Chapter 6 Conclusion
4. Politeness Principle
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be persuasive enough for the consumer.
3.2.4 Politeness Principle (PP)
Leech’s (1983) PP offers some explanations to how the maxims of PP are
manipulated. However, in advertisements, not all of the six maxims (namely, Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim, and Sympathy Maxim) are equally frequently adopted. Also, it was presumed that Tact Maxim and Approbation Maxim, which are hearer-oriented, are used more frequently than the others because in logical thinking, the advertiser has to and would want to show the potential consumer that the target merchandise is beneficial to the potential consumer. After all, nobody would want to buy anything that is useless or not very useful. Moreover, related examples are presented as follows.
(13) 我看見肌膚的改變，變得淨白、透亮、無瑕
(14) 只要 NARS 晶采全效凝膠一罐在手，就能輕鬆畫出多種明星般的 耀眼妝容
(15) 讓肌膚如輕覆薄紗，有效改善肌膚黯沉，妝容明亮耀眼 (16) 極持色，極炫色，驚灔感官，一抹鮮明如妳
(17) 以頂級珍貴修護成分，實現渴望的年輕
Example (13), through obeying Tact Maxim, points out what benefits the potential consumer can have after using the commodity. In example (14), “只要一 罐”describes the low cost to the potential consumer. Example (15) violates
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Approbation Maxim because it points out the consumer’s skin problem, which is
undesirable, although factual, to the potential consumer. Example (16) violates Modesty Maxim, for the advertiser highly praises her own product as something extremely functional and effective. Example (17) observes Sympathy Maxim because the advertiser hopes the consumer to be beautiful as the potential consumer does.
Example (13) also observe Sympathy Maxim because the use of pronoun “我” is a shifting of “你”, which means the advertiser takes the consumer’s side and show sympathy.
3.2.5 Ideology
In women’s fashion magazines, gender ideology is prominent and vitally
important. Through it, women are told how they should behave. Basically the components of a woman ideology include physical appearance, psychological status, and social recognition. Physical appearance means the skin condition, and psychological status indicates emotions. Social recognition refers to role, uniqueness, identity, and beauty. According to Plakoyiannaki and Zotos (2009), women have been given decorative roles, for example, as sex objects, emphasizing physical attractiveness only. In this thesis, stereotypical impressions of women embedded in the advertisements are examined to see whether such traditional value system still functions in the modern society of Taiwan. Six examples are given below to illustrate
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the point.
(18) 全面守護白、淨、水嫩肌膚
(19) 讓肌膚沉浸於豐富的滋養中，舒緩於愜意的氛圍裡
(20) 精算過的 4 種不同質感蜜粉餅，能調理膚色，呈現洗練的妝感 (21) 超模訂製，量身打造雙眸奢華秀服
(22) 令人過目難忘的重量級眼妝，覺醒你的超模體質 (23) 極透、無瑕，不間斷雙重美白保養
Example (18) is about the physical appearance of ideology, reminding the potential consumer that she should always keep white, clear, and soft skin. Example (19) is related to the psychological status of woman ideology which prescribes that women should always look for comfort and relaxation. Examples (20) to (23) regard the social recognition of ideology, role, uniqueness, identity, and beauty, respectively.
In example (20), “洗練” indicates a certain role as “a competent career woman.” In example (21), “量身打造” means “design for you in particular,” which is uniqueness.
In example (22), “超模” is a kind of identity for women to identify with. In example (23), “美白” points out the aesthetic which women should have and care about.
3.2.6 Linguistic Devices 3.2.6.1 Referential contents
There are four aspects of the referential contents in verbal representations of advertisements of beauty products—time, singularity, annexation, and scope. First, the time aspect includes instancy (such as 瞬間/一瞬，轉眼間，下一秒，立即),
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duration (such as 日夜不間斷，全天(候) ，一整天，24 小時), and simultaneity (同 時，同步), all of which aim at the efficiency and effectiveness of the beauty products
advertised. Next, singularity is concerned with first appearance of the referent (such as 首度，第一次，第一(款) ，史上第一瓶) and exclusiveness (such as 獨家，獨特), both emphasizing the uniqueness of the product. As for of annexation, it refers to the addition of information (such as 再，更，又，也，不僅，不只), indicating that the product advertised is multifunctional, i.e. of greater value than the potential consumer can imagine. Lastly, The scope aspect aims to intensify the width (such as 全面，全方 位，任何，所有，幾乎，每個) and the depth (such as 徹底，透徹，極，超) of the
functions of the products advertised.
3.2.6.2 Hedgers vs. boosters
Hedgers and boosters are linguistic devices used in interpersonal metadiscourse.
Hedgers function to tone down the negative force of a message and to assure the consumer that the advertiser does not intend to interfere with their freedom to act.
Opposite to hedgers, boosters are used to express the speaker’s conviction, to show confidence in the proposition, and to mark the solidarity with the hearer. In advertising, boosters are widely used to persuade the consumer. Since the consumer relies heavily on the information offered in the advertisement to decide whether to buy the product or not, boosters, powerful expressions which can help to persuade the
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consumer that the product is valuable and worth buying, may effectively urge the consumer to make decisions.
Hedgers serve to offer suggestions for problems, while boosters give expressions with exaggerated contents. In this study, it is wondered whether these two linguistic devices are used differently in the two types of beauty product advertisements. Two examples are provided as given below.
(24) 不論你是彩妝新手或是玩妝高手，只要 NARS 晶采全效凝膠一 罐在手，就能輕鬆畫出多種明星般的耀眼妝容
(25) 極透、無瑕，不間斷 雙重 美白保養
In Example (24), “彩妝新手” and “只要” both tone down the utterance. “彩妝 新手” means “the novice of using cosmetics”, and “只要” indicates “if only.” Both of
them do not emphasize or exaggerate something, so they are hedgers. “多種明星般”
and “耀眼” are boosters used to exaggerate the effect of the product. In example (25), five boosters are used to enhance the functions and effect of the product. By using the boosters, the advertiser sounds certain and confident of the product advertised.
3.2.7 Essential functions
To identify whether the advertisements obey the maxims of FC, CP, and PP, the essential functions of the beauty products in the data collected are defined to set a norm for judgment. More specifically, if the advertisement serves the essential
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functions and does not offer any functions other than the essential functions, it is counted as obeying the maxims; otherwise, it is counted as violating2 the maxims.
The essential functions of these beauty products of which the advertisements are examined in this thesis are given below. Cosmetics include foundation, powder, BB cream, sunscreen, mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick; skin-care products include various essence, lotion, and cream.
1. Essential functions of cosmetics:
(1) Face (foundation, powder, and BB cream): adorning skin colors and covering skin flaws
(2) Eyes (mascara and eye shadow): making the eyelashes darker, longer, and thicker; giving colors to eye areas
(3) Lips (lipstick): giving colors to lips, making lips softer and plumper 2. Essential functions of skin-care products:
(1) Essence: supplying water to skin and making it more moisturized (2) Lotion: making skin whiter, smoother, and helping block moisture (3) Cream: giving skin nourishment and hydrating it
2 Grice (1975) thinks there are four different situations about the violation of principles, namely violating, opting out, clash, and flouting. In this thesis, they are all included in the term “violating.”
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3.3 Measurements
All the data used in the thesis are categorized by the criteria mentioned above first. Then, the frequencies and percentages of each category and subcategory are calculated in quantitative analyses; in qualitative analyses, 5-point Likert scale is adopted. Afterwards, major patterns are described and explained.
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Chapter 4
Quantitative Analyses of the Written Data
This chapter presents quantitative analyses of data about ways to persuade, felicity conditions, Cooperative Principle, Politeness Principle, ideology, and modification.
4.1 Approaches of Advertising
According to Cook (2001), there are two ways for the advertiser to persuade the consumer: hard-sell approach, which appeals to concrete reasons for purchase and the information of the product, and soft-sell approach, which resorts to emotions and the closeness between the advertiser and consumer. It was predicted that different approaches are adopted in different types of beauty product advertisements.
4.1.1 Distribution of advertising approaches in beauty products advertisements Based on data analyzed, the distribution of the two advertising approaches in beauty product advertisements is presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Distribution of advertising approaches in beauty product advertisements as a whole
Hard-sell Soft-sell Both Total
92.0% (184) 3.0% (6) 5.0% (10) 100.0% (200)
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According to Table 1, in advertisements of beauty products, hard-sell approach is used far more frequently than soft-sell (92% vs. 3%); and 5% of the data reveal that both approaches are adopted in the same advertisement. This result shows that hard-sell approach is preferred for beauty products advertisements.
4.1.2 Comparison between types of beauty products advertisements by advertisement approaches
It was anticipated that cosmetic ads and skin-care ads would rely on different approaches of advertisements. In specific, skin-care ads would use hard-sell approach more often than cosmetic ads do; while cosmetic ads would depend on soft-sell approach more heavily than skin-care ads. Table 2 presents the results of data analyses.
Table 2. Types of beauty products advertisements by advertisement approaches (A= approaches of advertising, B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Hard-sell 47.8% (88) 52.2% (96) 100.0% (184) Soft-sell 100.0% (6) 0.0% (0) 100.0% (6) Both 60.0% (6) 40.0% (4) 100.0% (10) Total 50.0% (100) 50.0% (100) 100.0% (200)
As Table 2 demonstrates, hard-sell approach, as expected, is used more frequently in skin-care advertisements (52.2%) than in cosmetic advertisements
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(47.8%). In skin-care advertisements, the point is to change the nature of the consumer’s skin; therefore, it is expected that advertisements of this kind appeal directly to the effects of the products and the benefits to the consumer’s skin. Since hard-sell approach, which is more concrete than soft-sell approach, is used more frequently in skin-care ads.
In terms of soft-sell approach, it is used exclusively in cosmetic ads. Since cosmetic products focus on the instant change of people’s outlook, and since using the make-up is just like wearing a mask which may change the consumer’s emotions instantly, soft-sell approach, which advocates sensibility, is used more frequently in cosmetic advertisements than in skin-care advertisements. In sum, cosmetic ads and skin-care ads have different preferences for the two approaches of advertising.
4.1.3 Comparison between advertising approaches by types of beauty products advertisements
It was predicted that cosmetic ads would prefer soft-sell approach, while skin-care ads rely more heavily on hard-sell approach. Results of data analysis are given in Table 3.
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Table 3. Differences between hard-sell approach and soft-sell approach in the two types of ads (A= approaches of
advertising, B= types of beauty products)
A B Cosmetic Skin-care Total
Hard-sell 88.0% (88) 96.0% (96) 92.0% (184) Soft-sell 6.0% (6) 0.0% (0) 3.0% (6) Both 6.0% (6) 4.0% (4) 5.0% (10) Total 100.0% (100) 100.0% (100) 100.0% (200)
According to Table 3, when the nature of the beauty products is taken into consideration, it is noticed that 88.0% of the cosmetic advertisements take hard-sell approach, but only 6% of them take soft-sell approach or both. In skin-care advertisements, hard-sell approach is used dominantly, while soft-sell is never used alone. In other words, both cosmetic advertisements and skin-care advertisements prefer hard-sell approach to soft-sell approach.
The above findings seem to imply that the advertiser in Taiwan strongly emphasizes efficiency of the beauty products, and they think that the consumer prefers the way of communication which would assure obvious and time-saving effects. That is, the consumer is enabled to become beautiful quickly, to gain others’
admiration and praise, and to establish self-esteem. In this way, although the concept of beauty is abstract and subjective, the advertiser uses concrete and rational ways to promote their beauty products.
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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
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