A Relevance-Theoretical Approach To Irony In Advertisements

The author of this thesis attempts to study irony in advertisements within the framework of relevance theory. Irony has been a frequently debated topic for a long period and it has been widely explored and accounted for in almost any research field concerning language. However, most of the previous studies of irony in advertisements are concerned with the advertising itself while neglecting the interaction between audience and advertising. The present research aims to explore irony from the audience’s point of view and to seek for their appreciation for irony used in advertisements.The author of the present study conducts a comparative study of irony in advertisements. Two research questions have been addressed before conducting the experiment. These questions include1) whether irony used in the advertisements affects the appreciation for advertisements and to what extent irony affects the appreciation and2)whether educational level of the audience affects the appreciation of advertisements (both without and with irony) and to what extent educational level affects the appreciation of advertisements. Both of these two questions will be further examined from three aspects: emotional appeal, clarity and persuasion of the advertisements.Totally65respondents from middle school and university participated in this research. The respondents judge each advertisement on individual Likert scales. The dependent variables contained three items:emotional appeal, clarity and persuasion of the advertisements. Altogether20advertisements were selected and they were classified into two types:advertisements with irony and without irony in order to make a comparative study. In the questionnaire, three questions were asked to test the comprehension for the advertisements after each advertising slogan. With regard to the questionnaires collected, firstly Reliability Test was employed to examine whether items used in the questionnaire are reliable and then Independent Samples Test was used to analyze whether there is significant difference in comprehension for emotional appeal, clarity and persuasion of advertisements with and without irony. Results of the present study manifest that irony affects the appreciation for advertisements and advertisements with irony are more interesting, clearer and more persuasive than those without irony. The present study also shows there is significant difference in comprehension of the emotional appeal of advertisements between middle school students and post graduates while there is no difference found in comprehension of the clarity and persuasion of advertisements (both with and without irony) between middle school students and post graduates.Findings of the present research further illustrate functions of irony in advertisements and the great explanatory power of the echoic theory for irony. Moreover, the research method as well as the findings of the study contribute to the study of irony in advertisements and hopefully can benefit and promote future studies in the area.