Discourse Analysis of Persuasive Language in Philippine Print Advertising

Abstract

This qualitative study employed discourse analysis of persuasive language of 115 print advertisements of beauty products from one year issue of three local magazines. Thorough data analysis showed that persuasive language of print advertising is embedded in indirect convincing through an appeal to emotional needs, an appeal to celebrity image, and an appeal to colonial mentality of consumers. Furthermore, persuasive language is embedded in analogy through the use of metaphor and future events. Results also showed that the syntactic and semantic features of print advertising in Philippine context include the use of adjectives, time expressions, figurative language, clipping, blending, poetic devices, imperatives, code-switching, and problemsolution structure. An interesting social issue generated from the result of the study is the myth of women’s agelessness and perfection.It is recommended that a similar study be conducted to radio and television advertising to improve the practice of advertising language that is reflective of culture, behavior, and educational practices. Keywords: Advertising, discourse analysis, persuasive language, print advertising, Philippines