National Stereotypes In The Discourse Of Effective Advertising

Abstract

The linguocultural analysis of national stereotypes of modern commercial advertising in Russian, Chinese and English-language media discourse is presented. In the era of information society and geopolitical wars the problem of national identity preservation as well as the linguistic tools of its actualization is extremely important. The empirical base consisted of more than 400 advertising texts of Russian, Chinese and English-language print and television media. According to the authors, in the space of linguocultural stereotypes of advertising text script markers are actively involved − a narrative story-telling, which concentrates the spiritual experience of a particular society representative. The peculiarities of social stereotypes representation in the advertising discourse in relation to the objectification process of a certain culture dominant values are described: Family/Home; Patriotism; Success. The conducted content analysis of Russian TV advertising demonstrated the active representation of native narratives and was typical of the world advertising discourse. National stereotypes, as a suggestive way of postulating various ideas of the media text, contribute to its effectiveness − an ability to influence the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components of the human psyche, which is extremely important for the work of an advertising public relations’ specialist. This cognitive and linguistic toolkit provides the economic feasibility of a media product; it awakens the cultural memory of a person, immanently represents the media image of the country and guarantees the translation of the cultural code to future generations. Research in this direction can be demanded within the framework of cognitive, socio- and psycholinguistics.

Keywords: Effective commercial advertising, linguistic personality, linguistic picture of the world, national stereotypes, national identity, representation

Introduction

National stereotypes are an integral part of the media text space. This fact is conditioned by the linguistic specificity of creating a media text. In the creative process, the linguistic personality of the author actively perceives, reproduces and transforms the information. Guided in his thinking activity by the national picture of the world, the creator summarizes the signs of reality and integrates the whole array of perceived signs: random signs are sifted away, only the closest ones (congruent) and those that are informative for the carrier of a certain culture are perceived and realized (Pimenova, 2004; Wierzbicka, 1988). Concepts, archetypes as well as national stereotypes are cognitive tools for processing mental information. These constructs are "units of collective knowledge/consciousness" (Vorkachev, 2003, p. 275), they accumulate traditional meanings, and each of them fills its "cultural cell in the human mental world" (Stepanov, 2004, p. 43). Cognitive stereotypes as the sum of cultural paradigms, as structured images of the key values of the Russian man, assimilated and supported by him during his life, are unconsciously represented in a media text using certain language means. It is in the language that the experience of numerous generations is encapsulated and the basic codes of culture are fixed. Semantics of the word is a way of retaining personal and social experience. The dominant meanings of the said by the language personality of the author belong not so much to the lexemes of the text as to the consciousness objectified by means of language systems.

Problem Statement

The urgency of this research is connected with the peculiarity of the market mass media development, concerned about the factors of demand for a media product. It is difficult to dispute the fact that stereotypes, being a cognitive-linguistic structure, sanitize the author's idea; nevertheless, thanks to this censorship, the meaning of the media text is identical to the picture of the consumer's world; it is stereotypes that facilitate the understanding of the text by the carrier of certain values, simplify its decoding, ensure popularity and high rating of published materials. МсLuhan (1994, p. 41) gave advertising a special role because it accumulates feelings and experience of the whole modern society, "pushing the archetypes of subconsciousness into the sphere of social consciousness".

• The problem of effectiveness, its toolkit is especially significant for commercial advertising text, the effectiveness of which is measured by its ability to influence the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components of the human psyche. Optimal implementation of an information product is focused on creating a "secondary information wave": information should provoke brand memorization, individual consumer reflexion, a certain emotional response, discussion of the offered product in the interpersonal environment and a specific action − the acquisition of the advertising object.
• Effective advertising in terms of format synthesizes verbal and non-verbal components addressed to different levels of human perception; it synthesizes semiotic systems and codes and is called to accumulate the motives and desires of the consumer (Anderson, 2006; Garan, 2009). It is national stereotypes that are universal factors of consumer interest, which do not depend on political preferences, gender and age. As a rule, successful advertising campaigns are based on a mental trend − the semantic core of all messages, appealing to the nuclear needs of a certain society: family and home, success and self-actualization.

The main sociocultural role of advertising is the awakening of a person’s cultural memory, an attempt to connect his past and future, his genetic value picture of the world and the possibility of continuing the history of the family with the preservation of his national identity. Public consciousness manifests collective memories, which are essentially contemporaneousness, woven from a reconstruction of the past (Halbwachs, 1968).

Research Questions

The theory of stereotypes, including ethnic and national stereotypes, is presented in sufficient detail in psychology, philology and philosophy, and in mass communication theory (Erofeeva & Filshina, 2019; Grigoriev, 2020; Ovchinnikova & Ovchinnikova, 2020; Prokhorov, 1996; Shestakova & Makalovskaya, 2015; Shakhovsky, 2019). National stereotypes are considered, including the religious vector of state development history (Religious Vector, 2014). This topic is increasingly becoming a subject of research on effective political and business communications (Uskova & Linh, 2020).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of our study is to identify and characterize the features of the nuclear national stereotypes’ representation in modern Russian, Chinese and English advertising, to characterize them in relation to the process of objectification of the values of a particular culture (Family, Home, Patriotism, Success) and the problem of national identity of the society of a particular territory.

Research Methods

The key method is the linguocultural analysis based on the inseparable unity of language and culture. The discourse and pragmatic analyses allowed us to evaluate the advertising text in a historical and sociological context, see it in real communicative and social action, arising from reality (representation of national values) and creating reality. Reliability and originality of research is provided by content analysis of over 400 advertising texts of Russian, Chinese and English-language information space. The unit of account is frames and lexemes (words and word combinations connected with the corresponding national stereotypes).

Findings

The conducted linguocultural research of the Russian and English advertising text allows asserting that images based on national stereotypes can be positive, neutral, negative, ironic or sympathetic. Depending on the chosen stereotype, media text can acquire positive or negative coloring, which, in turn, affects the degree of influence of advertising on different target audiences.

For example, the ideological thesis of cultural preference distinguishes between the two most famous and competing global brands, «Coca-Cola» and «Pepsi-Cola». «Coca-Cola» promotes its product as a drink for strong families and for the soulful holiday. In the run-up to Christmas in the information space of different continents advertisements to the catchy tune «The Holiday Comes to Us» invariably appear.

The «Pepsi» drink in the advertising discourse is intended for seekers and heroes, people who are successful and live under the motto «Take everything from life!» This trend postulating social pleasure has its origins in American culture. Success and full-fledged joy of life are directly related to endless self-development and limitless self-growth − personal fulfillment. The audience is oriented not so much to consumption as to the discovery of a new world, to heroic deeds and noble risks. The essence of success is an orientation toward recognition and impressive results. Success is centripetal, it works to constrict and condense, and it is a purposeful advertising of oneself, one's capabilities, a call to oneself, a demonstration of one's potential (Gachev, 1997, pp. 109-112).

In Chinese culture, objectified in the advertising business, success is directly related to Status, a social weapon to be actively used. Children in China are instilled with status from birth, giving them great names: Morning Sun, Dragon, Wisdom, etc. Success through status, positions and social recognition projects greatness and leads to victory, which must be loud, bright and impressive. Therefore, in general in China, advertising of just high quality of this kind is perceived as corporate-reliable and effective.

The tradition of the millennial culture of China has defined the features of the advertising industry. This has affected, among other things, the translation of foreign brands into Chinese. High-contextual culture of China has put additional meanings into the naming: BMW was interpreted as 宝马(baoma) – «precious horse»; Sprite雪碧 (xuebi) as «emerald ice»; Mercedes奔驰 (benchi) means «speed».

Chinese advertising actively uses images of its own culture. Of course, elements of the West are present, but traditional symbols are more common. So, pure technologies of Chinese advertising texts are "hieroglyphs game" which objectifies native mental images, use of Chinese national painting, Chinese numerology (Dumanskaya, 2010).

In Russia, traditionalism is also built into advertising discourse. For example, in the Transbaikal region, there is a well-known advertisement, a beer restaurant «Guranych», based on the stereotype that the Russian people honour traditions. There is a text behind the scenes: "Since ancient times, Siberia has honoured the traditions of making delicious drinks based on ancient recipes", this effect is supplemented by musical accompaniment in the Russian folk style.

The most frequent one in the studied advertising texts is the cognitive structure of Family and Home (35% of the total sample volume). Information flows using the national construct Patriotism also dominate (19% of the total sample volume).

Conclusion

Cultural memory of advertising is a form of translation and actualization of cultural meanings, it is a semiotic space of genetic knowledge, which governs cognitions, emotions and everyday practices of people within the framework of interaction in the society in the mode of vital for the nation repetition and memorization. The linguocultural analysis of Russian, Chinese and American advertisements have showed that the cultural landscape of a modern and effective advertising text engages nuclear national stereotypes related to human social needs and corresponding values: patriotism; family/home; success. The use of national stereotypes as a certain system of traditional worldview models, objectified in traditional narratives, contributes to the successful correlation of the key meanings of advertising with the needs and motives of potential consumers. The representation of linguocultural stereotypes not only in single advertising texts, but also as an effective creative solution in the organization of advertising campaigns guarantees a productive dialogue between the addressee and the recipient.

In the creative process, the linguistic personality of the author naturally represents traditional schemes of thinking, but it is also necessary to consciously work hard to introduce traditional narratives into advertising. It is important for the creator of a media text to move away from the templates of objectification of the national picture of the world and to be original in the representation of the cultural core, to include additional textual and technological techniques in the traditional form of presentation of mental meanings.

Linguistic and cultural structures of the media text are designed to awaken national identification and to immanently represent the original media image of the country. National stereotypes are axiological backbone of society, unite descendants, contemporaries and future generations of a particular culture, thereby continuing the translation of the spiritual wealth and diversity of different societies of humanity.

Acknowledgments

The research was carried out within the framework of RFBR grant: project No. 19-013-00725 "Media image of Russia in the context of national security".

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