Meaning, relevance and cognition: an analysis of sense and persuasion in advertising discourse

• Grant number: 14/07446-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: June 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Linguistic Theory and Analysis
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Ronaldo de Oliveira Batista
• Grantee: Daniel Camilo Marques de Rezende
• Host Institution: Centro de Comunicação e Letras (CCL). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project proposes a research which focuses on the analysis of the advertising discourse, which will be analyzed from the perspective of pragmatic studies, more specifically from the propositions of Sperber and Wilson (1986, 1995, 2005) recognized as relevance theory. The central research problem can be configured in the following question: How does the advertising discourse develop and build their messages to persuade? This questioning allows hypotheses to be considered in order to guide the implementation of the research. For this study, the following assumptions shall be made: a) the advertising discourse focuses on persuasion, so the development of this discourse must take into account the receptor's conviction. Thus, the message perspective leads to change behavior; b) the communicative process realized through speech and its users is not only driven by social, linguistic and ideological elements, but also by specific cognitive procedures, since interlocutors tend to select verbal interaction in what they see as more relevant. From these assumptions, one must consider that the discursive construction takes into account the enhancement of elements and factors that may optimally attract the attention of the recipient of the messages. Given the listed central problem and assumptions, the research aims to analyze the advertising discourse in a pragmatic and cognitive perspective. (AU)