ADVERTISING CHARACTERISTICS FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF PRAGMALINGUISTICS

The advertisement is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, the study of which presupposes an interdisciplinary approach in which the pragmalinguistic aspect is dominant, since it allows one to study the functioning of various linguistic means in terms of their impact potential.

It is evident today that the advertisement has already become a prominent type of discourse, which is characterized by a system of stylistic, lexical and grammatical peculiarities of its own and functions according to its own rules.

Moreover, it is already widely known that advertisements possess a great persuasive power. In this connection it would be appropriate to cite Gillian Dyer who examines advertising as a form of communication in contemporary society: “The primary function of advertising is to introduce a wide range of consumer goods to the public and thus support the free market economy, but this is clearly not its only role; over the years it has become more and more involved in the manipulation of social values and attitudes, and less concerned with the communication of essential information about goods and services. In this respect it could be argued that advertising nowadays fulfills a function traditionally met by art or religion”. [2, P.l]

In a number of research papers both Russian and foreign authors analyze the linguistic context of advertising and prove that it is a prominent discourse type in almost all contemporary societies that can tell us a good deal about their psychology.

All these research works investigate the phenomenon of advertising from all possible angles and form their own approaches to the investigation of the persuasive power of an advertisement. They go deeply into detail as to the role of images and visual effects in the commercial and their correlation with the amount of text. They deal with the graphical signs and their effect and also observe numerous persuasive techniques that make it possible to influence the audience both emotionally and logically.

The discourse of advertising is analyzed in a very detailed way in the work by Guy Cook. He views the topic in a very broad way using such notions as «text» and «context», «со-text» and «intertext» that he distinguishes from the notion of discourse: «The study of language must take context into account, because language is always in context and there are no acts of communication without participants, intertexts, situations and gender language». [1, P.11]

Although the discourse analysis is focused mainly on language, it is not concerned with the language alone. It also deals with the context of communication: who is communicating to whom and why; through what medium; how different types and acts of communication evolve and how they relate to each other. The breadth of this approach is justified by the belief that neither specific acts of communication nor the internal mechanisms of language can be well understood in any other way but together. Hence discourse analysis views language and context holistically.

Nowadays the systematic approach to communication and means of communication is being broadened with the help of pragmalinguistic approach, studying this process as a whole: via the communicative situation, speech act, adressant, addressee, presupposition, perlocutionary effect, etc. In this connection it should be mentioned that advertisements are studied as a means of “life communication” both reflecting mass consciousness and forming it on a daily basis, since the pragmatic goal of any advertising message is to induce a specific action - the purchase. There are two stages of the formation of the perlocutionary effect: the first stage is the emotional reaction of the addressee to the advertising message, the second stage is the action-acquisition. Factors that boost the perlocutionary effect and are mandatory in the creation of an advertisement consist in, first of all, strong connection of the advertising image with the advertised object and the ability of the addressee to understand the meaning of the message.

No less important for the advertisement is the category of implicitness, which is revealed through the verbal as well as non-verbal part of this form of communication (phonation, miremics, mimics, proxemics and others). To demonstrate this interrelation, it would be relevant to give the examples from the advertising campaigns that describe their products with the help of both verbal and visual representation (product description on the site and a video).  In the process of perception of an advertisement a decoding of the information contained in it occurs, i.e. the concept image overlaps the concept of the verbal text. Accordingly, the interaction of the two concepts leads to the creation of a single common message. Most often in the advertisement, verbal and non-verbal means complement each other, thereby creating a more vivid, more memorable image.

This idea is very vivid in perfume advertising, as it very much depends on the way the perlocutionary effect is realized through the product image and description. 

In its new generation on fragrances Dior has created an advertising campaign devoted to several new J’adore products, combining the key ideas in the movie starring Sharliz Teron. All the fragrances (J'adore Injoy, J’adore Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum) are united by the same images and ideas expressed both in product descriptions at the site and the advertisement text of the movie.

J'adore Injoy is a perfume that literally "smells" of joy. A new, instant pleasure, an exclamation that springs forth like a declaration of love for life: J'adore Injoy! 

J’adore Eau de Toilette has an extraordinary temperament. There is something attractive and sparkling about it. It is an immediate explosion, a direct road to pleasure.

"J’adore is an extraordinary fragrance because it achieves the feat of being an original signature that easily appeals. Sensual without being too heavy. It is a composition that brings opposites together, that makes iconic floral notes into an alluring, unique and mysterious ensemble. J’adore invents a flower that doesn't exist, an ideal." 

These descriptions, containing lots of adjectives that facilitate the transfer of evaluation information, for example: “instant pleasure”, “extraordinary temperament”, “attractive and sparkling”, “unique and mysterious ensemble” alongside with noun and verb combinations, giving the idea of motion “exclamation that springs forth”, “immediate explosion”, “a direct road to pleasure”, “composition that brings opposites together” etc. are compressed in some simple phrases, pronounced by the actress, while she is running forward towards the light, playing with the splashes of water, illuminated by the sun:

“I touch the rain, I see the sun and it says “run” I watch it all turn into water. The earth, the sun and me…we are gold”.

Her mimics, gestures and voice, pronouncing the text, especially in the echo-phrase “J’adore”, which means “I just love it” and, at the same time, is the name of the product, clearly demonstrate pleasure and, in combination with the non-verbal part of the movie manifest a greater emotional impact.

In “Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming” movie, starring Natalie Portman, another idea of femininity is presented. The fragrances (Miss Dior, Miss Dior Silky Body Mist and Miss Dior Original ) in their product description bring out the image of youth and freedom, expressed by a different set of nouns and adjectives: “positive and joyful harmony”, “playful and irresistible Miss Dior”, “exquisite femininity”, “delicate trail”:

Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming is an instant present for you. It is a beautiful gift that strikes you immediately. A positive and joyful harmony for a playful and irresistible Miss Dior.

I created this perfume to clothe every woman in exquisite femininity, as though each of my gowns were emerging, one by one, from the bottle.

The silky texture of Miss Dior Silky Body Mist creates a delicate trail, full of nuance. A moment in the beauty ritual to truly connect with oneself.

However in the movie the idea of fragrance being a “dress” and “beauty ritual”, which is expressed verbally in the text and realized in the visual part via the image  of the actress wearing a wedding gown, while getting ready for the ceremony (the ritual).

There is no much information expressed verbally, only when the heroine asks to call her “miss”, not “madam”, which clearly expresses her evident reluctance to get married. The emotional effect is intensified by the use of such non-verbal means as the color: the black-and-white picture becomes colorful when the girl flees from the ceremony and changes her dress. So the message of this advertisement is expressed mostly by non-verbal means, but it well correlates with the product description at the site.

In men fragrances product range Sauvage created a series of movies called “Tales of the wild” about strong men living in harmony with nature. The main movie starring Johnny Depp portrays a rock star, who leaves the big city and goes into the desert to find the new inspiration.

The Slogan of the campaign “Sauvage. Raw and Noble” as well as product description depict the character of the brand: strong, free and natural:

A radically fresh composition, dictated by a name that has the ring of a manifesto. That was the way François Demachy, Dior Perfumer-Creator, wanted it: raw and noble all at once. 

The perlocutionary effect here is achieved mostly by non-verbal means: the images of wild nature, animals, the sound of rock music and desert life. The text in the movie appeals to the feelings and sounds like a dialogue as it uses brisk abrupt syntax as well as interrogative and elliptical sentences.

I have to get out of here. Which way? I don’t know. What am I looking for? Something I can’t see. I can feel it. It’s magic. Sauvage.

Nowadays quite a large number of studies is devoted to the issue of the ratio of verbal and non-verbal components in advertising , but at the same time, non-verbal patterns seem to be insufficiently studied. However, the basic manipulative tactics are implemented not least with the help of non-verbal methods of influence that boost the impact of an advertisement and create a perlocutionary effect as it is quite clear from the examples.