Our Analysts' Insights

All companies have many regulations and business requirements to comply with today – plus additional scrutiny from enforcers and public commentary alike. It may seem like a never-ending list: doing what’s right for the business, humanity, and the planet. Corporate websites have sections for accessibility; commitment to employees; measures for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); global corporate responsibility; ecological sustainability; and more. Many are striving to find ways to use inclu...

It’s planning time once again, but this task is especially fraught this year as companies are facing another year of turmoil just as large-scale pandemic woes seemed to end. But now, looking at hyperinflation levels not seen in the US and western Europe since the 1970s, companies are naturally cautious. Localization groups – usually treated as a necessary evil in the best of times – may find themselves the target of bean counters eager to save money. So what are you to do when executives and ...

“Would you pay more for a localized product?” That’s been a core question in CSA Research’s long-running “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” (CRWB) series of survey-driven reports. Since our first analysis in 2006 we’ve seen a strong preference for local language and localization, even if it costs the buyer more. That partiality for a user experience persisted in our 2020 survey for B2B buyers of technology products but was less of a factor for our B2C respondents whom we quizzed on more than 20 pu...

Populations that do not speak the dominant language are often ignored in the United States and elsewhere, with the exception of certain regulated industries, such as insurance and healthcare. Of course, Spanish is the major non-English language in the U.S. If treated independently, it would be the world’s eleventh-most-significant tongue in economic terms, just behind Italian and just ahead of Dutch. An additional 12 languages spoken in the U.S. surpass at least one official EU language in popu...

A webinar audience member recently asked about a country not included in our recent “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy – B2C” survey. His question was, “Where is Algeria?” After our half-joking response – “it’s in Northern Africa, east of Morocco” – we answered seriously that the country doesn’t appear on our list of most desirable online markets for economic and technological reasons.

Recently CSA Research launched the third edition of our oft cited “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” research. We originated this topic of research in 2006 and continue to provide companies worldwide with the reliable data they need to plan and execute effective international growth strategies. When you encounter data like this from us or any other source, put on your data scientist hat and ask these two questions: what is the population and is it a representative sample?

With over 222 million Arabic-speaking web users, and an online economic opportunity of 2.5 trillion US dollars in 2020, Arabic is an attractive option for global brands. Nevertheless, it appears on far fewer sites than its potential would indicate. Part of the reason is that localizing into Arabic is not a simple task as it is not a single digital language for content marketing and customer experience. The languages used in the Arabic-speaking world for conversation, social networks, messaging, ...

Far too many companies rely on anecdotal data; rough measures based on GDP, and the number of people who speak languages, or even less precise guides such as executive gut feel or a knee-jerk reaction to loud or political feedback. These methods risk making ineffective decisions for language strategy, instead of using the linguistic portfolio to grow business, increase revenue, and make advances over the competition. Shifting to data for language ROI helps set up realistic expectations and goals...

Ensuring that audiences in various parts of East and Southeast Asia fall in love with the games you create means adapting the characters – and the dialects they speak – appropriately for the region. Your goal is to avoid comical at best, or disastrous at worst, results for your gaming franchise.

Enterprises looking to extend their international footprint face many challenges. Selecting the languages that will give them the best market opportunities is one of these. Every year CSA Research publishes a ranking of the top online languages as determined by their economic opportunity (eGDP). Although this listing – based on macroeconomic factors – is a good predictor of overall investment, the choices individual organizations make are more complex.