A Relevance-theoretic Analysis Of Pictorial Metaphor In Advertising

This paper aims at the study of pictorial metaphors in Chinese advertising with reference to Sperber and Wilson's (1986) relevance theory. Chinese advertisements make extensive uses of pictorial metaphors. The model proposed by Forceville (1996) is employed to analyze ten advertisements abstracted from magazines or websites that contain a pictorial metaphor. The aim is threefold: (1) to test the model with new corpus of Chinese advertisements; (2) to prove the applicability of relevance theory to nonverbal communication of pictures; (3) to explore the difference between pictorial metaphor and linguistic metaphor in advertising from the cost-benefit anlysis of relevance.The meaning construction process of the interpretation of a pictorial metaphor is to obtain from each new item of information as many contextual effects as possible. The contextual effects are derived from the comparison of the new assumption with the old ones, which results in a change to the individual's set of prior assumptions. In the appropriate context, a new piece of information has a certain number of contextual effects termed as C. The work of the deductive device of the brain involves some mental effort termed as E. The measurements of contextual effects and mental effort constitute the basis of Sperber and Wilson's (1986) notion of relevance, which is R=C/E (Relevance is in direct proportion with the contextual effects and inverse proportion with the processing effort). The processing of an ad containing a pictorial metaphor is effort-saving while a sufficient number of contextual effects are guaranteed, so, it can achieve a high degree of relevance to the readers.The notion R=C/E plays the major role in the evaluation of pictorial metaphor in this paper. An ad containing a pictorial metaphor which an optimal relevance is achieved is considered to be a successful and effective one and more positive claims about the product will be deduced, while for those with low relevance, readers are easily misled and understanding difficulty is prone to occur. Relevance is varied to different individuals, for the processing effort each individual invests and the contextual effects each one gets from a certain pictorial ad will vary from one to another. This is why a pictorial metaphor can achieve a high degree of relevance toone reader, low degree of relevance to another and no relevance to still another.The similarity and difference between pictorial metaphor and linguistic metaphor are explored under the cost-benefit structure of relevance as well. A linguistic metaphor can provide much more contextual effects than that of a pictorial metaphor, while the processing of a pictorial metaphor is more effort-saving than that of a linguistic metaphor.The paper concludes that the relevance theory can fairly account for the nonverbal communication of pictures in Chinese advertising. Meanwhile, the application of the theory is of great importance for those who are doing advertising.