Multimodal Metaphor Analysis of Print Advertisements Based on the Conceptual Blending Theory: Exploring the Hidden Ideology---Sign-Consumption

Junjun Li and Guiyu Dai

International Business Research, 2020, vol. 13, issue 5, 31

Abstract: In today’s industrial society with great affluence in material goods, consumption in our mind no longer aims at objective function, but at the sign-value connoted in the objects. Advertisement is the main carrier of sign-consumption ideology with rich multimodal metaphorical resources. This study follows the analytical mode of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), by analyzing multimodal metaphor in print magazine advertisement from the perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) to explore the hidden sign-consumption ideology. The main findings of the research are- 1) metaphors in selected ads are all novel metaphors, in which the target domain is always presented by the advertised products while source domain is always presented in form of image; 2) counterpart correspondences mapped between two input spaces are the imposed selling points and sign-value, which take the main marketing functions; 3) relegating and weakening the objective function but advocating sign-value of goods is essentially because of people’s desire for differentiation in homogenized industrial society, which would allow the market more space to conduct secondary exploitation to people instead of labor exploitation. This interdisciplinary study not only adds new content to linguistics but also provides new perspective to consumption issue of sociology and economics. Besides, it provides a rational warning for people to reflect their consumption behavior.In today’s industrial society with great affluence in material goods, consumption in our mind no longer aims at objective function, but at the sign-value connoted in the objects. Advertisement is the main carrier of sign-consumption ideology with rich multimodal metaphorical resources. This study follows the analytical mode of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), by analyzing multimodal metaphor in print magazine advertisement from the perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) to explore the hidden sign-consumption ideology. The main findings of the research are- 1) metaphors in selected ads are all novel metaphors, in which the target domain is always presented by the advertised products while source domain is always presented in form of image; 2) counterpart correspondences mapped between two input spaces are the imposed selling points and sign-value, which take the main marketing functions; 3) relegating and weakening the objective function but advocating sign-value of goods is essentially because of people’s desire for differentiation in homogenized industrial society, which would allow the market more space to conduct secondary exploitation to people instead of labor exploitation. This interdisciplinary study not only adds new content to linguistics but also provides new perspective to consumption issue of sociology and economics. Besides, it provides a rational warning for people to reflect their consumption behavior.

Date: 2020
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