Are you superstitious? Superstitions, including the potential for bad luck when the 13th day of the month happens to fall on a Friday, are found in all ‘corners’ of the globe. In the U.S., and in many other countries, common superstitions include: avoid walking under a ladder, seven years of bad luck if a mirror breaks, good luck if it rains on your wedding day, and don’t forget the poor black cat – it certainly has a strong burden of superstitions to bear.
And while it can be fun to joke about superstitions, nervously sometimes, they are no laughing matter when it comes to business and marketing. This is why, as we have written before, it’s important to work with people familiar with the local culture and language of your target market to transcreate your brand and messaging.
Superstitions are believed to influence chance, either positively or negatively. For example, the devil, or using words and images related to the devil, should be avoided in Latin American countries. In Russia, Hungary, China, and others, it is often considered bad luck to give parents a present for their baby before it is born. Therefore, many people have parties, or baby showers, after the baby arrives. In Greece, there is a tendency to spit for a number of superstitious reasons. The most common is to keep evil away. Oh, and that fear of Friday the 13th – it is known as paraskavedekatriaphobia. The phobia even affects the travel industry, as many people are too afraid to fly or travel on this day.
In addition to actions and symbols, color plays a strong role in good luck vs. bad luck. Depending on the culture, white can signify purity or death, and the same is true for black. Red can be a color of luck and good fortune or danger and evil. (For more on the topic of color, read this article in Chief Marketer.)
What superstitions are common in your culture or country? We’d love your comments.
To get you started, and for a bit of fun, check out the new iOS Superstition App. The application provides a list of the most common superstitions not just in the U.S., but also globally from different cultures. Some of the superstitions on the app go back thousands of years and others have only been introduced to our present day society recently.
