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An Adaptation-Based Approach to the Analysis of the Financial Advertisements

With the prosperity of the financial market in recent years, financial advertisements play a more significant part in the economic world and gain more attention of the researchers. This paper is a tentative study conducted from the linguistic Adaptation Theory, combined with Appraisal System, in order to explore the fulfillment of the persuading function of financial advertisements.

We adopt a qualitative analysis and a case study is used to support the analysis. Since power relation exerts a great influence on the linguistic choices and the achievement of the communication, this study starts with the analysis of the power relation between the advertisers and the potential customers. It is found that the advertisers are more on the active end of the power scale of knowledge about products and the potential customers are more on its passive end in that the status of the advertisers and the potential customers are unequal in terms of knowledge about what is advertised. Making full use of his higher status in the power relation of professional knowledge with the potential customer, the advertiser exposes his attitudinal meaning or attitudinal evaluation of the products and/or services to the potential customers so as to achieve the purpose of persuasion.

Based on the Adaptation Theory by Jef Verscheren, the present study is conducted to interpret the fulfillment of persuading function through the adaptation to the social world and the mental world in the financial advertisements. The social world is mainly adapted to from the aspect of Attitude and the aspect of Graduation, which are explored in terms of the power relation in light of Appraisal System. The analysis shows that the adaptation to the social world is made by adopting the attitudinal evaluation on the financial product and service and on the purchasing behavior, both of which are overwhelmingly positive but negative at times. › Continue reading

Tags: appraisal system, financial advertisement, raising resources