Pragmatic analysis of advertisements. Introduction with Elaboration likelihood model.(psychological analysis of advertisements) Whosoever see this slide, do watch this Nestle campaign #shareyourgoodness and Open Happiness campaign by coca cola. Nestle campaign : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syZju6ui394 Coca Cola Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dHOzw5KSlE

1. TOWARD A PRAGMATIC
UNDERSTANDING OF ADVERTISEMENTS
Advertising, Psychology and Pragmatics

2. Index
• Introduction-Psychology of Advertising
• Looking Beyond the frame
• Why Pragmatics?-Discussions and Findings
1. Presuppositions
2. Emotional Appeals
3. Context
4. Intertexuality
5. Deixis
6. Conversational tone
7. Fuzziness
• Conclusion

3. Introduction: Psychology of
Advertising
Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental process.
Advertisements
A commercial appeal that is a form of communication
designed to sell commodity or service
Inform. Persuade. Influence

4. Persuasion – ELM Model
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
ELM identifies two ways a communication
can be persuasive
• The central route
• The peripheral route
The route which is taken is dependent upon
the abilities of processing and motivation of
the receiver.

5. Persuasion – ELM Model

6. Persuasion – ELM Model

7. Persuasion – ELM Model
IGNORED CUES

8. An Example- Coca Cola
First, Coca Cola asked you to believe in happier tomorrow. Now
how you can have that happier tomorrow, by opening the bottle
of coke implies “Open Happiness”

9. Looking beyond the Frame!
True pragmatic analysis of advertisements requires
“looking beyond the frame” of the media message – the
individual TV commercial, news story or website, for
example – to examine its context.
Decoding the
message!
Nestle. #ShareYourGoodness
When goodness is shared over food,
life smiles.
That’s why we pack goodness in all
that we do.

10. Pragmatics
Now, we will decode them or look beyond the frame using
concepts of pragmatics and understand how advertisers
are using these concepts to persuade and sell their product
using central or peripheral route.

11. Presuppositions
“a presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be the case prior to
making an utterance. “ - Yule
• Presuppositions are inferences about what is
assumed
• Presuppositions can be drawn even when
there is little or no surrounding context

12. Presuppositions
“ Just married ”
underlines the “fusion” between the car and
the road. This is the effective use of
presupposition. So, it is All wheel drive.
The first and natural presupposition we
make is that the car belongs to a happily
married couple, so maybe this could
be a family car.
BUT

13. Presuppositions
!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! !!! !!!!!!!!
We find no text at all, but a long chain of
exclamation marks.
The idea that there are no words to express
this amazement is implied, the public being
given the possibility to fill in the blanks,
presupposing, of course, that everything is
extraordinary and out of the ordinary, out of
the reach of language and of its capacities

14. Emotional appeals
“a growing body of mood research suggests that feelings can
change the nature of cognitive processing”.
“if the emotional reaction is positive, more positive thoughts may
be generated in response to the message of the ad, because the
emotional reactions one has in response to an advertisement may
influence what gets activated from memory”
The applicability of this to the discourse of
advertising is as follows:

15. Emotional appeals
Etzioni states that even in the area of decision making one finds models
that suggest that the basis for most decisions is emotional.
If advertisers are capable of getting to know what people privately yearn
for, they will have the best chance to arrest their attention and establish
communication. Therefore, advertising is not just about the promotion of
certain branded products or services, but “can also encompass the idea of
texts whose intention is to enhance the image of an individual, group or
organization”.

16. Emotional appeals

17. Context
We speak about a certain context of the advertisement itself, of
a context of the process of decoding the message and also of a
context of the actual interpretation of the ad.
We have to deal here with two concepts:
ambiguity and vague terms
But we need to remember these vague terms cannot be called ambiguous,
but they remain in the sphere of the unclear, of the undetermined.

18. An ambiguous text usually draws the attention; it raises a
question to be answered. The context may indeed clarify the
discourse, as the receiver is allowed to “discover the mystery”
Context

19. Context
“ Lust, Envy, Jealousy. The dangers of a
Volvo”.
In this case, however, the advertisers chose to
exploit “ dangers ” from the point of view of men
and masculinity. The connection might be also
made with women, case in which the temptations
may take a sexual connotation. In both cases,
however, the advertisement underlines
characteristics of men and of the way
they perceive a car.

20. Intertexuality
The term “Intertextuality” refers to the way in which a text can
make use of another one, by referring to it or by simply
integrating it as a part.
“ to be or not to be, that is the question ” is
exploited by a sofa advertisement that
transforms it into “ to buy or
not to buy ”

21. This “ Is no longer the question ” here, as the incredible
price clarifies it. The guarantee comes directly from
Horatio, “ interest free, Horatio ”. The quotation is
central on a specially created background image that
integrates the nowadays sofa into a shakespearean
atmosphere. The central text is definitely meant to
draw the attention, exploiting the popularity of the
phrase.
Intertexuality

22. Deixis
The term “deixis‟ in pragmatics underlines, once again, the relationship
between language and context. This becomes even more important if we speak
of a pragmatic view on advertisements, as they code and decode messages in
context.
As a general view on them, deictic word and structures usually
refer to demonstratives and personal pronouns, time and place
adverbs, tenses, etc.

23. Images in advertisements may also contribute to building
together elements of reference.
Deixis
The text of advertisement on the left underlines, through
the use of deixis, the way the addressee, potential user of
the Roman showers is individualized among the others.
The bathroom is the setting, where the four ducklings are
not enjoying a swim in the water, but leaving, as “ not
Everyone welcomes our latest range of showers ”. The use
of deixis helps differentiating, as we can see, between : (1)
the company (the advertiser) ; (2) you, the one who can
take a choice : to join us or (3) that “someone”, the other,
who is left behind by
the latest inventions.

24. Deixis
The discourse in the next Toyota advertisement
also makes use of deixis ; in this case, the main
distinction refers to the time reference. The new
Toyota Corolla changed the situation : if we
previously could sometimes use an excuse not to
visit his mum‟s, after having bought the Corolla,
this was no longer possible. Both verbs are in the
past but the distinction is made by the adverb “
then ”. This one marks the boundary between
what we could call, in the humorous tone of the
advertisement itself, the period before and after
Corolla.
“We could sometimes avoid going to mum’s by pretending the car wouldn’t start.
Then we got the Corolla.”

25. The conversational tone
The advertising discourse often appears as a dialogue which involves
both parts in the conversation.
The same discourse may be apparently imagined as a monologue,
but a dialogue is most of the times implied. In both cases, the
addressee is directly involved in the conversation, an appeal being
made to his/her own interests, emotions, knowledge.

26. The conversational tone
Mazda advertisement suggests two options:
“tread the same road” or “ blaze a trail ”.
The first one is simply not as interesting
as the second
The first option may be characteristic to the many,
to the majority, while the second is just for you. A
need is created this way, as the one driving the
Mazda naturally stands out, “ blazing a trail ” .

27. The conversational tone
Lots of AIESEC advertisements make use of the same strategies. The advertising
techniques of this student organization underline elements of the brand promise :
“ Are you swimming with the stream or creating a wave ? ”,
“ Are you reading case studies or developing global strategies ? ”,
“ Are you looking for a summer job or a life changing experience ? ”
In this case, the question is directly addressed to the receiver ( “ are you ” ), it
refers to his/her present situation (the use of present continuous) and advertises
the offer of the organization that definitely stands out.

28. Fuzziness in Advertising English
“Fuzziness” as a special form of communication, the commercial
advertisements are actually a kind of persuasive speech act, aiming
to persuade the potential consumers to accept and buy the
advertised products or services.

29. Fuzziness in Advertising English
There are several reasons for advertisers to employ fuzziness in advertising
language.
One of the reasons is the existence of various supervising organization, such as
the Advertising Authority in Britain or the American Federal Trade Commission,
which regulate what advertisers can say and how they should say.
It is generally believed that the appropriate use of fuzzy expressions in
advertising language may bring direct and indirect profits to the producers and
advertisers. Under this circumstance, fuzziness is a useful help.

30. Fuzziness and Politeness Principle
Fuzzy language may be a good way because they have no definite boundaries and
can be understood favorably when appropriately used.
For example:
 Go the Green and Gold!!Over$15 million worth of prizes could be won!
(McDonald)- Tact Maxim
 With America’s best warranty, we see a very long life in your future. (Hyundai)
- Generosity Maxim
 Just like you, we care about how your kids feel. (Johnson&Johnson Skincare) -
Approbation Maxim
 Just slightly ahead of our times. (Panasonic) - Agreement Maxim
 My son is homophobic, but I hope it’s just a phase. (an advertisement for
Terrence Higgin Trust). -Modesty Maxim

31. Fuzziness
It is the taste. (an advertisement for Nescafe)
It is the slogan that makes the Nescafe wide-
spread all over the world and brings Nestle
Company considerable profit.
The advertiser’s purpose is to inform the
audience the superior quality of his product
and then persuade or influence the target
audience to purchase the product. On the
basis of these assumptions, the audience
become aware of the fact that the advertiser
is speaking highly of, not criticizing or
depreciating his product, and want
the audience to share the advantages of the
product.

32. Conclusion
The pragmatic dimensions of face-to-face interaction are constituted in
commercials.
• commercials patently and selectively use pragmatic devices of
everyday talk.
• commercials set up interactions with viewers, interactions which
receive relatively little analytic attention.
• fuzziness can make communication smooth and effective as precise
language can do
• Fuzziness functions irreplaceably and plays a positive role in human
communication and advertising English.
• The language of print advertising abounds with pragmatically-
motivated phraseological units (PUs) such as: idioms, metaphors,
slogans, proverbs, etc. In order to draw the reader’s attention,
advertisers exploit the pragmatic potential of PUs

33. Thank You!
“Pragmatics together with understanding of psychology helps advertisers
to Inform. Persuade. Influence consumers“