An Analysis Of The Characteristics Of Advertising Language From The Rhetorical Perspective

Advertising is a special form of communication that shows a basic pattern of advertising communicators appealing to advertisement receivers through advertising information. In this communicative process, advertising information flows between advertising communicators and advertisement audience. Advertising communicators expect to influence the relevant audience psychologically through the transmission of advertising information, with a view to finally achieving certain desired effects on the audience. Advertising endeavors to employ the simplest language for the expression of the most complicated meaning. It is the art of language par excellence. Essentially, advertising language belongs to the category of inflammatory language that is informed with a persuasive intent. It typically employs rhetorical strategies so as to enhance its expressive ability and to facilitate the consumers’identification with what is being advertised. What kind of rhetorical strategies does advertising language use routinely? What are the rhetorical characteristics in the language of public service advertising? By focusing its attention on these two questions, the paper undertakes to explore the application of rhetoric in advertising language and to offer a tentative rhetorical analysis of such a language.