¡Órale! : How Country-Specific Accents Limit the Effectiveness of Spanish-Language Campaign Appeals in the United States

Spanish-language appeals are a common tool for mobilizing Latino voters, yet most research treats Spanish as a uniform cue of a panethnic Latino identity. This paper argues that Spanish-language communication operates through a dual-cue logic : it can signal shared panethnicity, while the accent of delivery simultaneously cues national origin attachments. Using a preregistered survey experiment of 953 Mexican-origin Latinos, we test how accent congruence—whether the accent in a Spanish-language appeal matches listeners’ national origin background—shapes evaluations of a Latino candidate. Respondents exposed to a Puerto Rican accent rated the candidate less favorably and perceived weaker commitment to the Mexican-American community than those exposed to a Mexican accent. These findings show that accent incongruence weakens the link between language and representation, highlighting how subtle linguistic variation can complicate identity-based outreach and efforts to mobilize the nation’s second-largest ethno-racial group.