Thanks for sharing the update, Seddon. It indeed contains a wealth of
information on readers from Japan.
Could you please expand on this:
We found a more urgent, direct translation was
perceived as better than a more natural translation.
I have just skimmed it, so I might have missed something, but the PDF
you linked
<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/ef/Report.WikimediaJapan.f.071916.pdf>
(Page 8, "Executive Summary: Banners, Emails, and Images") gives this
analysis:
On explicit measures of which banner they find most
visually
appealing and which they prefer overall, readers say they prefer
Banner B (the more polite language) over Banner A. Banner A is
viewed as too blunt and direct.
It sounds like at least there is one factor against using banners with
a direct translation.
Best,
Yusuke