Language has a powerful influence over people and their behaviour. This is especially
true in the fields of marketing and advertising. The choice of language to convey
specific messages with the intention of influencing people is vitally important.
Visual content and design in advertising have a very great impact on the consumer,
but it is language that helps people to identify a product and remember it.
The English language is known for its extensive vocabulary. Where many other languages
have only one or two words which carry a particular meaning, English may have five
or six.
Moreover, the meanings of these five or six words may differ very slightly and in
a very subtle way. It is important to understand the connotation of a word. Connotation
is the feeling or ideas that are suggested by a word, rather than the actual meaning
of the word. Armchair, for example, suggests comfort, whereas chair
arouses no particular feelings.
The target audience, of course, also puts its own meaning into certain words. Different
people sometimes interpret language in different ways.
Both the mass media, when reporting news items, and marketing and advertising personnel
have to consider the emotive power of the words they use. First, they make a decision
about what to communicate and what to withhold.
One way in which advertisers adapt language to their own use is to take compound
words and use them as adjectives. These compounds often later become widely used
in normal situations. Examples of these compounds which have become part of the
English language are: top-quality, economy-size, chocolate-flavoured,
feather-light and longer-lasting.
The language of advertising is, of course, normally very positive and emphasizes
why one product stands out in comparison with another. Advertising language may
not always be "correct" language in the normal sense. For example, comparatives
are often used when no real comparison is made. An advertisement for a detergent
may say "It gets clothes whiter", but whiter than what?
A study of vocabulary used in advertising listed the most common adjectives and verbs
in order of frequency. They are:
Adjectives
|
Verbs
|
1.
|
new
|
1.
|
make
|
2.
|
good/better/best
|
2.
|
get
|
3.
|
free
|
3.
|
give
|
4.
|
fresh
|
4.
|
have
|
5.
|
delicious
|
5.
|
see
|
6.
|
full
|
6.
|
buy
|
7.
|
sure
|
7.
|
come
|
8.
|
clean
|
8.
|
go
|
9.
|
wonderful
|
9.
|
know
|
10.
|
special
|
10.
|
keep
|
11.
|
crisp
|
11.
|
look
|
12.
|
fine
|
12.
|
need
|
13.
|
big
|
13.
|
love
|
14.
|
great
|
14.
|
use
|
15.
|
real
|
15.
|
feel
|
16.
|
easy
|
16.
|
like
|
17.
|
bright
|
17.
|
choose
|
18.
|
extra
|
18.
|
take
|
19.
|
safe
|
19.
|
start
|
20.
|
rich
|
20.
|
taste
|
Good and new were over twice as popular as any other adjective.
|
Exercise
|