation Z representatives have an Instagram account and check their Instagram daily, while Generation X often does not even have an Instagram account, and if they do, they check it only once a week or for a few minutes per day. Instagram has become part of the daily routine of Generation Z, and this is not the case for Generation X. Generation Z puts heavy emphasis on the importance of the picture of a post. The picture needs to be aesthetically pleasing, inviting and realistic. Generation X only wants the picture to be realistic so Generation Z will not be affected mentally by the perfect body of unrealistic models. Generation Z often finds a post more likeable when it can be called funny. An apparent difference between the attitudes of Generation X and Z is that Generation Z prefers a caption to be very short and Generation X needs more information. Generation Z even describes too long captions as ‘bad Instagramming’. For Generation X the caption needs to make sense on its own, but Generation Z looks at the picture first and then makes sense of the caption linked to it. Generation Z is often annoyed by all these giveaways on Instagram, while Generation X finds this inviting. When asked to describe the perfect Instagram business account, Generation Z emphasizes the need for a balance between not posting enough and posting too much and focussing on the experience of the audience on Instagram. Generation X does not mind a business Instagram to be just about promotion, while Generation Z finds it of the utmost importance to focus on the experience of the product and not the product itself. Generation X does not mention the relevance of frequency in posting, while Generation Z finds this very important. A

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last clear opposition in the attitude of Generation X and Z lays in the language preference on Instagram. None of the GenZer participants notice the heavy use of English by the Flemish beer companies, because they are used to the omnipresence of English on Instagram and approve of this presence. Generation X, on the other hand, note that they do not understand the English captions and would prefer a Dutch caption.

5.2.4 An affirmation of the theoretical framework

The virtual world has indeed evolved into a part of everyday life, at least in the case of Generation Z. In relation to the theoretical framework regarding Generation Z and X, the qualitative investigations endorse the fact that GenZers “are accustomed to high-tech and multiple information sources, with messages bombarding them from all sides. They have never lived without the internet.” (Williams, 2015) Generation Z uses social media platforms every day and checks its Instagram feed daily. The biggest difference between Generation X and Z, is indeed that Gen Xers were not raised in a world of technology, and do not use social media as regularly as Generation Z. However, although academic literature suggests that Facebook is still the most popular Network website, this is only the case for Generation X. To Generation Z, Instagram has become the most important social media platform. Because of this growing importance of social media and Instagram in particular, almost all businesses are indeed present on Instagram and need a social media strategy. All investigated beer brands had an Instagram account, although some were more active on Instagram than others. Like academic literature suggests, companies highly depend upon user-generated content to further create a feel of community. The majority of the investigated business accounts use user-generated stories regularly.

We can also confirm that English is everywhere in the 21st century and that even on Instagram, most interactions in which English as a lingua franca is used, are in between two non-native speakers of English. Flemish businesses communicate to an international following in English. English has become the “contact language” (Firth, 1996) of Instagram. Throughout the evolution of the internet, English stayed the dominant language and has become the language of Instagram. However, this dominance of English on Instagram is also a consequence of the development of the app. Instagram is an American app and all Instagram terminology was therefore English from the start. We can also confirm the theoretical framework on “comprehension affects appreciation” (Hornikx, 1973) and written English. Generation X and Z are indeed rather positive towards English captions on Instagram. All Generation Z subjects understand all given captions and, although half of Generation X subjects struggle with the English captions, they do admit that English Instagram captions are in general short and clear and do not create any confusion whatsoever. Comprehension does indeed affect appreciation and because English Instagram captions are easy to understand, every caption is appreciated by both generations. This investigation also confirms that the Belgian population has a general high knowledge of the English language and English is therefore often used on international platforms of Belgian brands. Only three of the interviewed participants claimed to not possess a high understanding of the English language. Young subjects always have a more positive attitude towards English, because their level of competence in English is generally higher than the general population and they are more familiar with English as an international language (Gerritsen, 2000), but we can see improvement in Generation X, with half of the Gen Xer interviewees claiming to be

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highly capable of understanding the English language. This use of English by Belgian brands can also be explained by the complex Belgian landscape (Van den Heede, 2019). All interviewees address the complex linguistic situation of Belgium that disables companies to only use Dutch on Instagram. All subjects preferred the use of one language on Instagram and admit that the use of English on Instagram solves this linguistic complexity.

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6 Conclusion

6.1 CONCLUSION QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: BENCHMARKING

RQ1: Does English serve as a lingua franca on Instagram?

Yes, through the benchmarking of the nine beer Instagram accounts, this study shows the omnipresence of English in captions of posts, bio, comments on posts, own content stories and user-generated stories. Although companies generally prefer English captions and English own content stories, there is still room for followers to comment on these posts in their own native language and, stories in the native languages of followers tagging the beer brand, are still shared. Nevertheless, the majority of Flemish Instagram marketing is in English.

RQ1a: If so, is English omnipresent on the Instagram accounts of the Flemish beer industry like English as a lingua franca on the internet?

English as a lingua franca has a large influence on the presence of English in the Flemish beer industry. In the Flemish beer industry, we came to the conclusion that the Flemish beer industry heavily uses English in both their posts and their stories and that followers often follow the trend and comment in English or create stories in English which are then shared by the beer company on their story. AB Inbev, Stella and Hoegaarden used only English to communicate to their Instagram audience, both with their posts and their stories. BeerSelect, BBP, Delirium and Liefmans’ posts were always in English and stories were, for the majority, in English as well. The only beer companies in which Dutch formed a real competition to English was in the cases of Duvel and Leffe. Duvel often posted in English but posted one post with a Dutch caption. Comments to Duvel-posts were often in Dutch and user-generated stories that were shared by Duvel were often in Dutch as well. Leffe shared a Dutch post as well, in addition to their English posts. Still, the majority of comments and user-generated stories were in English.

6.2 CONCLUSION QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: INTERVIEWS

RQ2: Is there a difference in preference between Generation X and Z towards the use of English by Instagram beer accounts?

Generation X and Z do have different preferences in the use of English on Instagram. None of the Gen Z participants notice the heavy use of English by Flemish companies and even prefer these companies to use English on Instagram. Generation X, on the other hand, still prefers Dutch on Instagram, although they understand that Instagram is an international social media platform.

RQ2a: Does Generation Z prefer the use of English on Instagram brand accounts? Yes, Generation Z prefers Flemish Instagram brand accounts to use English in their post captions, stories and bio. They are used to the omnipresence of English on social media, and Instagram in particular, and have a positive attitude towards English on Instagram, because of its advantages to businesses. With English, a company can address the international audience active on Instagram and the brand can stimulate international growth of the business. The use of Dutch on Instagram seems too limiting to Generation Z.

RQ2b: Does Generation X prefer the use of English on Instagram brand accounts? No, the majority of Generation X participants want Flemish Instagram brand accounts to use Dutch in their post captions, stories and bio. They do, however, understand that this is not a possibility on Instagram. Flemish brands can only use Dutch when they are only active in