Chapter published in:
Persuasion in Public Discourse: Cognitive and functional perspectives
Edited by Jana Pelclová and Wei-lun Lu
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 79] 2018
► pp. 281–302

Chapter 12
Iconicity in independent noun phrases in print advertising

A multimodal perspective

This chapter studies the interplay of multimodal iconic signs that construct the meaning of independent noun phrases in advertisements promoting food products. The methodology consists in approaching the diagrammatic iconicity found in language through the perspective of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2001) analytical framework of multimodal text and the perspective of typeface design and impression variables as described by Henderson, Giese and Cote (2004). The analysis reveals that independent noun phrases iconicize the process of production, the ingredients used, the variety of products, and gustatory perception. The language diagrammatic iconicity in the analyzed advertisements is achieved by a sequential ordering of modifiers that mirrors either chronological order or the order of importance, and by means of figurative language, lexical cohesion, and a lack of explicit syntactic relations. Both typographic and visual iconicity tend to objectify the semantic dimension of the diagrammatic iconicity. At the same time, the visual iconicity mirrors a close spatial relation between the consumer and the product.

Keywords: language iconicity, visual iconicity, typographic iconicity, noun phrases, premodification, postmodification, multimodality, advertising discourse, persuasion
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Iconicity and its role in advertising
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.Results of the investigation
    • 4.1Iconicity of production process
    • 4.2Iconicity of the ingredients used
    • 4.3Iconicity of the variety of products
    • 4.4Iconicity of gustatory perception
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Primary sources
  • References
  • Web pages consulted
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 08 August 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.79.13pel
References

Primary sources

Food Family Living Tesco
2013 (September–November).
Specialty Food
2012 (January–December). https://​www​.specialtyfood​.com​/digital​-edition.
2013 (January–December). https://​www​.specialtyfood​.com​/digital​-edition.
Tesco realfood
2013 (February–September).
Arens, William F.
2005 Contemporary Advertising. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad, and Finegan Edward
1999 Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Buijzen, Moniek, and Patti M. Valkenburg
2004 “Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media.” Media Psychology 6: 146–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Celhay, Franck, Jacqueline Boyselle, and Justin Cohen
2015 “Food Packages and Communication through Typeface Design: the Exoticism of Exotypes.” Food Quality and Preference 39: 157–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Childers, Terry L. and Jeffrey Jass
2002 “All Dressed Up with Something to Say: Effects of Typeface Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 12: 93–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cook, Guy
1992 The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dąbrowski, Jarosław
2002 “Metaphors in Advertising Texts. A Cognitive Grammar Analysis.” In The Evidence of Literature. Interrogating Texts in English Studies, ed. by Sven-Johan Spånberg, Henryk Kardela, and Gerald Porter, 295–313. Lublin: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Press.Google Scholar
De Cuypere Ludovic, and Klaas Willems
2008 “Introduction: Naturalness and Iconicity in Language.” In Naturalness and Iconicity in Language, ed. by Klaas Willems, and Ludovic De Cuypere, 1–23. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doyle, John R., and Paul A. Bottomley
2004 “Font Appropriateness and Brand Choice.” Journal of Business Research 57: 873–880. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 “Dressed for the Occasion: Font-product Congruity in the Perception of Logotype.” Journal of Consumer Psychology 16: 112–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dragon, Ric
2011 “Who Created AIDA.” Integrated Digital Marketing. http://​www​.dragonsearchmarketing​.com​/blog​/who​-created​-aida/.Google Scholar
Enkvist, Erik, Nils
1981 “Experiential Iconicism in Text Strategy.“ Text 1: 77–111.Google Scholar
1987 “Text Strategies: Single, Dual, Multiple. In Language Topics: Essays in Honour of Michael Halliday, Vol. II, ed. by Ross Steele, and Terry Threadgold, 203–211. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Fischer, Andreas
1999 “Graphological Iconicity in Print Advertising: A Typology.” In Form Miming Meaning. Iconicity in Language and Literature, ed. by Max Nänny, and Olga Fischer, 123–134. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fischer, Olga, and Max Nänny
1999 “Introduction: Iconicity as a Creative Force in Language Use.” In Form Miming Meaning. Iconicity in Language and Literature, ed. by Max Nänny, and Olga Fischer, xv–xxxvi. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giardino, Valeria, and Gabriel Greenberg
2014 “Introduction: Varieties of Iconicity.” The Review of Philosophy and Psychology 6: 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Givón, Talmy
1990 Syntax. A Functional Typological Introduction. Vol. II. Amsterdam: John Benjmanis Publishing Company.Google Scholar
1995 “Isomorphism and the Grammatical Code: Cognitive and Biological Considerations.” In Iconicity in Language, ed. by Raffaele Simone, 47–76. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goddard, Angela
2002 The Language of Advertising. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Goh, Robbie B. H.
2001 “Iconicity in Advertising Signs. Motive and Method in Miming ‘the Body’.” In The Motivated Sign. Iconicity in Language and Literature 2, ed. by Max Nänny, and Olga Fischer, 189–210. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Gulas, Charles S., and Marc G. Weinberger
2006 Humor in Advertising. A Comprehensive Analysis. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael, A. K.
1994 Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Haiman, John
(ed.) 1985 Iconicity in Syntax. Proceedings of a Symposium on Iconicity in Syntax, Stanford, June 24–26 1983 Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Henderson, Pamela W., Joan L. Giese, and Joseph A. Cote
2004 “Impression Management Using typeface Design.” Journal of Marketing 68: 60–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hermerén, Lars
1999 English for Sale. A Study of the Language of Advertising. Lund: Lund University Press.Google Scholar
Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey K. Pullum
2002 The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jakobson, Roman
1971 “Quest for the Essence of Language.” In Selected Writings II, ed. by Roman Jakobson, 345–359. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Janoschka, Anja
2004 Web Advertising: New Forms of Communication on the Internet. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kang, Mihyun, and Sejung Marina Choi
2013 “The Effects of Typeface on Advertising and Brand Evaluations: The Role of Semantic Congruence.” The Journal of Advertising and Promotion Research 2 (2): 26–52.Google Scholar
Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen
1996 Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2001 Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W.
2008 Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leciánová, Jana
2008 “FTAs in U.S. TV Commercials on Cosmetic Products.” Topics in Linguistics 2: 33–38. Nitra: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa.Google Scholar
Leech, Geoffrey N.
1966 English in Advertising: A Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Leech, Geoffrey N., Margaret Deuchar, and Robert Hoogenraad
1982 English Grammar for Today: A New Introduction. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2005 “Photographs in Narrative.” In Outside-in – Inside-out, ed. by Constantino Maeder, Olga Fischer, and William J. Herlofsky, 133–149. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez Lirola, María, and Jan Chovanec
2012 “The Dream of a Perfect Body Come True: Multimodality in Cosmetic Surgery Advertising.” Discourse & Society 23 (5): 487–507. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marzo, Daniela
2008 “What Is Iconic about Polysemy? A Contribution to Research on Diagrammatic Transparency.” In Naturalness and Iconicity in Language, ed. by Klaas Willems, and Ludovic De Cuypere, 167–187. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, Michael S., and David L. Mothersbaugh
2002 “Effects of Typographic Factors in Advertising-based Persuasion: A General Model and Initial Empirical Tests.” Psychology and Marketing 19: 663–691. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Myers, Greg
1994 Words in Ads. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Najafian, Maryam
2011 “The Words behind Images: A Critical Social Semiotic Approach toward Analyzing Advertising.” International Journal of Linguistics 3 (1): 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nöth, Winfried
2008 “Semiotic Foundations of Natural Linguistics and Diagrammatic Iconicity.” In Naturalness and Iconicity in Language, ed. by Klaas Willems, and Ludovic De Cuypere, 73–100. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pelclová, Jana
2011 “Hybridization in American TV Commercials.” Kalbu Studijos/Studies about Languages 19: 89–94.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles Sanders
(author), Nathan Houser, and Christian J. Kloesel (eds.) 1992 The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Piller, Ingrid
1999 “Iconicity in Brand Names.” In Form Miming Meaning. Iconicity in Language and Literature, ed. by Max Nänny, and Olga Fischer, 325–341. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003 “Advertising as a Site of Language Contact. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (23): 170–183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Prado-Alonso, José Carlos
2008 “The Iconic Function of Full Inversion in English.” In Naturalness and Iconicity in Language, ed. byKlaas Willems, and Ludovic De Cuypere, 149–165. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Restrepo Boada, María del Rosario
2014 “Graphic Design Production as a Sign.” Sign Systems Studies 42 (2/3): 308–329. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rush, Susan
1998 “The Noun Phrase in Advertising English.” Journal of Pragmatics 29 (2): 155–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sonesson, Göran
2008 “Prolegomena to a General Theory of Iconicity Considerations on Language, Gesture and Picture.” In Naturalness and Iconicity in Language, ed. by Klaas Willems, and Ludovic De Cuypere, 47–72. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010 “From Mimicry to Mime by Way of Mimesis: Reflections on a General Theory of Iconicity.” Sign System Studies 38 (1/4): 18–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Speck, Paul Surgi
1991 “The Humorous Message Taxonomy: A Framework for the Study of Humorous Ads.” Current Issues and Research in Advertising 13 (1–2): 1–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tantillo, John, Janet Di Lorenzo-Aiss, and Richard E. Mathisen
1995 “Quantifying Perceived Differences in Type Styles: An Exploratory Study. Psychology & Marketing 12(5): 447–457. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tellis, Gerard J.
1998 Advertising and Sales Promotion Strategy. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Urbanová, Ludmila
2006 “Interaction of Spoken and Written Language in Newspaper Advertising”. In Discourse and Interaction 2, ed. by Renata Povolná, and Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, 173–180. Brno: Faculty of Education.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, Theo
2005a Introducing Social Semiotics. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Woodward, Gary C., and Robert E. Denton
2014 Persuasion and Influence in American Life. Long Grove: Waveland Press.Google Scholar

Web pages consulted

enoxforddictionaries.com
www.myfonts.com