The Role And Function Played By TV Commercials In The Structural Transformation Of The Public Sphere

In today's society, TV commercials appear not only as a form or means of media but also a social phenomenon, which has raised more and more attention from scholars in the field of mass culture and media studies. However, it seems that until now, the advertisement circle has still put most of its emphasis on the operation and application aspects of TV commercials, or even the whole advertisement industry. As a result, advertisement criticism, another important branch of advertisement theories, seems in lack of attention it deserves. Bearing this idea and based on my understanding of basic features of TV commercials, I've tried in this thesis to make a review and also an in-depth analysis of the role and influence of TV commercials in the public sphere from the aspects of culture and sociology using the Habermas's public field theory. The main ideas of this article are listed as follows:Firstly, in this thesis, I've tried to introduce Habermas's the public sphere theory and then analyzes the formation and transformative characteristics of contemporary public sphere in China using this theory. These ideas appear as my theoretical basis as well as the context features of today's TV commercials.Secondly, in this thesis, I've tried to analyze the characteristics of TV commercials, suggesting consuming culture and video media as its two internal features, explicated the relationship among TV commercials, mass media and popular culture in the public field and then demonstrated the role played by TV commercials in the public space of contemporary civil society as well as its influence on this society and the whole country's ideology. At the same time, I've also attempted to predict the prospects of TV commercials in the coming Internet society - an extension of the traditional public sphere.