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Persuasive Language in Women’s Brand Advertising on Social Media: A Corpus-Based Study of Social Media Advertisements
Muhammad Imran; Dr. Rana Imran Ali; Muhammad Asif
Abstract:
This study employs a corpus-based discourse analysis to identify and categorize the most frequent lexical patterns and collocations and to analyze how these patterns construct specific discursive representations. In this regard, a specialized corpus was designed from all three social media sources (i.e., YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram). Various corpus-based tests were conducted using LancsBox and Voyant Tools (for details, please refer to the study instrument) to obtain quantitative data and language patterns to support findings aligned with the study's objectives. After obtaining quantitative findings, the data were interpreted qualitatively using a partially applied CDA framework by Norman Fairclough. Analysis of four data sets, clothing, shoes, fashion, and jewellery, shows a strategic bifurcation in ideas based on product utility. Functional categories like “Clothing and Shoes” rank "sensory-affective" and "technical-reliability" patterns, using lexemes such as "breathable" and "durable" to engage the consumers and validate physical trust with the products. Comparatively, “Fashion and Jewellery brands employ "prestige-heavy" terms like "iconic" and "exclusive" to trigger aspirational needs for social eminence. Across all categories, "premium" and "stylish" function as universal quality indicators optimized for fast-scrolling environments. The results show that advertisements on social media with a high success rate have a significant impact on consumers’ mental images of the product and their behavior to buy it. These results also show an immediate sensory reward for consumers, providing them with long-term symbolic prestige by tailoring linguistic choices to either the consumers’ physical experience or the product’s social identity.
Keywords:
Social media, Brand value, Corpus Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Consumer
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