A cross cultural pragmatic analysis of commercial advertisements in american and vietnamese magazines

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DO THI PHUONG MAI A CROSS-CULTURAL PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE MAGAZINES (Nghiên cứu dụng học giao văn hóa quảng cáo thƣơng mại tạp chí Mĩ Việt) Major: English Linguistics Code: 9220201.01 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Hanoi - 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DO THI PHUONG MAI A CROSS-CULTURAL PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE MAGAZINES (Nghiên cứu dụng học giao văn hóa quảng cáo thƣơng mại tạp chí Mĩ Việt) Major: English Linguistics Code: 9220201.01 Supervisor Prof Dr Nguyen Quang Hanoi - 2018 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the works of others The copyright of this thesis rests with the author Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party Hanoi, 2018 Signature Do Thi Phuong Mai i ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the use of politeness strategies, advertising appeals and the realization of politeness strategies in advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements The data for this study consist of 310 magazine advertisements collected within a period of six months at the end of 2014 These advertisements are analyzed on the basis of Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory and Pollay’s (1983) advertising appeal system The results reveal the preferences in the use of positive politeness strategies in both American and Vietnamese advertisements Additionally, Effectiveness, Distinctive and Modern are the three most popular appeals in selected advertisements Another similarity between American and Vietnamese magazine advertising is the realization of positive politeness strategies in Effectiveness appeal However, there exist the differences in the use of politeness strategies and advertising appeals between American and Vietnamese advertising At the same time, the manifestation of some politeness strategies, advertising appeals, and the realization of certain politeness strategies in advertising appeals in American advertising is different from that of Vietnamese advertising The findings of the study, therefore, suggest that appropriate advertising strategies be employed to achieve the goal of the advertisements ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like first and foremost to extend my most sincere thanks to Professor Nguyễn Quang, my supervisor, for his critical comments and valuable instructions without which this thesis could not have been completed I appreciate his kind encouragement, astute advice and immeasurable guidance and support through every stage of my Ph.D journey My indebtedness also goes to lecturers of University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their immensely helpful guidance and support during my time of study therein I am also grateful to my colleagues at Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education for their support throughout the process of writing this thesis Last but not least, I am especially indebted to my beloved family members whose help and encouragements contributed greatly to the completion of my study iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FTA: Fact Threatening Act H : Hearer(s) S : Speaker(s) iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Pollay’s appeal system, 1983 13 Table 1.2 Classification of advertising appeals 15 Table 2.1 American and Vietnamese magazines used in the study 47 Table 2.2 Research framework for politeness strategies in the study .52 Table 2.3 Single bald-on record strategies in the study 53 Table 2.4 Single positive politeness strategies in the study 55 Table 2.5 Single negative politeness strategies in the study 55 Table 2.6 Single off-record politeness strategies in the study 56 Table 2.7 Mixed politeness strategies in the study 56 Table 2.8 Result of pilot test on Pollay’s system 58 Table 2.9 Five newly-added advertising appeals (Shen, 2013) 59 Table 2.10 Advertising appeals in the study 60 Table 2.11 Elements in the research design 64 Table 3.1 Frequency of politeness strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 66 Table 3.2 Frequency of single positive politeness strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 69 Table 3.3 Frequency of single negative politeness strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 83 Table 3.4 Bald-on record strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 90 Table 3.5 Similarities and differences in politeness strategies used in American and Vietnamese magazine advertisements 99 Table 4.1 Advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 102 Table 4.2 Similarities and differences in the use of advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 124 Table 5.1 Summary of the realization of politeness strategies in advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 147 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Marketing mix 10 Figure 1.2 Promotion mix 10 Figure 1.3 Why Politeness?, adapted from Nguyễn Quang (2011) 17 Figure 1.4 Lakoff (1973)’s rules of pragmatic competence 19 Figure 1.5 Leech cost-benefit scale (1983) 20 Figure 1.6 Possible strategies concerning the delivery of an FTA (Brown and Levinson, 1987: 69) 21 Figure 2.1 Possible strategies concerning the delivery of an FTA, Nguyễn Quang (2012), adapted from Brown and Levinson (1987) 57 Figure 2.2 Data analysis procedure 63 Figure 5.1: Proportion of politeness strategies realized in advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 126 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES .v LIST OF FIGURES vi INTRODUCTION .1 CHAPTER REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1.1 Advertising 1.2 Advertising appeals 11 1.3 Politeness 16 1.3.1 Definition 18 1.3.2 Approaches to politeness 18 1.3.3 Concluding remarks 31 1.4 Politeness and advertising 33 1.5 Review of previous studies 35 1.5.1 Previous studies of advertising from cross-cultural pragmatic perspective 35 1.5.2 Previous studies of advertising appeals 42 1.5.3 Concluding remarks 44 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 45 2.1 Research questions 45 2.2 Samples 45 2.2.1 Selection of the magazines 47 2.2.2 Selection of advertisements 47 2.3 Collection procedure 48 2.4 Coding 49 vii ... advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 109 4.2.1 Linguistic realization of Effectiveness appeal in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine... What are advertising appeals employed in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements? How are politeness strategies realized in advertising appeals in American and Vietnamese commercial. .. strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements 89 3.4.2 Linguistic realization of bald-on record strategies in American and Vietnamese commercial magazine advertisements