A Cognitive Study On Presupposition In English Advertisements From The Perspective Of ICM

Commercial advertising is a promotional strategy to introduce goods and servicesthrough media, which has become an indispensable part of people’s daily life.Advertising language, as the most important communicative vehicle of advertisement, isbasically persuasive, aiming to stimulate consumers’ desire of buying and persuade themto purchase. Due to its importance in modern society, many experts and scholars havestudied advertising language from different aspects. At the same time, the application ofpragmatic presupposition in advertising language is very extensive. The special functionsof presupposition in rhetoric, psychology and culture make advertising language accurate,concise, attractive and persuasive.On the basis of the theories of presupposition, and the findings of previous studies ofadvertising language, this thesis attempts to prove that the cognitive mechanism ofpragmatic presupposition in commercial advertisements can be analyzed from theperspective of cognitive linguistics. Therefore, starting from the theoretical framework ofcognitive linguistics, this thesis aims to construct its analysis of pragmatic presuppositionin English commercial advertisements with Idealized Cognitive Model. The objective ofthe study is as following:1) to testify the preexisting conditions of meaning constructionof pragmatic presupposition;2) to explore the process of meaning construction ofpragmatic presupposition;3) to explain the final results of meaning construction ofpragmatic presupposition;4) to demonstrate probable underlying psychological andsocial-cultural motivations hidden in pragmatic presupposition.Through the study, it has been found that the preexisting condition of meaningconstruction of pragmatic presupposition is the mutual cognitive environment betweenadvertisers and consumers. With the common cognitive environment, the triggered CMswill overlap substantially, and then the idealized cognition will be approximately the same, so that the presupposed meaning of the advertisements will be understoodthoroughly. The process of meaning construction of pragmatic presupposition can beillustrated in depth with the ICM theory. The three analysis models are propositionalmodel, metaphoric model and metonymic model. Consumers’ experienced, unified andidealized cognition in one or more fields, which aroused by advertising language, forms ashared cognitive environment which plays as a background; the statements, as a figure, ishighlighted by the shared cognitive environment. Thus, the meaning of pragmaticpresupposition in advertising language is constructed by the interaction of figure andground. The result of meaning construction of pragmatic presupposition is to makeadvertising language more economical, euphemistic, humorous, persuasive and appealingto consumers’ mind. In the face of overwhelming advertisements, consumers alwaysuphold vigilance for boastful advertisements. However, the main function of pragmaticpresupposition in advertisements is to eliminate consumers’ vigilance in a subconsciousway. It can guid consumers to comprehend the meaning of advertising through personallogical reasoning, stimulate their desire of buying and persuade them to buy the productseventually. This analysis may help readers to understand the cognitive mechanism ofmeaning construction of pragmatic presupposition, and provide new ideas andinspirations for advertisers to create more innovative and attractive advertisements.