Communication and Persuasion in Localization

Localization is the process of adapting a product to a specific locale. Obviously, this process called localization includes translation. Localization is all about communication. When a company wants to expand their target market, they need to accommodate for the cultural differences of the new market. They do this by localizing their products. The localizer or more commonly known as the localization engineer has the responsibility to take a product and make it usable in the target market/culture. This can be very difficult. For many middle eastern languages that means that the text needs to appear starting on the right, so the audience can read to the left. The localization of a product can make or break the product's success in any given market.

Localization can be necessary without a language barrier. 3dcart, an online retailer, noticed that the Canadian market often bailed on their purchases during the 'checkout' process. They decided to change the billing information to include 'state/province' instead of just 'state' and 'zip/postal code' instead of just 'zip code.' These simple changes don't seem to make a difference to us Americans, but to the Canadians it made the shopper more comfortable. The changes persuaded the online shopper that the retailer knew him or her. Showing the customer that the company understood him or her made all the difference for 3dcart's business in Canada. All they had to do was make the customer feel more at home. This isn't the only way to localize for more customers.

My wife knows that I always need a bottle of hot sauce in the fridge. Fortunately for me, she's the one who stocks the fridge. After failing a few times on getting a hot sauce that I like she finally asked in frustration: "How am I supposed to know what hot sauce is good?" It took me a while to figure out how, but I realized that there is a way without having to taste it: Buy the bottle of hot sauce with the least amount of English on it. If you like Mexican hot sauce, buy the one with Spanish on it. If you like Asian hot sauce, the one with an Asian language. Instead of wanting to buy what I feel more at home with, I always go with the hot sauce that seems the most foreign to me. These companies localize their products well by persuading me that they are foreign.