Analyzing the Advertising Discourse- A Journey from Sight to Mind

Abstract

This research paper sets out to project an in-depth study of the advertising discourse by applying methodological approaches of Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis to the chosen “advertisements”. It aims at examining the ‘power relations and struggles’ among product-producers and product-consumers, to gauge the level of psychological dominance exercised through the advertising discourse. The study, fundamentally, presents a counter-analysis of ‘advertising strategies’, as to how far they influence the consumers’ attitudes and to what extent the consumers direct their ‘discourse’. In other words, this research attempts to answer the question: ‘who turns out to be more powerful by controlling the other’s mind, in advertiser-consumer relationship?’, whether it is the consumer who shapes the discourse of advertisements through their demands, or the advertiser who affects the consumers’ beliefs through their ‘discourse’! Thus, the current paper presents a comprehensive review of the relevant literature leading towards a theoretical framework of preferred DA and CDA approaches to be further applied on the discourse of advertisements. And towards the end, it states the final remarks concluding the entire discussion and reflecting upon the effectiveness of Critical Discourse Analysis in its application on the advertising phenomena.