Universidad de Buenos Aires Facultad de derecho Traductorado Pblico Language II Chair: Parini Year 2012

Linguistics choices in Unilevers advertisements

How to target men and women by using persuasive language

Araya Melisa Soledad

Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

Introduction

According to the dictionary to persuade means to make somebody do something by giving them good reasons for doing it and, also, to make somebody believe that something is true. Generally speaking, peoples lives are led in order to be constantly making choices. Persuasiveness plays a key role in todays society. Not only are we tempted to make decisions about our relationships, but also about what we want and what is expected to be wanted. This exploitation of language, especially the mixture of verbal and non-verbal signs, makes discourse of advertisements an interesting subject to explore and analyse. Language choices in advertising are never random. They represent an attempt to use language to achieve a particular goal. In commercial advertising the goal is, ultimately, to sell. The words that are presented in advertisements are the product of a very conscious decision which consists on putting particular words on them, rather than other words. The tool used to make peoples feelings to arise is the media: advertisements on television, on newspapers, on magazines etc. This essay will focus on the analysis of persuasive language in advertisements. The analysis will concentrate on two brands of products launched by the same company, Univeler. Unilever is a BritishDutch multinational consumer goods company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. The company owns over 400 brands but our analysis will be based on Axe(US)/Lynx (UK) and Dove. Being Axe/Lynx products for men and Dove products for women, this essay will analyse persuasive language on advertisements in connection with gender.

Theoretical background

Every utterance is performed in an attempt to be listened by someone. In every utterance there is an idea to be exposed. When it comes to persuasion, the usual implication drawn from the invocation of the concept is that the persuader had some intention of achieving the persuasive goal. Even though the concept itself is difficult to define there is a proposed definition given by OKeeffe (2002): A successful effort at

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

influencing anothers mental state through communication in a circumstance in which the persuader has some measure of freedom. As far as consumerism is concerned, we, as potential consumers, are being convinced of what we should be or have. One theory discussed by Dillard & Pfau (2002) demonstrates that people develop both cultural and societal expectations about language behaviours which subsequently affect their acceptance or rejection of persuasive messages. It is said that much persuasive discourse is indirectly coercive; that is, the persuasive effectiveness of messages often depend heavily on the credibility of threats and promises proffered by the communicator. Furthermore, Pfrau and Dillard add that persuasion relies on symbolic strategies that trigger the emotions of the individual intended to be persuaded. This outcome can be clearly seen in a society made of and for consumers. For sure ,the main purpose of advertisements is targeting the consumer so as to buy the products. The language used in advertisements is described to be colloquial and simple rather than formal and complex. This implies that advertising vocabulary is fairly concrete and comprehensible. Yet, in order to succeed, there are a series of elements to be taken into account. First of all, the audience the writer is targeting at. Generally when it comes to new products, the audience is a young one ranging from 20 to 35 years old, approximately, but, again, it depends on the product itself. After that, the writer has to deal with language: how he is going to make use of words and images to convey the message desired. And last but not least, the writer should pay special attention on the purpose they are writing for: what the aim of the advertisement is. The use of persuasive language is the most important technique advertisement writers focus on. Copywriters use a formula, summarised in the acronym AIDA, to construct their ads. AIDA stands for Attention: to gain the readers attention by using flashing colours, arresting images or an intriguing phrase; Interest: to grab and hold the readers interest; Desire: to appeal to emotions in order to make the reader want to get it and also to make him or her believe that getting the product will change his or her life; Action: The advertisement must prompt the audience to take action and buy the product. Often this is done by creating a sense of urgency by the use of phrases such as Pick up the phone today! Even though many factors can be taken into account when analysing language, this essay is going to focus on language as regards gender. Gender is socially constructed; it is learned. People acquire characteristics which are perceived as masculine and feminine. Lorber (1994:112) states Gender is such a familiar part of daily life that it usually takes a deliberate disruptions of our expectations of how women and men are supposed to act pay attention to how it is produced. Gender signs and signals are so

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

ubiquitous that we usually fail to note them. When it comes to men, they create a sense of identity by extending out from their body, using its and their evident power to control objects and other. Women, by contrast, work with and within the body. The female body communicates not the womans power over others, but her presence, how she takes herself. Advertising addresses our need to articulate our social identities through our physical appearances. What is going to be shown in this essay is that Unilever creates advertisements in which the use of persuasive language changes if the addressee is a man or a woman. This is closely related to the values women share and men do not or vice versa.

Analysis The selection of images to be analysed in this essay is in the appendix. First we will analyse how the AIDA concept is displayed in the advertisements of the two brands. Axe /Lynx. On image 1.1(see appendix) the readers attention is caught at first glance through the lack of multiplicity of elements. There is only one single phrase which intends to motivate the readers willing to know more about it. At the same moment the advertisement creates a desire of getting what he is being offered and so he needs to fulfil it. On image 1.2 (see appendix) the reader stops to pay attention to the advertisement due to the images that appear: the image of a woman doing the gardening exacerbates the needs of men of getting everything under control as well as obtaining what the advertiser is telling they should get, that is to say to convince them that getting that product is definitely the best option to change the way things are being conducted in the consumers life. On image 1.3 (see appendix) attention is caught by the use of capital letter to introduce the phrase. The image of a hand shows the reader he is the one to take control of every situation he is surrounded by. Dove Using the same perspective of the AIDA system we will focus on the images that Dove uses for its advertisements.

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

On image 2.1 (see appendix) the reader pays attention to the image that appears at first glance, and so on keeps on reading. The format used in this type of advertisement is one of two questions in which it can be observed that two premises are presented: a negative one-flawed- and a positive-flawless- , so the reader is the one to choose which one suits best. Furthermore, the advertisement continues with a rhetorical question to make the reader feel like answering, and goes on inviting her to discuss the pattern of beauty imposed by society. On image 2.2 (see appendix) the same type of advertisement is being used. The image printed makes the reader want to know more about it. The same format of the two questions is carried out but with two different premises -grey or gorgeous - and the reader is being tempted to choose his or her own answer. However, image 2.3 (see appendix) shows another type of advertisement in which the attention of the reader is caught by the format at first. It displays multiple images of women who are not models. The writer here tries to aim to women in general to make them feel they are as beautiful as models, trying to inferred that there are not only one model of beauty To continue with the analysis, It is proper to provide a definition for the terms we are going to use in order to analyse language. Imperative sentences Imperative clauses are characterized by the lack of a subject, use of the base form of a verb and the absence of modals as well as tense and aspect markers. An imperative typically urges the addressee to do something, or not. In the case of the axe/lynx advertisements of the corpus of analysis on image 1.1, the reader interest is grabbed through the message itself: It is an intriguing phrase, a pun which takes the words show and her and forms the word shower in order to urge the consumer to buy the product. On image 2.2, again, the use of an imperative can be perceived as a way to convey the message of getting a benefit through the purchasing . Lastly, on image 2.3 the use of imperative is just not hidden, the writer chose the verb get in order to express that men can satisfy their will and getting some action by getting this product. These three images have something in common: It can be clearly seen that the writer does not use imperatives so as to induce consumers to buy the product in a direct and clear way. Even though the purpose of advertising is to persuade , what the writer implies is that the reader should to change a habit , and this will be changed by getting the product. On the other hand, Dove advertisements do not put the technique of imperative sentences into practice. There are other methods to persuade women that can be more

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

efficient than urging them to get the control over a situation. In the case of women, there is not any explicit discourse by means of which women can identify the need of buying the product; on the contrary, there is a different kind of message appealing to women self confidence. This is created by the use of another tool of persuasion, which is the rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its effect without the expectation of a reply (Burton).Rhetorical questions are very effective in the language of advertising, since they call the readers attention and help to persuade them to read in order to find the answer to that question. In Doves advertisement 1.1, there is an absence of imperatives sentences. In order to create the feeling of incompleteness in the potential consumer the writer uses the rhetorical questions. The same situation of the rhetorical question can be observed on image1.2, where is used as a tool to make the reader reconsider a situation and create a debate about a specific topic, such as the acceptance of greys in women. Depending on gender the message to be conveyed is different .In the case of men, the message given through the use of imperatives is one of obtaining what is desired by purchasing the product. It is probable, then, that imperative forms are more effective on male readers than they are on their female counterparts. What it is being inferred is that Dove wants more women to feel that beauty is within their reach. To be sure, women want to be physically attractive and they want to be perceived as such. Their looks are important to how they feel about themselves, how they regard beauty in themselves and in others. Women often think in terms of closeness and support, and struggle to preserve intimacy. Men, concerned with status, tend to focus more on independence. These traits can lead women and men to starkly different views of the same situation. Even though there are differences between the ways the addresser targets his or her reader, both are as equally as effective. When estimating the effect of advertising across brands we need to keep in mind that they are different in many respects. Both genders are convinced of what they should be according to societys patterns. In the case of advertisements aimed to men, the way writers use to convince them is by expressing sort of commands, that is to say, in a much more direct way; whereas in the case of women the method used to persuade is not a direct one, yet, it is still convincing because someone who can identify an advertising slogan or message will actually buy the product.

Conclusion

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

From the above-mentioned we can conclude by saying that to think of advertising is to think of consumer society, that plentiful world of goods and services we call our own. Conformity is changing how you behave to be more like others. This plays to belonging and esteem needs as we seek the approval and friendship of others. Conformity can run very deep, as we will even change our beliefs and values to be like those of our peers and admired superiors. The method of persuasiveness in advertisement can be the equivalent to all the kind of products to be sold, but in fact, as we have seen, gender plays a key role when it comes to foster the consumer. The fact that language should change depending on who the reader going to be is, is not a surprisingly discovery. It is said that women and men share many characteristics about likes, dislikes etc. Still, they are different. That is why, there is a variation in the persuasive language used in advertisements of Unilever.In a society where men are thought to be the ones who take everything under their control, and women are considered to put special attention on their appearance. The concept of beauty that has been imposed, is being, somehow, reinforced by advertisements. To sum up, it can be said that language structures vary according to whether women or men are being addressed. The traditional gender role is established. Women are addressed in a more roundabout way through the use of rhetorical questions, implying that women are less self-confident, so the advertisement writer should put premium on the way they should be convinced, by appealing to their feelings. This occurs in opposition to men, who are addressed in a more direct way through the use of the imperative due to the fact that they act straightaway after the command is delivered, which shows its effectiveness. However, it is not the advertiser who tells the society which trend has to follow, on the contrary, the advertiser reinforces what society itself express so as to base his advertisements on that.

Appendix

Advertisements

1. Axe/Lynx
1.1

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

1.2

1.3

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

2. Dove

2.1

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires 2.2

2.3

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires

References
Breuer ,Iris & Napthine ,Melanie with OShea ,Rosemary, 2008, Persuasive Language in Media Texts ,Insight publications. Biber, Douglas, Conrad Susan, Leech Geoffrey, 2002,Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Pearson Education Limited Dillard, James Price and Pfau Michael, 2002,The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications .[Available at] http://books.google.com.ar/books/about/The_Persuasion_Handbook.html? id=lsF8zLomQOoC&redir_esc=y [ Accessed October 13th ] Cook, Guy, 1989, Discourse Analysis, Oxford:Oxford University Press Haig, Matt, 2003, Brand Failures, London:Kogan Page Limited Lorber, Judith, 1994, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender, New Haven : Yale University, p. 112 Tannen, Deborah, You Just Dont Understand, Harper Collins Publishers, 1991 Talbot, Mary,2010, p. 7, Language and gender, Cornwall:Polity press Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2011 O'Keefe, D. J.,2002 Persuasion: Theory and research (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Etcoff, N. Orbach, S. Scott ,J. DAgostino , H. 2004, The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report [pdf] Available at http://www.clubofamsterdam.com/contentarticles/52%20Beauty/dove_white_paper_fina l.pdf [Accessed October 13th ]

Gideon O. Burton, B.Y. Rhetorical Questions , 2007, Available at http://rhetoric.byu.edu. [Accessed November 1st ] http://axeads.blogspot.com.ar/ www.unilever.com http://8emjayef8.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/limited-female-identity-genderstereotypes-in-axe-brand-advertising/ http://en.wikipedia.org Material for Analysis http://communicationvisually.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/mindmap-dove-campaign/

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Araya Melisa Language II Comisin: 3113 Universidad de Buenos Aires http://dovecampaign.wikispaces.com/Campaign+For+Beauty+Advertisement http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/66-axe-print-advertisements-and-tvcommercials/ http://wps.ablongman.com/long_alfano_envision_3/165/42474/10873535.cw/content/in dex.html

Araya Melisa Soledad

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