Die vormlike vergestalting van konsepte binne advertensiekommunikasie

Abstract

English: Advertising communication has a unique character and different techniques are used to draw the consumer's attention. The way in which the message is communicated in the advertisement often contributes to the impact of the advertising message. In this study the focus was specifically on the ways in which advertising language communicates creatively. Furthermore, the manner in which visual signs echo the linguistic signs and contributes to the construction of the marketing message is also observed. Figurative language and semiotic signs are some of the mechanisms copywriters use to draw the consumer's attention. Literature that focuses on the linguistic and visual analysis of advertising communication is limited. A variety of definitions for figurative language exist in the literature, since different authors have different perspectives given a particular data set and time frame. In this study creative signs used in advertising (e.g. language play, rhetorical figures and semiotic signs) in order to increase the impact of the advertisement, are studied from a Cognitive Semantic and linguistic perspective A qualitative investigation was launched in order to describe the character of the manifestation of concepts in advertising communication. Based on the primary objective of the study, to give an overview of the manifestation of creative concepts in South African print advertising communication, the secondary objectives were identified. These objectives were to explain the definition and nature of terms such as language play (idiomatic expressions, personification, and wordplay), rhetorical figures of speech (comparisons, analogies and metaphor) and semiotic signs (indexes, icons and symbols). South African print advertisements were used as data set. A further objective was to obtain an overview of the gains and risks in the use of these attention drawing mechanisms in the interest of training linguistics and copywriting students. In this study two main categories were identified, namely figurative language and semiotic signs. Figurative language were divided into two categories, namely language play and rhetorical figures. The category, language play, focuses specifically on the artistic nature or rather “creative decoration” of advertisements. Idiomatic expressions (when the cat’s away, the mice will play), personification (“Your pepper will be so jealous”) and wordplay (the Afrikaans word “leer” can refer to the ladder you climb, as well as the leather a shoe is made of) are identified as three forms in language play. Rhetorical figures were identified as second category within figurative language. Rhetorical figures of speech include: similes (he is as slow as a tortoise), analogies (an analogy between the organ, a kidney, and a coffee filter) and metaphors (metaphor between coffee and perfume's durability and aroma). The second main category distinguished in this study is semiotic signs. Semiotic signs were divided into indexes (smoke indicating a fire), icons (a passport full of stamps, indicating a real passport) and symbols (an apple as a symbol of seduction). Based on the literature study and the data set, it is clear that creative signs used in advertising communication contribute to keeping the reader's attention longer. Creative signs are often an intellectual game to be unravelled by the reader, in order to identify the intended marketing message. Furthermore, more than one message is often communicated through the use of creative language and visual signs, thus giving the copywriter the ability to say more with less (words and images). From this study, it is clear that the use of figurative language and semiotic signs should ideally focus on the brand name, marketing message or characteristic of the product to actually be relevant to the marketing message; otherwise it remains just a useless decoration in the advertisement.

Afrikaans: Advertensiekommunikasie het ʼn unieke aard en verskillende tegnieke word gebruik ten einde die verbruiker se aandag te trek. Die wyse waarop die boodskap in die advertensie gekommunikeer word, dra dikwels tot die trefkrag van die advertensieboodskap by. In hierdie studie is daar spesifiek gefokus op die wyse waarop taal aangewend word om kreatief in advertensies te kommunikeer, maar ook die wyse waarop visuele tekens in advertensies die talige tekens eggo, oftewel ondersteun in die konstruering van die bemarkingsboodskap. Figuurlike taalgebruik en semiotiese tekens is van die instrumente wat kopieskrywers gebruik om die verbruiker se aandag te trek. Literatuur wat fokus op die linguistiese en visuele analise van advertensiekommunikasie, is beperk. Die verskeidenheid van definisies vir figuurlike taalgebruik in die literatuur is eiesoortig, aangesien elke outeur hulle ondersoek gegewe ʼn bepaalde datastel en tydsraamwerk doen. In hierdie studie is daar vanuit ʼn Kognitief Semantiese en linguistiese perspektief gekyk na kreatiewe tekens (taalspel, retoriese stylfigure en semiotiese tekens) wat tot kopieskrywers se beskikkings is, ten einde die trefkrag van ʼn advertensie te verhoog. ʼn Kwalitatiewe ondersoek is geloods ten einde die aard van die vormlike vergestalting van konsepte in advertensiekommunikasie te beskryf. Op basis van die primêre doelwit van die studie, om ʼn oorsig oor die vormlike vergestalting van kreatiewe konsepte in gedrukte Suid-Afrikaanse advertensiekommunikasie te gee, is die sekondêre doelwitte geïdentifiseer. Die volgende sekondêre doelwitte is geïdentifiseer, naamlik om duidelikheid oor die definisie en aard van terme soos taalspel (idiomatiese uitdrukkings, personifikasie en woordspel), retoriese stylfigure (vergelykings, analogieë en metaforiek) en semiotiese tekens (indekse, ikone en simbole) aan die hand van gedrukte Suid-Afrikaanse advertensies as datastel te kry. ʼn Verdere doelwit was om die winste en risiko’s van hierdie aandagtrekkende meganismes uit te wys in belang van die opleiding van linguistiek- en kopieskryfstudente. Twee hoofkategorieë is in hierdie studie onderskei, naamlik figuurlike taalgebruik en semiotiese tekens. Figuurlike taalgebruik is verdeel in twee kategorieë, naamlik taalspel en retoriese stylfigure. In die taalspelkategorie is daar spesifiek op die artistiese aard oftewel “kreatiewe versiering” van advertensies gefokus. Idiomatiese uitdrukkings (as die kat weg is, is die muis baas), personifikasie (“jou peper sal jaloers wees”) en woordspelling (die woord, leer, wat na ʼn leer wat jy klim kan verwys, maar ook na die leer waarvan skoene gemaak word) is as drie vorme in taalspel geïdentifiseer. Retoriese stylfigure is as tweede kategorie binne figuurlike taalgebruik geïdentifiseer. Retoriese stylfigure sluit vergelykings (hy is so stadig soos ʼn skilpad), analogieë (ʼn analogie tussen die orgaan, ʼn nier, en ʼn koffiefilter) en metafore (metafoor tussen koffie en parfuum se duursaamheid en aroma) in. Die tweede hoofkategorie wat in die studie onderskei is, is semiotiese tekens. Semiotiese tekens word verdeel in indekse (rook wat dui op ʼn vuur), ikone (ʼn paspoort vol stempels, wat dui op ʼn werklike paspoort) en simbole (ʼn appel as simbool vir verleiding). Die literatuurstudie het getoon dat kreatiewe tekens in advertensiekommunikasie gebruik word om die leser se aandag langer te hou. Kreatiewe tekens vorm dikwels ʼn intellektuele speletjie wat deur die leser ontrafel moet word, ten einde die bedoelde bemarkingsboodskap te identifiseer. Verder word daar dikwels meer as een boodskap gelyktydig gekommunikeer deur die gebruik van kreatiewe taalgebruik en tekens en dit dra by dat die kopieskrywer meer met minder (woorde en beelde) kan sê. Uit die studie het dit duidelik geword dat figuurlike taalgebruik en semiotiese tekens ideaalgesproke op die handelsnaam, bemarkingsboodskap of eienskap van die produk/diens gerig moet wees om werklik relevant tot die bemarkingsboodskap te wees, andersins bly dit net ʼn nuttelose versiering in die advertensie.