Chapter 4 Quantitative Analyses of the Written Data
4.2 Felicity Conditions in Advertisements
requirements of the four felicity conditions. Advertising, as a speech act of persuasion, is no exception. Since intrinsically each advertisement must have a propositional content to refer to the merchandize to be sold, basically all advertisements satisfy the requirement of the propositional content condition. However, on the surface, the propositional content of an advertisement may or may not be directly related to the products themselves. For this part, a more thorough examination of the verbal relevancy in the advertisements with the commodity to sell is given in 4.3.1 (namely, Distribution of CP in Beauty Product Ads, p.45 of this thesis). Other than propositional content condition, the other three felicity conditions (namely, preparatory condition, sincerity condition, and essential condition) are analyzed in this section.
4.2.1 Distribution of felicity conditions in beauty products advertisements
The distribution of three felicity conditions being fulfilled in beauty product advertisements is provided in Table 4.
Table 4. Distribution of felicity conditions in beauty products advertisements
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According to Table 4, when all beauty product advertisements are taken as a whole, it is noticed that the proportion of each felicity condition is about the same.
This result indicates that the three felicity conditions are equally conformed in beauty product advertisements. A possible explanation is that in order to achieve successful persuasion, the advertiser fulfills the three felicity conditions in her advertisements to give her promise to the consumer that she has the ability, sincerity, and certainty to improve the consumer’ skin conditions.
4.2.2 Comparison between types of beauty products advertisements by felicity conditions It is examined that the pattern described above in 4.2.1 further is modified by the types of advertisements. Table 5 depicts the differences between cosmetic ads and skin-care ads by the three felicity conditions.
Table 5. Types of beauty products advertisement by felicity conditions (A= felicity conditions, B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Preparatory 47.5% (527) 52.5% (582) 100.0% (1109) Sincerity 48.2% (538) 51.8% (577) 100.0% (1115) Essential 47.7% (519) 52.3% (568) 100.0% (1087) Total 47.8% (1584) 52.2% (1727) 100.0% (3311)
According to Table 5, the proportions of cosmetic ads and skin-care ads are close to each other (47.8% vs. 52.2%, respectively), with skin-care ads scoring slightly higher than cosmetic ads do. A possible explanation is that in skin-care ads,
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the reasons why the consumer should take an action of buying the products are directly given, and skin-care products are necessity for the consumer compared with cosmetics; thus, the three felicity conditions are used more often in skin-care ads than in cosmetic ads.
4.2.3 Comparison among felicity conditions in two types of beauty products It was hypothesized that the three felicity conditions would be satisfied in beauty products advertisements. Table 6 presents the results of data analyses.
Table 6. Felicity conditions in two types of beauty products (A= felicity conditions, B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Preparatory 33.2% (527) 33.7% (582) 33.4% (1109) Sincerity 33.9% (538) 33.4% (577) 33.6% (1115) Essential 32.9% (519) 32.9% (568) 32.8% (1087) Total 100.0% (1584) 100.0% (1727) 100.0% (3311)
According to Table 6, the three felicity conditions are implemented in approximately the same frequencies in each of the two types of beauty products advertisements, with essential condition scoring the least in both cosmetic ads and skin-care ads.
4.3 Cooperative Principle in Advertisements
Advertising, as a kind of communication, prescribes cooperation between the advertiser and the consumer during the interaction, with both parties of the
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communication presuming that the advertiser will comply with CP in giving the consumer correct, informative, relevant, and orderly information. In this section, the implementation of the four maxims of CP in the two types of advertisements is examined.
4.3.1 Distribution of CP maxim in beauty products advertisements
It was expected that the distribution of CP in beauty product ads is different.
That is, the extents to which beauty product ads rely on the four maxims are different.
Results of data analyses are given in Table 7.
Table 7. Distribution of CP in beauty product ads
Quality Quantity Relevancy Manner Total
29.0% (1439) 23.0%(1142) 19.1% (940) 28.9% (1428) 100.0%(4949)
According to Table 7, when all beauty product advertisements are taken as a whole, it is noticed that Quality Maxim and Manner Maxim score the highest among the four maxims (with the former taking 29.0% of the beauty product advertisements, and the latter 28.9%), followed by Quantity Maxim (23.0%) and Relevancy Maxim (19.1%). These findings indicate that advertisements of beauty products, in general, rely more heavily on Quality Maxim and Manner Maxim than on Quantity Maxim and Relevancy Maxim. It is likely that the advertiser put more stress on meeting the requirements of truthfulness and clarity of the information content to show their
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sincerity and honesty, and to warrant the efficiency and reliability of their products.
4.3.2 Implementation of CP maxims in beauty products advertisements
The maxims of pragmatic principles can either be conformed or violated. In this part, the way how the CP maxims are implemented in beauty product ads is examined.
4.3.2.1 Comparison between ways of implementation by CP maxims
It was expected that the ways of implementation by CP maxims are different.
Table 8 describes the results.
Table 8. Distribution of ways to implement CP maxims in beauty products advertisements (A= maxims of CP, B= implementation of CP)
A B Conforming Violating Total
Quality 96.0% (1382) 4.0% (57) 100.0% (1439) Quantity 0.9% (10) 99.1%(1132) 100.0% (1142) Relevancy 46.7% (439) 53.3% (501) 100.0% (940) Manner 99.3% (1419) 0.7% (9) 100.0% (1428) Total 65.6% (3250) 34.4%(1699) 100.0% (4949)
According to Table 8, the four maxims as a whole are more frequently obeyed than violated (65.6% vs. 34.4%). It is explained that the advertiser may think that obeying the maxims are easier for the consumer to accept and understand. Table 8 also reveals that Quality Maxim and Manner Maxim are always conformed; Quantity Maxim is always violated; as for Relevancy Maxim, it is more frequently violated than obeyed, with a gap not significantly large. A possible reason why Relevancy
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Maxim is more frequently violated is that the advertiser and the consumer share knowledge from the context. Therefore, even though some of the advertisements on the surface are not related to the beauty products, it is expected that the consumer, through the help of Relevancy Maxim, is still able to understand the advertisements and to make inference for the advertiser’s intention. In other words, unlike Quality Maxim and Manner Maxim, violation of Relevancy Maxim would not confuse or mislead the readers. In addition, violation of Relevancy Maxim may even help to catch the consumer’ attention, which, in turn, may help to persuade the consumer to change their mind and take action of buying the products advertised.
As for Quantity Maxim, it shows that in beauty products advertisements, the quantity of information tend to be used more than required. One possible cause is that if the advertisements only offer the basic effects of the products, they do not look attractive or persuasive enough for the consumer to take action. In order to talk the consumer into buying the products advertised, the advertiser gives extra information other than the essential functions of the commodities to attract the consumer. In this case, Quantity Maxim is violated.
4.3.2.2 Comparison among CP maxims by ways of implementation
It was anticipated that not all of the four CP maxims are obeyed equally frequently, nor are they violated equally often. Table 9 describes the result of data
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analysis.
Table 9. CP maxims by Ways of Implementation (A= maxims of CP, B= implementation of CP)
A B Conforming Violating Total
Quality 42.5% (1382) 3.3% (57) 29.0% (1439) Quantity 0.3% (10) 66.6% (1132) 23.0% (1142) Relevancy 13.5% (439) 29.4% (501) 19.1% (940) Manner 43.7% (1419) 0.7% (9) 28.9% (1428) Total 100.0% (3250) 100.0% (1699) 100.0% (4949)
According to Table 9, in maxim conformation, Manner Maxim and Quality Maxim score the highest (43.7% and 42.5%), with Relevancy Maxim coming next (13.5%), and Quantity Maxim (0.3%) the lowest. It shows that in beauty product ads, Manner Maxim and Quality Maxim are emphasized.
In maxim violation, Quantity Maxim scores the highest (66.6%), followed by Relevancy Maxim (29.4%), Quality Maxim (3.3%), and Manner Maxim (0.7%). It shows that from the advertiser’s point of view, violating Quantity Maxim would not prohibit the readers from understanding the advertisements. Further, when the advertiser gives the consumer more information about the products than needed, this violation of the second submaxim of Quantity Maxim may actually enhance the effects of advertisements (i.e. boosting the benefits which the products can offer), and hence persuade the consumer into buying them. Relevancy Maxim, although scoring
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less than Quantity Maxim, it still takes 29.4% of the data. The advertisements violate Relevancy Maxim by describing something not related to skin or cosmetics, with many cases under metaphorical usage. It seems, to the advertiser, the violation of Relevancy Maxim would not cause the readers misunderstanding; however, the violation of Quality Maxim and Manner Maxim may hinder the consumer from obtaining true and clear information about the products. In order to persuade and to convince the consumer, the advertisements are not likely to say something untrue or unclear, except that they want to exaggerate the effectiveness of the products or to make the sentences vague.
4.3.3. Comparison between types of beauty products advertisements by CP maxims It was expected that the two types of advertisements would differ from each other in the interactions among the nature of the ads, the four maxims of cooperation, and the ways of implementing the maxims. Table 10 depicts the results.
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Table 10. Types of beauty products advertisements by CP Maxims (A= maxims of CP; B= types of beauty products; C= ways of maxim
implementation, with “+” meaning maxim conformation,
“–” meaning maxim violation)
According to Table 10, in conforming the CP maxims as a whole, skin-care ads exceed cosmetic ads; in violating the maxims, it is the opposite. In either case, the discrepancy between cosmetic ads and skin-care ads is small, which means the nature of the two types of ads does not influence the implementation of CP maxims too much.
However, when the four maxims of CP are examined individually, it is found that in conforming the Quality, Quantity, and Manner maxims, skin-care ads all score higher than cosmetic ads. As for the conformation of Relevancy Maxim, it is the opposite pattern, with cosmetic ads scoring higher than skin-care ads. Since the essential functions of skin-care products are to maintain skin condition and/or to
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repair skin flaws, not to change the user’s facial features, it is not surprising that they offer factual statements rather than fantasies. In conforming Relevancy Maxim, the pattern is the opposite, with cosmetic ads scoring slightly higher than skin-care ads.
Also, it is noticed that cosmetic ads, in addition to using terms related to the consequences after using the cosmetics, do use statements related to fantasies.
In violating the maxims, cosmetic ads consistently score higher than skin-care ads. Since cosmetics is presumely associated not only with the camouflage of the skin flaws but also with the emotions and psychological feelings when the consumer’s facial features are changed by the products, it seems reasonable and tolerable that the advertisements exaggerate the effects of the cosmetics, use vague or even irrelevant words, and provide too much or too little information related to the products.
4.3.4 Comparison between ways to implement CP maxims by types of beauty products advertisements
It was anticipated that not all of the four CP maxims are obeyed equally frequently, nor are they violated equally often in the two types of ads. Table 11 describes the result of data analyses.
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Table 11. Ways to implement CP maxims by types of beauty products advertisements (A= maxims of CP; B= types of beauty products; C= ways of maxim implementation, with “+”
meaning maxim conformation, “–” meaning maxim violation) obey CP maxims more frequently than cosmetic ads do.
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Moreover, in cosmetic ads as well as in skin-care ads, Manner Maxim and Quality Maxim are CP maxims that are obeyed most frequently. It is anticipated that Manner Maxim and Quality Maxim are observed more frequently; after all, the advertiser wants to provide correct and clear information to persuade the consumer to buy the products advertised.
Another regularity noticed is that Relevancy maxim and Quantity Maxim are violated frequently. This finding shows that, first, in advertisements, the shared knowledge and context are clear, and both the advertiser and the consumer know that the focus is beauty; therefore, even though the advertiser uses many expressions not directly related to facial beauty, it is expected that the consumer knows what those expressions mean. Another reason why Relevancy Maxim is frequently violated is that the advertiser uses some words which are not associated with skin to draw the consumer’s attention. Next, Quantity Maxim is violated often because in order to attract the consumer’s attention, the advertiser tends to give extra information, namely, the information other than the essential functions of the products, to prove that the
products advertised are good to choose.
4.4 Politeness Principle in Advertisements
The six maxims of Leech’s Politeness Principle (including Tact Maxim,
Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim, and
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Sympathy Maxim) can also be used to describe and to explain how cosmetic ads and skin-care ads are constructed. Table 12 demonstrates how these maxims and their submaxims are implemented in advertisements of beauty products.
Table 12. Applicable Maxims of PP in beauty product ads (“+” = obeying the maxims, “–” = violating the
Maximize Dispraise of S NA Minimize Praise of S –
According to Table 12, in the twelve submaxims, only six of them are related to this study, namely, maximizing H’s benefit, minimizing H’s cost, maximizing S’s cost, minimizing dispraise of H, minimizing praise of S, and maximizing sympathy between S and H. Among these six submaxims, four of them are obeyed, and the other
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two are violated. To be specific, in terms of Tact Maxim, the advertiser offers the benefit to the consumer and fulfills her desire directly. Meanwhile, the consumer’s cost is minimized. The advertiser emphasizes that the consumer does not have to buy too many bottles of beauty products, which is also a benefit to the consumer.
Therefore, Tact Maxim is obeyed.
As for Generosity Maxim, the advertiser may mention her cost sometimes in order to show her credibility and sincerity to the consumer; thus the first submaxim of Generosity Maxim is obeyed. On the other hand, the consumer does not care about the advertiser’s benefit or cost, and the advertiser will not mention her own benefit because basically advertisements are consumer-oriented and because the advertiser’s
true benefit which is to earn money from the consumer is the cost of the consumer and is irrelevant to the consumer’s decision to buy the product advertised; thus it is unwise
to mention the advertiser’s benefit, and the second submaxim of Generosity Maxim is not applicable.
In terms of Approbation Maxim, it is logically impossible for the advertiser to praise the consumer. If the advertiser praises the consumer’s skin before using the products, the consumer has no need to buy the beauty products, and the advertiser fails to elicit profits from the consumer. The advertiser only praises the effect of the product. Thus, the first submaxim of Approbation Maxim is not applicable. As for the
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second submaxim, it is violated. The advertiser chooses to point out the consumer’s skin problems to reveal that she sees and is concerned about the consumer’s problem.
Very often it is this concern that helps to persuade the consumer that the products advertised can really help her and that she should take action buying the products. The advertiser implies that she is so empathetic with the consumer’s problem and so eager to help the consumer to resolve the problem that she even risks a chance to offend the consumer. However, in social psychology, the skin flaws should not be mentioned;
hence, these cases are few in the written data.
As to Modesty Maxim, the first submaxim is not applicable because no advertiser would dispraise the product advertised. Instead, the advertiser boosts her product, which explicitly violates the second submaxim of Modesty Maxim. In doing so, the advertiser reinforces the merits of her product and the effect of using it. It is very likely that this reinforcement convinces the consumer that the product is worth buying.
As for Agreement Maxim, it can be merged with Sympathy Maxim. Since the advertiser and the consumer share the same goal, namely, to improve the consumer’s
skin condition and facial appearance, the advertiser’s agreement means sympathy for the consumer; thus, it seems to be redundant to keep both maxims.
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In terms of Sympathy Maxim, the first submaxim, maximizing sympathy between the advertiser and the consumer, is obeyed. In advertising, the advertiser shows concern and sincerity to the consumer, so the advertiser maximizes sympathy.
The second submaxim of Sympathy Maxim, minimizing antipathy between the
advertiser and the consumer, is inapplicable because no advertiser will stand opposite to the consumer’s desire and needs, to provoke the consumer and, hence, hinder them
from buying the products.
Based on what mentioned above, this section will focus on five of the submaxims, namely, maximizing H’s benefit, minimizing H’s cost, minimizing
dispraise of H, minimizing praise of S, and maximizing sympathy between S and H.
4.4.1 Comparison of the types of advertisements by PP maxims
It was anticipated that cosmetic ads and skin-care ads would differ from each other in the application of the maxims and the submaxims of Leech’s Politeness Principle. Results of data analyses are shown in Table 13.
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Table 13. Comparison of the types of advertisements by PP maxims (A= maxims of PP; B= types of beauty products; C= ways of maxim implementation, with
“+” meaning maxim conformation, “–” meaning maxim violation) B ads than in cosmetic ads (53.9% vs. 46.1%, respectively). This pattern also extends to the applications of the four maxims, namely Tact Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, and Sympathy Maxim, with skin-care ads consistently using these maxims more often than cosmetic ads. However, conspicuous gaps between the two types of advertisements locate only in Approbation Maxim and in Modesty Maxim. A possible explanation to these phenomena is that skin-care ads appeal to the effects of the products advertised, and their function is to improve the consumer’s skin
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conditions; therefore, the advertiser obeys Tact Maxim to sustain the consumer’s benefits, and violate Modesty Maxim to uphold the merits of their own products.
In Approbation Maxim, maxim violation is 65.8% in skin-care ads, but only 34.2% in cosmetic ads. The reason may be that, in skin-care ads, the consumer’s skin problems are mentioned directly, and the advertiser’s products can help the consumer improve her skin. In this way, the violation of Approbation Maxim in skin-care ads is higher. As for cosmetic ads, the focus is to put on the perfect skin after the use of the product, so there is not much need to mention the consumer’s skin problems constantly; therefore, frequent violation of Approbation Maxim is needless.
In the application of Sympathy Maxim, maxim conformation is 46.1% in cosmetic ads and 53.9% in skin-care ads. This pattern indicates that in both types of
ads, the advertiser tries to show sympathy and concern to the consumer such as by using pronoun “I” to shift the stance, which suggests that the advertiser stands on the
same side with the consumer.
4.4.2 Comparison of PP maxims by types of beauty products advertisements It was anticipated that not all of the four PP maxims are obeyed equally frequently, nor are they violated equally often in the two types of ads. Table 14
4.4.2 Comparison of PP maxims by types of beauty products advertisements It was anticipated that not all of the four PP maxims are obeyed equally frequently, nor are they violated equally often in the two types of ads. Table 14