An Analysis of Descriptive Features in the English used in an Advertising Text

Abstract

The goal of advertising is the persuasion of a customer of the merits of a particular product or service. Whatever the strategy advertisers employ in order to influence the consumer, language is the main carrier of the message. Among the components of advertising (visual images, words, logos, brand names, graphic designs and so on), words play a key role since by them the audience is able to grasp the advertising message (Dyer, 1982; Nga, 210) . In advertising, copywriters use English words to project the product or service they are bringing to the audience’s attention in the most attractive fashion. Copywriters use English quite distinctively; they sometimes employ the descriptive style of writing to present their messages. The rationale is that description makes the information more intriguing and engaging for the audience. The primary objective of description in advertising is to frame an image of a product in the minds of the consumer through sufficient details and allow them to experience the product through their five senses. Description in advertising creates a dominant impression, an overall attitude, mood or feeling about a product or service. In the current paper, the writer has analyzed the descriptive elements in the English used in an advertising text in a newspaper in Ghana. The theoretical framework that was adopted was Fairclough’s (1992) Three-Dimensional Model Theory and the qualitative research design was employed for the study. The descriptive features that were realized in the selected advertisement (henceforth advert) were sensory details, figurative expressions, modifiers and picturesque vocabulary. The description of the advertising text was effective, in that, it left the reader with a clear impression: a craving for the Castle Milk Stout alcoholic beverage that was advertised. Keywords: Advertising, description, English, persuasion, Castle Milk Stout