Investigating the creative use and effectiveness of figurative communication in advertising: a collaboration with marketing practitioners

This thesis investigates the creative use of figurative communication in advertising and its effect on people’s attitudes and behaviors. Figurative communication encompasses the figurative tropes metaphor, metonymy, personification, and pun. Cognitive linguistic research has begun to distinguish between conventional (common) and creative (novel) figurative tropes. Figurative tropes can be creative through the novel mappings drawn between semantic and/or conceptual domains. However, less is known about how they are used creatively by extending or elaborating conventional (common) mappings or altering the form in which they take. The thesis examines the creative use of figurative tropes across different modes, genres, registers, and cultures through the analysis of print advertisements, smartphone app icons, and TV commercials. It also proposes ways to study figurative tropes through replicable and explorative approaches that uncover nuances in the dynamic nature of figurative communication in advertising. Advertising offers a diverse and innovative environment to study the creative use of figurative communication its effect on people’s attitudes and behaviors. Findings suggest that if the creative use of figurative communication is implemented sensitively, it can have a positive social impact on people’s lives. The research involves collaboration with marketing practitioners to gain insight into the intention behind, and nature of, the implementation of figurative tropes in advertising. The experience of collaboration highlights ways to bridge the gap between academia and industry and strengthen partnerships between academic researchers and non-academic organizations.