A study on presupposition used in Weekender Magazine`s advertisements - USD Repository

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

A STUDY ON PRESUPPOSITION USED

  

IN WEEKENDER MAGAZINE’S ADVERTISEMENTS

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

  By Ana Humardhiana

  Student Number: 041214044

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2009

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  j j kkk I dedicated this thesis to: The One and Only Allah SWT My beloved parents, Bp. Istuk Hadi Prihatno and Ib. Maryati

My inspiring sisters and brother, Mbak Edi Kusumawati, Mbak Ida

Istiarti, and Mas David Wahyudi My very very best friend, Leoni Afikawati

And my biggest enemy, my own self,, “I defeated you here, girl. And

I’ll defeat you in my tomorrows…” “NO ONE SURRENDERS.

  ONLY CONTENDERS IN THIS FIGHT….” Angela Aki – Surrender

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

ABSTRACT

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. A Study on Presupposition Used in WEEKENDER

Magazine’s Advertisements. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

  In communicating, people usually share the same knowledge with each other. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via presupposition. In the world of advertising, presupposition is frequently used. Even it is obliged for the advertisers to use presupposition since they are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. Although presupposition is frequently used in our daily-life, it is not easy to understand it linguistically, especially those in advertisement. As students of English Language Department, we need to also have knowledge on it.

  In this study on presupposition, there are two problems formulated. The first problem is how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. The second one is what the functions of presupposition are. Those lead to the aims of the study which are to find out the types of presuppositions used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements and to find out the functions of presuppositions.

  For this descriptive research, the writer applied a qualitative approach. In this study, document or content analysis technique was utilized to answer question number 1 and library research for question number 2. This study used 100

  

WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements as the objects to be analyzed. Since the

  study employed document analysis method, the researcher herself was the main instrument to gain the data, and helped by a checklist of presupposition in order to ease her analyzing.

  The results of the study depicts that there were five types of presupposition in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements, namely existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition, structural presupposition, and non- factive presupposition. There were 51 existential presuppositions, 13 factive presuppositions, 28 lexical presuppositions, 6 structural presuppositions, and 2 non-factive presuppositions. There were also found four functions of presuppositions, such as presenting the existence of the product or service, implicit competition, making short and memorable message, and establishing a virtual poetic world.

  Related to the future studies, it is suggested that the next studies are quantitative research. The study can analyze the correlation trend between presupposition used and the buying interest. Related to presupposition used, it is also suggested that the future researchers to conduct a study on presupposition in anecdotes or humorous text. This kind of study has never been analyzed by students of Sanata Dharma University. This study will be very interesting to be conducted since most of anecdotes or humorous text use background knowledge of the readers to trigger the humor. The study can be conducted descriptively.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

ABSTRAK

Humardhiana, Ana. 2009. Penelitian tentang Presuposisi dalam Iklan di

Majalah WEEKENDER. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Dalam berkomunikasi, orang-orang biasanya saling berbagi pengetahuan yang sama. Pada umumnya, mereka membuat pernyataan secara tidak langsung, yaitu melalui presuposisi. Di dalam dunia periklanan, presuposisi sering digunakan. Bahkan pengiklan diharuskan menggunakan presuposisi karena mereka tidak diperbolehkan membuat pernyataan secara langsung tentang produk- produk mereka. Meskipun presuposisi sering digunakan dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari, memahami presuposisi secara linguistik bukanlah hal yang mudah, khususnya dalam iklan. Sebagai mahasiswa jurusan Bahasa Inggris, kita juga harus mempunyai pengetahuan tentang presuposisi.

  Dalam studi tentang presuposisi ini, ada dua rumusan permasalahan. Yang pertama adalah berapa banyak presuposisi yang digunakan di iklan-iklan majalah

  

WEEKENDER dan apa saja itu. Yang kedua adalah apa fungsi dari presuposisi.

  Rumusan permasalahan tersebut merujuk pada tujuan dari studi ini, yaitu untuk menemukan jenis-jenis presuposisi dalam iklan di majalah WEEKENDER dan untuk menemukan fungsi-fungsi presuposisi.

  Penulis menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif untuk penelitian deskriptif ini. Dalam studi ini, teknik document or content analysis digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan nomor 1 dan teknik library research untuk nomor 2. Studi ini memakai 100 iklan di majalah WEEKENDER sebagai object yang dianalisa. Karena studi ini menggunakan metode document analysis, penulis sendiri yang menjadi instrumen utama untuk memperoleh data, tetapi dia juga dibantu dengan sebuah checklist presuposisi agar mempermudah penganalisaannya.

  Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan ada lima macam presuposisi, yaitu

  

existential presupposition, factive presupposition, lexical presupposition,

structural presupposition, dan non-factive presupposition. Mereka terdiri dari 51

existential presuppositions, 13 factive presuppositions, 28 lexical presuppositions,

  6 structural presuppositions, dan 2 non-factive presuppositions. Ditemukan pula empat fungsi presuposisi, yaitu menunjukkan keberadaan suatu produk atau servis, kompetisi implisit, membuat pesan menjadi pendek dan mudah dingat, dan membangun suasana yang puitis.

  Berkaitan dengan studi-studi yang akan datang, disarankan agar studi-studi berikutnya merupakan penelitian secara kuantitatif. Mereka dapat menganalisa garis tren antara presuposisi yang digunakan dengan keinginan membeli. Berhubungan dengan presuposisi yang digunakan, penulis juga menyarankan para peneliti yang akan datang melakukan sebuah studi tentang presuposisi yang digunakan di anekdot atau bacaan humor. Studi ini belum pernah dilakukan oleh mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma. Studi ini akan sangat menyenangkan untuk dilakukan karena sebagian besar anekdot atau bacaan humor menggunakan pengetahuan yang telah diketahui oleh si pembaca untuk memicu humor itu sendiri. Studi ini bisa dilakukan secara deskriptif.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  In every single step I take, I pray to Allah SWT to always bless and guide me in my path of life. And today, I praise Allah at the most for Allah’s blessing, grace, love, and guidance. I’m very little here below, but with Allah’s blessing and guidance I can make something big and even bigger than my own conceit. I love my God, Allah. I know I would not have been able to accomplish this thesis without Allah.

  Conducting this thesis was a long journey for me. There were a lot of obstacles in every turn, slope, and even red lights that stopped me for awhile.

  However, I was sure there was no single deadlock I faced since I have my parents, sisters and brother who accompanied me with love, support, and encouragement so that I could finish my thesis and step forward. My Dad and my Mom are my shining stars. I would like to apologize to them for making it hard and difficult but I promise to be their best daughter they ever have. I love them and I thank them for their love, patience, and support in every breath that I take. Mbak Edi, Mbak Ida, and Mas David, they are my truly inspiration. I would like to say sorry for breaking my promise to accomplish my thesis at the promised time, but today I present this thesis for them. I thank them for their support, help, and encouragement throughout this thesis. I love them very much.

  This thesis was a competition for me. I made this a competition so that I could be more enthusiastic and triggered to finish it. I fairly competed with my friends, the 2004 thesis fighters. I had been beaten many times by those who

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  already graduated in 2008 or in early 2009, but I never stopped struggling. I never surrendered. Throughout these years, my friends and I help each other, we encourage each other, we support each other, but we actually are competing. I would like to say to my friends that this is the best I can do as a 2004 student. I hope they will be more motivated and encouraged. That’s the friends are for. Here, I would like to say thanks to my friends who helped me, gave their ideas, and encouraged me, Agung, Adi, Mbak Ajeng, Mas Arif, and my best friend Leoni Afikawati. Fika and I share good times and bad times. She is the best friend I ever have. I thank her for everything that I cannot even mention them because all my grateful words for her will never be able to depict what she have taught and given to me. I love her like a sister. There are also friends that were willing to help me in this thesis, but I cannot mention them one by one for they are so many.

  However, I will never forget their kindness to me. I know I owe them a lot.

  Last but not least, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to all lecturers of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. I thank them for teaching and educating me throughout these years. I am very indebted to

Carla Sih Prabandari, S.Pd., M.Hum. as the sponsor of my thesis and Drs.

  

Concilianus Laos Mbato, M.A. as my previous sponsor before he left for

  Australia. I really thank them for their patience and guidance so that I could finish this thesis. I would also like to give my gratitude to the Board of Examiners of my Thesis Defense. I thank them so much for their trust to me in carrying the title Sarjana Pendidikan .

  Ana Humardhiana

  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………….…….…… i APPROVAL PAGES……………..……………………………………………… ii DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………….………..…… iv STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……………..…………………… v ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………...……...…… vi

  

ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………...…….….… vii

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………...…...…..………… viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………...……… x LIST OF APPENDICES ……………………………………………….……… xiii

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Research Background ……………………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………………. 3 C. Problem Limitation ……………………………………...………………. 3 D. Research Objectives ……………………………………………..………. 4 E. Research Benefits …………..……………………………………………. 4 F. Definition of Terms ...……………………………………………………. 5 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ………………………………………….………. 7

  1. Theories on Advertising ……………………………………..………. 7

  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  a. Definitions of Advertising and Advertisement …………………. 7

  b. Copy Parts of an Advertisement ………………………...………. 9

  2. The Language of Advertising ………………………………………. 11

  a. Attention Seeking Devices ………………..……………………. 12

  b. The Characteristics of the Language of Advertising ……...……. 13

  c. Persuasion as the Language of Advertising ……………………. 15

  3. Regulation of Advertising …………………………………….……. 15

  a. Deception and Unfairness …………………………...…………. 16

  b. Competitive Issues ………………………………..……………. 17

  c. Advertising to Children ………………………………...………. 18

  4. Theories on Presupposition …………………………...……………. 19

  a. What is Presupposition? ……………………..…………………. 19

  b. Types of Presupposition …………………..……………………. 21

  c. Presupposition and the Negation Test …………………………. 24

  d. Presupposition Triggers ……………………………..…………. 25

  e. The Functions of Presupposition in Advertising ………………. 31

  5. Magazines as the Printed Media ……………………...……………. 32

  B. Theoretical Framework ……………………...…………………………. 35

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Research Method ……………………………………….………………. 37 B. Research Objects ………….……………………………………………. 39 C. Research Instrument ……………………..………………..……………. 39

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  D. Data Gathering Technique ……………………………………..………. 40

  E. Data Analysis Technique ………………………………………………. 40

  F. Research Procedures ………………………………………………...…. 41

  CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. Types of Presupposition in Advertisement ……………………….……. 45 B. Functions of Presupposition in Advertisement …………...……………. 60 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ……………………………………………….……………. 67 B. Suggestions …………………………………………………….………. 68 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………. 70

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  Appendix 1: Numbers of Presuppositions ………………………………...……. 73 Appendix 2: Checklist of Presupposition Types ………………………….……. 74 Appendix 3: Note ………………………………………………………………. 86 Appendix 4: Checklist of Presupposition Functions ……………………...……. 98 Appendix 5: The Advertisements ………………………………….…………. 110

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter is divided into six sections. The first section presents detailed

  information about the background of the problem that leads to the study. The second is the problem formulation of the study which forms in questions. The next is the limitation of the problem that will make this study more specific. The answers of the problems formulated are presented in the fourth section, the research objectives. The benefits of the study become the fifth section; and the definition of terms that occur in this study is presented in the last section.

A. Research Background

  For many years, advertising has fulfilled our lives; and for more years, our lives will never be separated from advertising. As the information, commerce, and technology are developing rapidly, advertising has grown up and nurtured very well. Seven days in a week, twenty four hours in a day, advertising – in any form

• – is there right on our face, just from the very first minutes we open our eyes until we lie over the blanket. Advertising surrounds us!

  Advertising as a way of communication uses a language in order that its purposes can be conveyed very well. Its language is persuasive, even in many cases – provocative. Advertising tries to persuade as many people as possible to do what it wants whether buying the products advertised or following the ideas advertised. Advertisers, by all means, work hard to design the attractive and

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  2 catchy advertisements to promote their products and ideas. The advertisements themselves can be profitable magic spells, hypnotizing people to buy the products advertised, even if they do not need them. This is exactly the role of the advertising language. The language of advertising is unique, regardless that it often breaks the grammar rules. Here is when presupposition takes its control.

  People generally and advertisers especially “often make implicit assumptions about the real world, and the sense of an utterance may depend on those assumptions, which some linguists term presuppositions” (Brown, 1983: 229). Presuppositions are assumptions about the world whose truths are taken for granted in discourse. Consider this sentence: Would you have another coke? This sentence presupposes or implies that you have already had at least one glass/ bottle/ can of coke. Part of the meaning of the word another includes this presupposition (Brown, 1983: 229). Both the speaker and the listener presuppose the same. They share the same knowledge for they engage in a communication act. This also happens between the advertisers and the readers (in printed media) or the listeners (in radio) or the watchers (in TV). Usually, advertisers are not allowed to make direct assertion about their products. They generally make indirect assertions, i.e. via presupposition.

  Under the field of pragmatics, presupposition has dragged the writer’s interest to do a study on it, especially that relates to advertising. Therefore, she tries to make a research on it. She will use descriptive method in her research in order that she goes deeper in it. Here, she tries to analyze what types of presupposition used in the advertisements of one of English magazines in

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  3 Indonesia, WEEKENDER. This magazine is issued by The Jakarta Post newspaper industry. It is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and more space for advertisers. Thus, there will be many advertisements can be found. In this study, the writer also tries to find out the functions of presuppositions. Thus,

  

A Study on Presupposition Used in WEEKENDER Magazine’s Advertisements

becomes the best title for this research.

B. Problem Formulation

  Considering the background presented above, the writer formulates the problems of the study as follows:

  1. How many types of presuppositions are there used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements?

  2. What are the functions of presuppositions? C.

   Problem Limitation

  This study limits the discussion on how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements and what the functions of presuppositions. This study is a descriptive research. It employs descriptive method which will analyze presupposition in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements. This study will analyze 100 English advertisements in one year editions of WEEKENDER magazine, from January – December 2007. Therefore, the writer limits her study and the theories underlying presuppositions in printed advertisements, magazines particularly.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  4

  D. Research Objectives

  There are two objectives that will be obtained in this study, namely:

  1. To find out how many types of presuppositions are used in WEEKENDER magazine’s advertisements.

  2. To find out the functions of presuppositions.

  E. Research Benefits

  This study is expected to be able to give several contributions. They are formulated as follows:

  1. For those who are interested in pragmatics: The result of this study will supply another insight on pragmatics, especially dealing with presupposition used in advertisements. Advertising language is unique and it is worth knowing how it is used in the advertisements through presupposition.

  2. For English teachers: This study gives an understanding about English advertising language. It is expected to be an outline for English teachers to teach functional text, especially advertisement. They may use an advertisement in teaching-learning process. In reading class, the students may be asked to answer some questions based on the given English ad. The questions may be related to its information carried or the meaning of the content.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  5

  3. For Sanata Dharma University: The result of this study can be used as a reference to support future relevant studies done by students of Sanata Dharma University.

F. Definition of Terms

  1. Advertisement Advertisement is “a marketing tool that helps sell brands of products and helps to build confidence in companies and institutions by conveying accurate and compelling information to consumers about the brand or company or institution” (Weilbacher, 1984: 8). It is being compared to the term advertising, which is seen as an act of communication the purpose of which is to convey concepts about companies, goods, and services by means of words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of significance; the rational and the emotional (Kelly, 1967: 404). If the advertising is an act of persuasive communication; advertisement is a tool of the act of advertising.

  2. Advertising Language Advertising is an act of persuasive communication conveying about a product, service, organization, or ideas. It is obvious that the language of advertising is persuasive. It is not, however, like the everyday-life-language. It is unique. Becoming more unique when the advertisers use their creativity in order to grab people’s attention through what we call advertisement.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  6

  3. Presupposition Presuppositions are the linguistic term for “implicit assumptions that the speakers make about the real world; and the sense of an utterance may depend on those assumptions” (Fromkin et al., 2003: 216). It means that presupposition is a background belief that the speaker shares to the listener. For instance, if someone says Mary’s car is red, the listener will take the understanding that Mary has a car without the speaker saying it explicitly.

  4. WEEKENDER Magazine

  WEEKENDER magazine is a printed monthly by The Jakarta Post, the

  famous English newspaper industry targeted at high-intellectuals. This magazine was launched in the beginning of year 2007. It is dedicated to give more value to subscribers and more space for advertisers. Since this magazine is targeted to high-intellectuals, which are middle-high community, WEEKENDER magazine has a little bit complicated and sophisticated language of advertising.

  

WEEKENDER is a monthly magazine; it is usually published in the middle of the

  month. In this thesis, the writer will take the first year’s editions of the magazine in order to limit the subject of population.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter is divided into two main parts, namely theoretical description

  and theoretical framework. In the theoretical description, the writer reviews the main theories which are used as the references in the study. In the second part of this chapter, the writer draws a theoretical framework based on the theoretical description which is used as the guideline to answer the problems formulated.

A. Theoretical Description

  In the theoretical description, the writer discusses some theories which are used as the main references in this study. They are the theories on advertising, the language of advertising, regulation of advertising, theories on presupposition, and magazines as the printed media.

1. Theories on Advertising

  In Indonesia, advertising and advertisement are translated into periklanan and iklan. There is a slight difference between advertising and advertisement, yet they pursue the same goal. Considering the relation between both, some theories in advertising are used for theories of advertisements. The followings are theories from the experts about advertising and advertisement.

a. Definitions of Advertising and Advertisement

  Clemente defines advertising as “one of the main action elements of the

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  8 persuasive information about a product, service, organization or idea” (Clemente, 1992: 8). Here, he sees advertising as an action of communication in the marketing world. The action is persuasive and needs a paid media to inform about a product, service, organization or ideas. Persuasion is the key of advertising as he adds in his sentence, “the key benefits of advertising are providing product information and influencing attitude changes among consumers” (Clemente, 1992: 8). He also adds that “advertising can be targeted to consumers in either narrow or broad geographic areas” (Clemente, 1992: 8). It has three basic objectives:

  (a) to inform consumers about new items, products uses, services available, or other useful information; (b) to persuade an audience to buy an item, change brand preferences, or perceive an item or service differently; (c) to remind consumers about the need for an item or service as where it can be bought. Meanwhile, advertising decisions fall into two basic categories as follows (Clemente, 1992: 8): 1) Message development

  It refers to what is to be said. Messages may be intended to create awareness of a brand that favorably predisposes consumers to the product. It may convey product benefits, built familiarity of the brand while reinforcing a unique selling proportion in the minds of consumers.

  2) Media selection This refers to determining where advertising communications will appear.

  Kelley (1967: 404) adds that the means of advertising may be in words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  9 Advertising is an act of communication the purpose of which is to convey concepts about companies, goods, and services by means of words, pictures, diagrams, sounds, music, color, shapes, and symbols on two levels of significance; the rational and the emotional. (Kelley, 1967:404) If Clemente and Kelley see advertising as an act, Weilbacher (1984: 8) in the businessman’s perspective sees advertisement as a tool. Weilbacher says the businessman defines advertisement as “a marketing tool that helps sell brands of products and helps to build confidence in companies and institutions by conveying accurate and compelling information to consumers about the brand or company or institution” (1984: 8). Clemente specifies the media of advertisement, which is in print, in order to distinguish advertisement from commercial breaks. They are similar, but not the same.

  Advertisement is a paid announcement appearing in a print media outlet that is designed to reach a large audience. The goal of an advertisement is to promote a product, service, organization, or idea. It is designed to persuade, inform, or otherwise influence consumer attitudes. Space for an advertisement is purchased by an advertiser who controls what information will appear. However, advertisement content is often subjected by the medium in which it appears. (Clemente, 1992:7) From the theories presented, it is obvious that advertising and advertisement are different, yet have the same aim. Advertising is an act of persuasive communication conveying about a product, service, organization, or ideas; whereas advertisement is a tool of the act of advertising.

b. Copy Parts of an Advertisement

  Advertisements are made up of numerous elements or components. These elements may be moved, enlarged, reduced, reversed, changed, or eliminated in order to achieve a new look or approach. According to Bovee and Arens (1986:

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  10 subhead, body copy, boxes and panels, slogans, logotypes (logos), seals, and signatures”.

  1) Headline Arens (2006: 417) states headline is the words in the leading position in the advertisement – the words that will be read first and are situated to draw the most attention. Thus, headlines usually appear in larger type than other parts of the ad in order to be eye-catching.

  2) Subheads The size of the subhead is smaller than the headline but larger than the body copy or text. Subhead may appear above the headline or below it. A subhead above the headline is called a kicker (or overline) and may be underlined. Subheads may also appear in body copy. Like a headline, the subhead transmits key sales points fast.

  3) Body copy Body copy or text tells the complete sales story. It is a logical continuation of the headline and subheads. The body copy is set in smaller type than headlines or subheads. 4) Boxes and panels

  Boxes and panels are usually used in advertisements that contain coupons, special offers, contest rules, and order blanks. The boxes and panels are used to set these features apart from the rest of the advertisement. Specifically, a box is copy around which a line has been drawn. A panel is an elongated box that

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  11 usually runs the whole length or width of an ad. Boxes and panels are used to draw greater attention to a specific element or message in the advertisement.

  5) Slogans Many slogans (also called themelines or taglines) begin as successful headlines. Through continuous use, they become standard statements, not just in advertising but for salespeople and company employees. Effective slogans are short, easy to understand, memorable, and easy to repeat. Good slogans help set the product apart from its competitors. 6) Seals, logotypes, and signatures

  Seals are given only when a product meets standards established by the relevant institutions, for example the Good Housekeeping Institute, Underwriters Laboratorics, and Parents Institute. The term seal also refers to the company seal or trademark. These are actually called logotypes. Logotypes (logos) and signature cuts (sig cuts) are special designs of the advertiser’s name or product name. They appear in all advertisements and are like trademarks because they give the product individuality and provide quick recognition at the point of purchase.

2. The Language of Advertising

  Advertising as an act of communication needs a language in order that its purposes can be conveyed. Its language is persuasive, even in many cases, provocative. It is provocative when it “hypnotizes” people to buy the products

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  12 advertising language. Advertising is the usage of language in such a way that advertising must be able to grab the readers’ attention.

a. Attention-Seeking Devices

  It is not difficult to see why advertisers want to– in fact, should –make their advertisements capture the readers’ attention. The whole aim is to get the readers to register their communication either for purposes of direct action or indirect action. Thus, the copywriters have to find ways to shout at the readers from the page. Below are the attention-seeking devices used by the copywriters according to Angela Goddard (2003: 9-21).

  1) Image The startling image is one attention-seeking strategy to increase levels of sophistication. Deciding the best image to be used to present the product advertised can draw some extra attention. 2) Verbal text

  Just as the way an image is presented can suggest certain ideas, the verbal language can also suggest particular qualities. It is because readers do not simply read images in isolation from the verbal text that accompanies them; nor do they read the verbal text without reference to accompanying images. The variation of verbal text created may be based on handwriting versus typed print, different fonts, different font styles, different font sizes, emboldened fonts or not, upper- case versus lower-case letters, and features of punctuation.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  13 3) Layout

  In addition to the effects that can be created by the choice of particular typographical features, writing can also be used to create larger textual shapes by means of different layouts. In this respect, adverts sometimes come very close to the way concrete poetry works – as verbal language making pictures of its own subject matter. Adverts may also use 3-D effect or empty spaces to create different layouts.

b. The Characteristics of the Language of Advertising

  The language of advertising is unique, different from most of other languages people use in everyday lives. Over the years, the uniqueness has been influenced by the frequent changing of the texture of the advertising language. The changing includes the styles and the creative concept. According to O’Neil in Goshgarian (1987: 99), there are at least four distinct general characteristics of the language of advertising that make it different from other languages. Below are the characteristics: 1) It is edited and purposeful

  The language of advertising is edited and purposeful. Advertising language cannot be aimless; it does have a specific purpose, which is to sell something (Goshgarian, 1987: 99). In addition, according to Asher (1994: 42-44), the language of advertising is the language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  14 2) It is rich and arresting

  The language of advertising is rich and arresting. The language is specifically intended to attract and grab the reader’s attention. Advertisements cannot succeed unless they capture the reader’s attention. Therefore, advertisement should contain a ‘hook’ in order to arouse the reader’s attention.

  The hook can take the form of strong visuals (photos or illustrations with emotional value) or a disarming, unexpected set of words. Besides, advertisements need a creative strategy based on some arresting idea or concept in order to be effective (Goshgarian, 1987:100).

  3) It involves the readers The language of advertising involves the readers. The copywriter must have ability to express such product differences and to exploit and intensify them after the reader’s attention has been captured. At this stage, an image is fixed in the consumer’s mind. Therefore, the advertising becomes powerful because the consumers are brought directly into the process. As we read an advertisement or watch it on television, we become more deeply involved. Our imagination is set through the attractive packaged message. Once we have been brought into an advertisement, we become the participants (Goshgarian, 1987:104).

  4) It is simple The language of advertising is simple. The difficult words are edited out and replaced by simple words in order to avoid misinterpretation (Goshgarian,

  1987:107). Moreover, Crystal (1987: 390) adds that the language is generally

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  15 laudatory, positive, unreserved; it emphasizes the uniqueness of a product; and its vocabulary tents to be vivid and concrete.

c. Persuasion as the Language of Advertising

  The language of advertising is the language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice people to purchase products or service (Asher, 1994: 42-44). Here, advertisers use persuasion to convey their message through advertisements.

  As quoted by Ross (1994: 8), Mary John Smith, a rule theorist, defines persuasion as “a symbolic activity whose purpose is to effect the internalization or voluntary acceptance of new cognitive states or patterns of overt behavior through the exchange of messages”. She believes that a process of persuasion has occurred when people internalize the meanings they assign to messages in an atmosphere of perceived choice. Herbert Simons (Ross, 1994: 8) adds it well, “persuasion is a form of influence that predisposes, but does not impose”. Ross (1994: 9) himself draws a conclusion that persuasion is “a process of skillfully and ethically using logical thoughts, affective appeals, credibility, and ethical proof to influence and motivate others to respond as you wish them to”.

  For this study, Ross’ definition of persuasion fulfills the writer’s sea of understanding.

3. Regulation of Advertising

  Advertising as business tools for advertisers to gain consumers remains a

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  16 competing with the other advertisers. Thus, in order to make the competition fair, some regulations must be made.

  The theory of this segment is taken from Advertising and Integrated Brand

  

Promotion by O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik (2003). According to them, “there are

  three basic areas of advertising regulation: deception and unfairness in advertising, competitive issues, and advertising to children” (2003: 130).

a. Deception and Unfairness Agreement is widespread that deception in advertising is unacceptable.

  There are three elements that declare an ad deceptive: 1) There must be a representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer. It means that the message of advertising must not mislead the consumer. 2) This representation, omission, or practice must be judged from the perspective of a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstance. It means that the advertising must not carry compulsion and coercion. The advertising is purely persuasive.

  3) The representation, omission, or practice must be a “material” one. The basic question is whether the act or the practice is likely to affect the consumer’s conduct or decision with regard to the product or service. If so, the practice is material, and consumer injury is likely because consumers are likely to have chosen differently if not for the deception.

  In short, deception of the advertising material which can affect the

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  17 Unlike deception, the definition of unfairness in advertising has been left relatively vague until recently. Yet, there was a congress that ended a dispute by approving legislation that defines unfair advertising as “acts or practices that cause or are likely to cause substantial injury to consumers, which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves, and not outweighed by the countervailing benefits to consumers or competition” (O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik, 2003: 131). This definition obligates the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to assess both the benefits and costs of advertising, and rules out reckless acts on the part of consumers, before a judgment can be rendered that an advertiser has been unfair.

b. Competitive Issues

  Because the large money amounts spent on advertising may foster inequities that literally can destroy competition, several advertising practices relating to competition can result in regulation. Among them are cooperative advertising, comparison advertising, and using monopoly power. Vertical cooperative advertising is “an advertising technique whereby a manufacturer and dealer (either a wholesaler or retailer) share the expense of advertising” (O’Guinn, Allen, Semenik, 2003: 131).

  Comparison advertisements are those in which an advertiser makes a comparison between the firm’s brand and competitors’ brand. There are certain guidelines for comparative advertising. The first guideline is the intent and connotation of the ad should be to inform and never to discredit or unfairly attack