Target-Consumer-Oriented TV Advertising Language Analysis From The Perspective Of Adaptation

TV advertisements, supported by modern multimedia technology, have become the first choice of most companies and the most influential form of advertising. TV advertisements are measured by second, especially during the golden hours. To some extent, every word in the advertising language costs millions of dollars. In order to make full use of this stage provided by TV, the study of advertising language is of great importance. This thesis aims to analyze TV advertising language under the framework of Adaptation Theory proposed by Jef Verschueren in 1999. Research data collected from TV will be categorized according to the target consumers the products are aiming at. Criteria like gender and age will be used to group different kinds of target consumers. Under the criterion of gender advertisements are divided into advertisements for male and those for female, while the age criterion classifies advertisements into four groups: advertisements for babies, for teenagers, for adults, and those for the old. Under the framework of Adaptation Theory this thesis will discuss how TV advertising language adapts the target consumers from three worlds:the mental world, the social world and the physical world. Representatives picked up from each group will be analyzed from the above perspectives. The thesis aims to provide a new point of view to interpret advertising language. Further more it is hoped that it can provide some enlightenment to advertisement creation and appreciation. The study shows that the success of a TV advertisement depends on whether or not the advertisement adapts the target consumers' mental world, social world and physical world. Therefore, analyzing the features of the target consumers before creating TV advertisements is of great necessity. This practical study belongs to qualitative analysis.