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The power of language in advertising
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Introduction
I will be looking into the language of power in advertising. The reason I have opted to investigate this topic is because advertising is one of the most powerful and persuasive formulas used in sales industries and many organisations to promote products constantly grabbing our attention. I will be looking at how the language and graphology they use to persuade and encourage readers.
It’s remarkable how the majority of the target audience (depending what advertisement it is ) do not realise how they are persuaded or how their attention is grabbed by just using linguistic devices such as puns, rhymes, pictures and so forth. So this type of study is one I am very keen on as I am concerned with how/why/what language is used to convey power and persuasion.
I will be look at two charity texts.
Methodology
I have collected both sets of data from the net. Both are charity leaflets from their respective sites.
I originally planned to collect the data without access to the net. However, I encountered some problems finding good quality data. Most data I managed to get hold of had little text but just catchy pictures. So my best option was to go online and search for a good quality leaflet which I did.
The aspects of language I have chosen to analyse are: lexis and semantics, grammar, graphology.
I expect the use of synthetic personalisation throughout in both charity leaflets (Fairlcough 2001). I also expect the use of imperative sentences.
Analysis
Graphology
The Unicef charity leaflet is dominated by a picture of three young, hungry and worried girls. It immediately grabs the readers attention. The use of three different children, different ages, d...
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... long. It uses simple connectives such as ‘yet’ and ‘but’ to achieve cohesion.
On the other hand, Action Aid has much longer sentences that makes more demands without being critical of the reader. The paragraphs are also much bigger. It also uses wider vocabulary than Unicef for example ‘opportunities’, ‘community’, ‘access’, this is because the target audience as this charity is aimed at more middle class families and possible donors. Some modifiers often have a emotional impact for instance ‘dreams‘,’ personal’, ‘emotionally’. Unlike Unicef who uses dramatic, forceful words, Action Aid decided to use positive modal auxiliaries such as ’bring’ and ’help’.
Action Aid uses interrogatives/rhetorical questions such as ‘how does sponsorship work’ and ‘want to find out more’ - this draws the reader in by using a question that requires to be looked into depth.
Some of the great philosophers known to man, Aristotle and Plato, wanted the ability to persuade. Aristotle wanted to be able to persuade people with a good amount of time, wisdom, and knowledge so that people could see the good of something. His student, Plato, wanted to be able to persuade people quickly and more affectively by persuading them in a very short time frame. So in order to quickly persuade people, Plato proposed an argument by expressing an idea and supporting it with rhetorical evidence. From Plato’s teaching came three types of rhetorical evidence; logos, which argues by logic; pathos, which argues by the use of sympathy and empathy; and ethos, which argues by the use of ethical appeals. Today the three types of rhetorical analysis can be found everywhere in everyday life. Just like Plato, ad writers who produce TV commercials want to persuade people in a short amount of time. These ad writers have to persuade the view point of their audience in about 30 seconds to a minute in time. In 2010, during Super Bowl XLIV, a commercial by Audi was premiered. This Audi commercial is a great example of the use of the three types of rhetorical evidence; logos, pathos, and ethos.
In their advertisements, the St. Jude Children’s Hopsital Research Foundation packs their thirty second commercials with as many rhetorical appeals as possible. The purpose of these celebrity-endorsed commercials is to encourage viewers to donate to the foundation, and the producers have creatively inserted various rhetorical appeals in hopes to sway viewers to open their wallets. By using an immense amount of rhetorical appeal; including ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, the St. Jude Children’s Hospital Research Foundation has successfully created an informative and heartfelt commercial that has inspired many to donate to medical research for children.
Advertisements often employ many different methods of persuading a potential consumer. The vast majority of persuasive methods can be classified into three modes. These modes are ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos makes an appeal of character or personality. Pathos makes an appeal to the emotions. And logos appeals to reason or logic. This fascinating system of classification, first invented by Aristotle, remains valid even today. Let's explore how this system can be applied to a modern magazine advertisement.
The functionalist, conflict theory, and interpretive sociological perspectives all view advertising in different ways. The functionalist perspective considers advertising a tool used for coordination and conformity. (Brime, Roberts, Lie, Rytina 2013, p.461) Conflict theory scrutinizes advertising, asserting that it promotes the agenda of politics and the dominant classes. (Brime, Roberts, Lie, Rytina 2013 p.462) The interpretive approach believes that audiences actively interpret and resist advertising messages. (Brime, Roberts, Lie, Rytina 2013 p.465-468)
What captures the attention of people when they view an advertisement, commercial or poster? Is it the colors, a captivating phrase or the people pictured? While these are some of the elements often employed in advertising, we can look deeper and analyze the types of appeals that are utilized to draw attention to certain advertisements. The persuasive methods used can be classified into three modes. These modes are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos makes an appeal to emotions, logos appeals to logic or reason and ethos makes an appeal of character or credibility. Each appeal can give support to the message that is being promoted.
An advertisement is a form of public writing in which the author uses writing strategies as a way to catch the attention of a reader and to persuade that reader to purchase what he or she is promoting. In order to create an effective advertisement, the author relies on the product’s credibility, uses reasons to convince the reader to buy what he/she is promoting, and attempts to appeal to the reader based on emotion. A way in which this can be achieved is through using three components of writing known as ethos, pathos and logos. As an example to illustrate how these strategies can be used as an effective method of persuasion, I have chosen to analyze an advertisement produced by a travel agency. In the ad, the author’s attempt is to use logos and pathos as his primary means of persuasion but touches on all three components of writing as a method of luring the reader into choosing Texas as the primary choice for a vacation destination. The author’s intent is to rely on this location to represent the travel agency as a source for planning the vacation.
Jupp, V. and Sapsford, R. (ed.) (2006) Data Collection and Analysis. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
In addition, wherever there is ‘meaning,’ there is ‘persuasion’ (Carrol). Rhetoric is an important tool that makes use of the power of language in order to efficiently inform others of what we think, or feel, and persuade them to agree with our views. Companies use rhetoric to get you to buy their products. Take, for example, a commercial for men’s deodorant that tells you that you will be irresistible to women if you use their product. This campaign does not just ask you to buy the product, though. It also asks you to trust the company’s credibility, or ethos, and to believe the messages they send about how men and women interact, about sexuality, and about what constitutes a healthy body. You have to decide whether or not you will choose to buy the product and how you will choose to respond to the messages that the commercial sends (Carrol). Maybe you just want to win the argument with your friend that the Jacksonville Jaguars are a better football team than the Dallas
Thousands of books and essays about poverty, causes and possible fixes have been written for others to gain an understanding and pocket a little bit of knowledge so this can soon be fixed. There are millions of organizations in today’s world that beg for money, clothes, and food so they can be sent overseas to help a poor child in Uganda or Haiti. Helping nationwide is always a good thing to be a part of; however, there are many things that can be done in each person’s community, which is always a great place to start.
Advertisers all have one goal in common, that is an ad that is catching to a consumer’s attention. In today’s fast paced society there are so many selling products and charities. As I exam the advertisement for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals (ASPCA), I will show how they use the pathos, ethos, and logos – also known as Aristotle’s Theory of Persuasion.
Giving to others through humanitarian projects is not only inclusive of providing monetary solutions for food. Philosophies and intention to reach specific goals are also associated with the needs of others. The Hunger Project is designed with the central goal of eradicating poverty. However, it is found that this is not done only by feeding the poor, but instead through empowerment initiatives that allow others to change their lives. When looking at the approach used to The Hunger Project, it can be seen that the ability to provide empowerment to others will assist in changing lives through donations. The impact which is made by making a donation creates an initiative not only through the power of changing lives of those in need. It also alters the socio political landscape and the global society at large. This impact is one which can redefine the overall functions in the globe, specifically by eradicating poverty.
About UNICEF, I expected that it was just responsible for focusing on the needs and rights of the child over the world. In fact, its aim was more than that it was also to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social, and economic development of their communities. In instance, celebrating annually the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11 to highlight issues concerning the gender inequality facing young girls. In addition, the organization 's extent is much wider than I anticipated. For example:
Nowadays, advertisements are everywhere embedded in our daily life. They are powerful resources that inform people the latest news about a particular product or brand in many different ways. Most of the people are being able to get more information and detail of a product from media, radio stations, newspapers and internet. Even though advertising is a big informative source, it also can be considered as a marketing tool to control the mind and desires of the consumers to manipulate and persuade them to buy things they do not need.
...cate the UNICEF story has increasingly moved from traditional practices to the use of online channels, through digital media, through social media. Shaping social conversations around children and telling the right stories helps foster social media engagement and increase donations. Of paramount importance is the task of connecting the organisations mission with the donor’s interests and what they care about i.e. what the organisation proposes to accomplish with the money. Using smarter PR practices in publicising what the money donations accomplish relays value for the donor which underpins future success.
Advertising has been defined as the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool that firms have to control consumers all over the world. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service. Its impacts created on the society throughout the years has been amazing, especially in this technology age. Influencing people’s habits, creating false needs, distorting the values and priorities of our society with sexism and feminism, advertising has become a poison snake ready to hunt his prey. However, on the other hand, advertising has had a positive effect as a help of the economy and society.