К ВОПРОСУ О ТИПОЛОГИЗАЦИИ РЕКЛАМНЫХ ТЕКСТОВ С ПОЗИЦИИ ТЕОРИИ ЯЗЫКА

Introduction

Advertising can be considered as one of the most important socio-cultural phenomena affecting the human psyche. This is essential in the process of understanding of advertising text (its design, content, and purpose of its creation) as the psychological effect on a person is found in emotions, thoughts, acts, and behaviors emerging after viewing advertising and eventually leading to changes in consumer behavior. By conceptualizing any ad message a person’s attitude towards it changes being affected by emotions, and feelings encountered in viewing an ad.

Advertisement is created and spread to achieve predetermined objectives of informing the public or implicit programming of different models of behavior and views. And, consequently, the structures, language, graphics, and fixed objectives of the advertisement may differ significantly; bearing this point, the same could be said of the impact on a person’s views and images, associated with different ads, in a person's inner lexicon.

Advertising, its types, and an impact on lives and society are studied by scientists both in Russia and abroad (for further details [1], [2], [3]). By analyzing the main types of advertising spread in the media, evaluating the language and visual content, we have adjusted the classification of ads through the theory of language.

Discussion

If to talk in general, advertisements can be divided into commercial and non-commercial. Commercial advertisement is aiming at sales promotion to maximize profit. In most cases advertising is commercial. For achieving the underlying objective, advertising must arouse the interest of the targeted group and the general public; therefore it should not be dull. In the great majority of cases, commercial advertising is made up of sentences with 3-5 words, ex.gr. Чайная лавка. Чай. Кофе. Продукты в ассортименте. Часы работы. Оптовым покупателям скидка (Engl.: Tea shop. Tea. Coffee. Wide range of products. Working hours. Discount for wholesale buyers); Магазин ЗАХОДИ! ОДЕЖДА и ОБУВЬ (Engl.: COME ON IN Store! CLOTHES, and SHOES) (see Figure 1). As shown by the examples, a verbal component is supported by a non-verbal one to create a far more comprehensive and clear image, ex.gr. cozy atmosphere in the “Tea shop” (see Figure 1a) visiting which you can enjoy a tasty drink or a shop with the widest assortment where you can find what you want (see Figure 1b).

Fig. 1 – Examples of commercial advertising

Non-commercial advertisement is opposite to commercial one. Non-commercial advertising is aiming at not profit but mass changes in social attitudes and norms, ex.gr. participation in charity programs, promotion of healthy lifestyles, pollution control, assistance to children in difficult circumstances, etc.

The textual part is often supported by quotes from and images of well-known people, such as athletes, politicians, actors, singers, writers, historical figures, etc., ex.gr. the image of Alexander Povetkin, who is 2004 Olympic champion, is complemented by the slogan, «Дух победы у Курян в крови» (Engl.: Winning spirit is in the blood of natives of Kursk) (see Figure 2a) showing that anyone from the Kursk region can win just because he or she was born here; or in the advertisement poster of the anti-fur campaign “Animals are not clothes!”, where singer Yolka states «Для меня мех – это сомнительная роскошь ценой чьей-то жизни»  (Engl.: As for me, fur is a dubious luxury and it’s not the cost of someone’s life), because for fur coats production more than 100 million animals are killed annually worldwide (see Figure 2b). Such advertisements make you want to follow famous people’s way of life, to become a better person, and to make the world a better place to live.

Fig. 2 – Examples of non-commercial advertising

Speaking of the structure and composition both commercial and non-commercial advertising can be characterized by similarities which makes it almost impossible to divide them in terms of linguistics. To determine the main criterion that will form the basis of the adjusted classification we have decided to analyze some features and subtypes related to both main types of ad.

In terms of an addressee, advertisement should be focused mainly on members of a certain target group, ex.gr. the message ПАП, купи нам квартиру! (Engl.: Daddy, buy us an apartment) is accompanied by a photo of pouty children hinting at the choice of this particular estate company and the buying an apartment otherwise, they are going to cry from grief (see Figure 3a); the ad message Нашим Клиентам ТАКСИ БЕСПЛАТНО! (Engl.: FREE CAB RIDE for our clients) indicates accessibility of premium services for the company clients only (see Figure 3b). This way of the information presentation appeals directly to a person making him/her perceive an image formed by advertising less critical.

Fig. 3 – Examples of directly addressed advertising

If ads creators do not aim at identifying a specific target audience, mononuclear sentences can be used, ex.gr. Ателье. ПОШИВ И РЕМОНТ ЖЕНСКОЙ, МУЖСКОЙ И ДЕТСКОЙ ОДЕЖДЫ, ШТОР И ПОСТЕЛЬНОГО БЕЛЬЯ (Engl.: Tailor shop. TAILORING AND REPAIRS CLOTHES FOR MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, AS WELL AS CURTAINS AND BEDCLOTHING); ДОСТАВКА. ПОДЪЕМ НА ЭТАЖ. СБОРКА. УСТАНОВКА. БЕСПЛАТНО! (Engl.: DELIVERY TO ANY FLOOR. ASSEMBLY AND INSTALLATION OF FURNITURE. FREE OF CHARGE!) (see Figure 4). Such kind of a textual part is often supported by images relevant to the direction of the company activity.

Fig. 4 – Examples of advertising with mononuclear sentences

Reverting to the question of targeted groups we would also like to mention that the modern advertising industry is aimed not only at grownups but children as well. This is related to the initial process of setting up attitudes towards certain brands and products; more effective results are possible by undertaking this since childhood. It is known that children are much more impressionable and could be easily influenced by the psychological effects of advertising focused on material values rather than moral ones. As a result, a new generation is taught only how to consume but not how to create [6]. It would result in human beings with modified moral norms and values could be unable to adapt to new circumstances. Ads of a toy store and a kindergarten can be an example (see Figure 5). In the past children used to create toys with their own hands under the guidance of adults at homes, clubs, schools where children were taught the value of their own work and effort needed to create something they really liked and wanted; but now advertisement states categorically a certain way of life aiming at services and goods consumption, ex.gr. visiting “The right mom” toy store (see Figure 5a) is exactly what you need to make your child’s dreams come true, or choosing “The XXI century development” kindergarten in Moscow (see Figure 5b) where your child could be given special attitude, where «ЛЮБОВЬ + РАЗВИТИЕ = СЧАСТЬЕ» (Engl.: SUM OF LOVE AND DEVELOPMENT RESULTS IN HAPPINESS), and this is the only way to Give happiness to your child!

Fig. 5 – Examples of advertising appealing to children and their parents

Another subtype of advertising addressed to the general public is image advertising aiming at creating and maintaining the desired image. This ad is characterized by focusing not on buying but mainly on providing a certain values-based evaluation of goods, services, or a person. The key point is that an effective advertising campaign has a prolonged impact on a person's mind. For instance, Sberbank, and Old Spice brands, which are considered successful in terms of achieving desired positive images, have been presented in the market for more than 30 years and do not need any specific advertising campaigns for further promotion. Speaking of Sberbank (see Figure 6a), the image of stability, success, accessibility of services, customer-friendly services, and reliability of the company has been formed in a person's inner lexicon; referring to Old Spice (see Figure 6b), the formed image represents a successful person who is keen on traveling, can handle everything. And these brands’ advertisement (see Figure 6), appearing in the media from time to time, is aimed at strengthening the aforementioned images in a person's inner lexicon.

Fig. 6 – Examples of image advertising

One more subtype of advertising is starkly different from the vast majority of others and is intended to touch any person’s feelings and is marked by philosophical notions and intellectual depth which are the basis of it. This subtype is called intellectual advertisement and is an amazing piece of art., ex.gr. the advertising campaign to promote waste disposal in Venezuela uses advertising posters depicting various units of military equipment assembled from discarded stuff; in order to create more complete image pictures are supported by “All we throw away turns against us” caption (see Figure 7). Intellectual advertising can be said to be future-oriented.

Fig. 7 – Examples of intellectual advertising

There is also a subtype of advertisement which pays special attention to show superiority over similar brands. This can be achieved using words in superlative degrees even without confirming the given information. Examples include the advertisement of Pyaterochka supermarket claiming «Пятёрочка – Самые низкие цены» (Engl.: Pyaterochka means the lowest prices) (see Figure 8a) or the advertisement of 36*6 pharmacy saying that «Низкие цены – чистая совесть» (Engl.: A clear conscience because of low prices) (see Figure 8b), but in fact, this is not the case. Such misleading advertisements are contrary to the provisions of the Federal Law on advertisement [7]. Despite this, the way, in which the information is presented, is very effective since a person perceives things literally, that is why images, formed in the inner lexicon, reflect the affordability of services or goods.

Fig. 8 – Examples of misleading advertising

We have reviewed the main types and subtypes of advertising in terms of achieving objectives. Now we proceed to deal with some features of structural elements of any advertisement.

An advertising message can contain only plain text, ex.gr. ЭВАКУАТОР. Дешево. Круглосуточно (Engl.: TOW TRUCK. It's cheap. 24 hours a day); ЛДПР за Курскую область (Engl.: LDPR is for Kursk region); КРУПНАЯ МЕТАЛЛОБАЗА (Engl.: LARGE STEEL AND METAL WAREHOUSE); or a verbal component combined with a visual component to reveal an author’s ideas, ex.gr. ads for SAFARI shooting club and SOLARIS tanning studio (see Figure 9) where pictures of well-known people are provided to be used for playing around with people’s identity and organizations’ sphere. Thus, Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin (who was killed in a duel) is hinting at enrolment in the course on shooting claiming «Стрелял бы я лучше, написал бы ещё пару строк» (Engl.: If I had shot better, I could have written a few more lines), another example is the ad (created in 2011) for the tanning studio that uses the picture of Barack Obama (the only person of colour elected President of the USA) to declare that the world is ruled by “the tanned person” and to be as successful as Barack Obama it is necessary to visit this solarium.

Fig. 9 – Examples of advertising using pictures of well-known people

In addition to the combination of verbal and non-verbal components, to draw attention to advertising a variety of expressive means is often used. Some of them are 1) wordplay, ex.gr. the advertisement for car brand LADA VESTA where the car model name VESTA plays around with the Russian word НЕВЕСТА (Engl.: BRIDE) hinting at the same time at change of old Korean BRIDES for a new Russian beauty VESTA (see Figure 10a); 2) puns, ex.gr. the advertisement for Kvadrat mall (Engl.: Square) where a toilet bowl is compared with the throne from the cult series “Game of Thrones” (see Figure 10b); 3) a poetical expression, ex.gr. the ad for Letual shop states in verse forms «И не думай о цене! Всем ПОДАРКИ, СКИДКИ – Мне!» (Engl.: And don’t think about prices! GIFTS are to everyone, DISCOUNTS are to me!) (see Figure 10c). The use of such means allows for the greater impact and visibility of advertising which as a result will be well remembered.

Fig. 10 – Examples of advertising with expressive means

Thus, having analyzed and reviewed the advertisements, their structure, content, and features, we have concluded that it is necessary to adjust the current classification. By comparing advertisements among themselves we have noticed that the main objective of most ads is to create a positive image in a person’s inner lexicon. And in order to achieve that, different ways and means (such as verbal and non-verbal components, expressive means) are used, but even so, there are ads aiming at informing without image formation. For all those reasons and taking as a basis the linguistic theory, we have decided to divide all types into two main groups naming them informational advertising and image advertising. The adjusted classification corresponds to the objective of ad creation.

Conclusion

Thus, it is possible to state that all advertising functioning in the media can be grouped into two main categories: informational advertising and image advertising. Speaking of informational ad it is necessary to refer to its aim at informing on a subject of advertising thereby contributing to an increase in sales. Image advertising is a more complex phenomenon and aiming at forming a positive image in a person’s inner lexicon. This type of ad is not just the text information but the complex structure consisting of verbal and/or non-verbal components along with various expressive means and graphic designs. And all this together has an impact on a person in order to create a far more complex image in a person’s inner lexicon. The final objective of image advertising is to change the attitude towards an item being advertised. It should be emphasized that the results have been presented in the article might be potentially useful in further studies of the effects of advertising on a person’s affective and cognitive structures.