xi
NATALIA, ESTER CHRISTINE. Language Persuasive Power of Beauty Advertorials in Popsugar.com. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.
The development of technology has made information easily widespread. As a result, printed media is no longer the only source of knowledge nowadays. One of the proofs is the printed magazine that has slowly but surely, migrated into electronic and online magazine. Popsugar.comis one example of media online invasion. It has the same content as the printed magazine but in a form of a website. Advertorial is among contents of printed media that also can be found in online media. SincePopsugar.comis an online media focusing in women and lifestyle issue, advertising content that promotes beauty products in a form of article is easily accessible. Because it is written in narrative form, the persuasion message in advertorial certainly cannot be separated from language.
In order to analyze the persuasive power in beauty advertorials in Popsugar.com, this study has formulated two problems. The first problem is to find out language features used in the beauty advertorials of Popsugar.com. The second problem is to find out how language persuasive power of beauty advertorials reflected through language features.
The data of this study were collected from Popsugar.com, an online media whose contents are targeted for women. At first, the language features were classified based on the theory of language features. Thereafter, language features were related to the persuasion tactics to find out how persuasive power is reflected through language.
xii
NATALIA, ESTER CHRISTINE. Language Persuasive Power of Beauty Advertorials in Popsugar.com. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.
Perkembangan teknologi telah mempermudah proses penyebaran informasi. Hasilnya, kini media cetak tidak lagi menjadi sumber pengetahuan dan informasi yang utama. Salah satu buktinya adalah majalah cetak yang perlahan namun pasti bermigrasi ke majalah elektronik maupun daring. Popsugar.comadalah sebuah contoh invasi media daring. Konten yang terdapat di media daring sama persis dengan media cetak, hanya saja dipresentasikan dalam bentuk situs web. Advertorial adalah salah satu konten media cetak yang dapat ditemukan di media daring.Popsugar.comadalah media daring yang fokus pada isu
mengenai perempuan dan gaya hidup, maka dari itu konten persuasi yang mempromosikan produk kecantikan dalam bentuk artikel sangat mudah ditemukan. Teksnya yang ditulis dalam bentuk naratif membuat pesan promosi di advertorial erat kaitannya dengan bahasa.
Untuk menganalisis pengaruh persuasi pada advertorial kecantikan di Popsugar.com, penelitian ini dilakukan berdasarkan dua rumusan masalah. Permasalahan pertama dirumuskan untuk mencari tahu ciri-ciri bahasa yang digunakan di advertorial kecantikan di Popsugar.com. Permasalahan yang kedua diformulasikan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana pengaruh persuasi bahasa dari advertorial kecantikan direfleksikan melalui ciri bahasa.
Data dari penelitian ini dikumpulkan dariPopsugar.com, sebuah media daring dengan konten yang ditargetkan untuk para perempuan. Hal pertama yang dilakukan adalah mengklasifikasikan ciri-ciri bahasa menurut teori ciri-ciri bahasa. Setelah itu. Ciri bahasa dihubungkan dengan taktik persuasi untuk menemukan bagaimana pengaruh persuasi direfleksikan melalui bahasa.
LANGUAGE PERSUASIVE POWER OF
BEAUTY ADVERTORIALS
IN POPSUGAR.COM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ESTER CHRISTINE NATALIA Student Number: 114214064
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
LANGUAGE PERSUASIVE POWER OF BEAUTY ADVERTORIALS
IN POPSUGAR.COM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ESTER CHRISTINE NATALIA Student Number: 114214064
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
LANGUAGE PERSUASIVE POWER OF BEAUTY ADVERTORIALS
ft,\POPSaGAR.COM
By
ESTER CI{RISTINE NATALIA
Advisor
June
9,
2016June 9, 2016 Harris Hermansyah Setiajid. M.Hum.
Co-Advisor
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: 114214064
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A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
LANGUAGE PERSUASIVE POWER OF BEAUTY ADVERTORIALS
IN POPSUGAR.COM By
ESTER CIIRISTINE NATALIA Student Number: I I 421 4064
Defended beforethe Board of Examiners 'on June 2'1,2Q16
and Decl,arsd Acceptable BOARD,Otr'EXAMINERS
Dr. F, X. Siswadi, M.A. ,
.
.:Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, M,A.,Ph.D. Dr. Bemadine Ria Lestari, M.Sc.
:
Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd.,
MA
.Harris llermansyah Setiajid M.Hum.
Yogyakarta, June 30, 2016 Faculty of Letters
IV
Dharma University
STATEMENT Otr .ORIGINALITY
I
certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has'beenpreviously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously
written by any other person except where due refqence is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.
Yogyakarta, June 9, 2016
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA
ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama
: Ester Christine NataliaNomor
Mahasiswa
: 114214064Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
LAIIGUAGE PERSUASIVE POWER OF BEAUTY ADVERTORIALS IN P O P S UGAR. C O
M
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma
hak
untuk
menyimpan,mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media
lain
untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perluijin
dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.Demikian pemyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 9 Juni 2016
vii
Sometimes,
fear only happens
inside your mind.
viii
For my parents,
my sister,
my friends,
my lecturers,
and
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Endless gratitude I would like to give for He who possessed an omniscient power in this universe. He provides me blessings and guidance, hence I shall not want.
This thesis would not be finished without help from Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. as my thesis advisor who is always patient and never feels tired of guiding, correcting, and reminding me in the process of writing this thesis. My thank also goes to Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, M.Hum. for reading and giving second opinion about my thesis.
I thank my parents Benyamin Sarmono and Erna Roosmala as well as my sister Eunike Yuni Puspitasari, who always support and ask me about the thesis progress. I also thank my boyfriend’s mother Sisilia Yosepha Trihana, who is never hesitant to share her wisdom to encourage me.
My special thank goes to my boyfriend Domas Dody Hananto, who always stays besides me whenever I get depressed, anxious, and over-thinking. Thank you for being you.
Life would be empty without friends, and so does this page. I would like to say cheers for all my best-partners in struggling, Gustin, Chris,Enda,Dita, Fanny, Jeremy, Monik, Amanda, Bayu, Grace, also my seniors Wawan, Vita, Cien Li, Cien We,Anya, Tyas, and Stevefor their companion during writing this thesis.
xi
NATALIA, ESTER CHRISTINE. Language Persuasive Power of Beauty Advertorials in Popsugar.com. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.
The development of technology has made information easily widespread. As a result, printed media is no longer the only source of knowledge nowadays. One of the proofs is the printed magazine that has slowly but surely, migrated into electronic and online magazine. Popsugar.comis one example of media online invasion. It has the same content as the printed magazine but in a form of a website. Advertorial is among contents of printed media that also can be found in online media. SincePopsugar.comis an online media focusing in women and lifestyle issue, advertising content that promotes beauty products in a form of article is easily accessible. Because it is written in narrative form, the persuasion message in advertorial certainly cannot be separated from language.
In order to analyze the persuasive power in beauty advertorials in Popsugar.com, this study has formulated two problems. The first problem is to find out language features used in the beauty advertorials of Popsugar.com. The second problem is to find out how language persuasive power of beauty advertorials reflected through language features.
The data of this study were collected from Popsugar.com, an online media whose contents are targeted for women. At first, the language features were classified based on the theory of language features. Thereafter, language features were related to the persuasion tactics to find out how persuasive power is reflected through language.
xii
NATALIA, ESTER CHRISTINE. Language Persuasive Power of Beauty Advertorials in Popsugar.com. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.
Perkembangan teknologi telah mempermudah proses penyebaran informasi. Hasilnya, kini media cetak tidak lagi menjadi sumber pengetahuan dan informasi yang utama. Salah satu buktinya adalah majalah cetak yang perlahan namun pasti bermigrasi ke majalah elektronik maupun daring. Popsugar.comadalah sebuah contoh invasi media daring. Konten yang terdapat di media daring sama persis dengan media cetak, hanya saja dipresentasikan dalam bentuk situs web. Advertorial adalah salah satu konten media cetak yang dapat ditemukan di media daring.Popsugar.comadalah media daring yang fokus pada isu
mengenai perempuan dan gaya hidup, maka dari itu konten persuasi yang mempromosikan produk kecantikan dalam bentuk artikel sangat mudah ditemukan. Teksnya yang ditulis dalam bentuk naratif membuat pesan promosi di advertorial erat kaitannya dengan bahasa.
Untuk menganalisis pengaruh persuasi pada advertorial kecantikan di Popsugar.com, penelitian ini dilakukan berdasarkan dua rumusan masalah. Permasalahan pertama dirumuskan untuk mencari tahu ciri-ciri bahasa yang digunakan di advertorial kecantikan di Popsugar.com. Permasalahan yang kedua diformulasikan untuk mencari tahu bagaimana pengaruh persuasi bahasa dari advertorial kecantikan direfleksikan melalui ciri bahasa.
Data dari penelitian ini dikumpulkan dariPopsugar.com, sebuah media daring dengan konten yang ditargetkan untuk para perempuan. Hal pertama yang dilakukan adalah mengklasifikasikan ciri-ciri bahasa menurut teori ciri-ciri bahasa. Setelah itu. Ciri bahasa dihubungkan dengan taktik persuasi untuk menemukan bagaimana pengaruh persuasi direfleksikan melalui bahasa.
x
APPROVAL PAGE... iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE………..…. iv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH... v
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY………...… vi
MOTTO PAGE... vii
DEDICATION PAGE... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS... x
ABSTRACT... xi
ABSTRAK... xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 5
C. Objectives of the Study ... 5
D. Definition of Terms ... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEWS OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 8
A. Review of Related Studies ... 8
B. Review of Related Theories ... 10
1. Theory of Advertorial ... 10
2. Theory of Language Features ... 11
a. Text Organization ... 12
b. Lexis ... 12
i. Diction ... 12
ii. Metaphor ... 12
c. Phonology ... 13
i. Alliteration... 13
ii. Assonance... 14
d. Typography... 14
3. Theory of Persuasion ... 15
a. Functional Dimension... 15
i. Strengthening Feeling ... 15
b. Semantic Dimension... 16
c. Metaphor in Persuasion ... 16
C. Theoretical Framework ... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY... 18
A. Object of the Study ... 18
B. Approach of the Study ... 18
C. Method of the Study ... 19
1. Data Collection... 19
1. Text Organization ... 22
a.Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea 22 b.Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway... 23
c.5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer... 23
d.Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts... 24
e.Try a Breakthrough Treatment For Your Split Ends... 24
f.Treating Blemishes Has Never Felt So Good... 24
g.Looking For Your True Match?... 25
h.Beautiful Skin: It’s In Your DNA... 25
2. Lexis ... 26
a. Diction ... 27
1.Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea... 27
2.Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway... 28
3.5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer... 30
4.Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts... 31
5.Try a Breakthrough Treatment For Your Split Ends 32 6.Treating Blemishes Has Never Felt So Good... 33
7.Looking For Your True Match?... 34
8.Beautiful Skin: It’s In Your DNA... 35
b. Metaphor... 36
1.Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea... 36
2.Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway... 37
3.5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer... 38
4.Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts... 38
3. Phonology... 39
a. Alliteration ... 39
1.Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts... 39
b. Assonance ... 40
1.Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea... 40
2.Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway... 40
4. Typography ... 41
B. Lexical Feature Contribution in Persuasion ... 42
1. Functional Dimension ... 42
a. Strengthening Feeling ... 43
2. Semantic Dimension ... 47
3. Metaphor in Persuasion ... 49
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY………. 53
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
More than a thousand years ago, information was obtained and spread through human or animal resource. Using pigeons, for example, is one of the ways of communication which human used to share information. The message was tied to a pigeon’s leg or back then it wouldcarry the information written on a paper to the receiver (Schramm, 1971:718). Long before the pigeons were used as a messenger and before human invented paper, information usually was sent using a travelling messenger who presented the message verbally.
Approximately on 105 A.D, as an article entitled ‘Paper History’ in The World Book Encyclopedia said, Chinese invented paper made of wood that changed the entire system of information sharing (Macdonald, 1971:117). From using pigeons, ponies, and/or humans as messengers, now the information sharing or communication is developed into mass media. Mass media, as described in an article “Communication” by Wilbur Schramm in The World Book Encyclopedia, “is the sharing information with many people in many places with the help of
machines” (1971:712), it includes newspapers, television, radio, films, and
One of the mass media commonly found nowadays is magazine. Magazine is “a collection of articles or stories and pictures on various topics” (Weeks, 1971:39). It differs from a newspaper since a magazine is usually not published daily like most newspapers are commonly done; it also has better printed output with better paper. While newspapers present daily actual and factual news, magazines have many types and categories of news depending on the magazines topics and the readers’ interests. There are broad examples of magazine topics, such as decoration, plants, politic, music, and lifestyle.
Even though they have many different topics and types, magazines have similar contents. They usually begin with the table of contents, a page of the editor’s note about the edition, current general news, and articles related to the magazine edition topic, advertisings and advertorials. The contents are presented and compiled in an interesting way so that the readers will not get bored when read it. One of the contents which are always found interesting to be read is advertorials. According to Linda McLoughlin in the book The Language of Magazine, advertorials are described as “features which are specially written to encourage consumption of the products mentioned in them” (McLoughlin,
2000:101).
Entering the 21st century, human life is colored with a new invention called ‘internet’ which first “developed in the 1960s in the USA as an
experimental network” (Crystal, 2006:3). It spreads all over the world and
information needed in the internet since there are many websites with all possible topics presented to be accessed. The information that spread on the internet are basically free. All the users have to do is only type, click, and read on their gadgets. The simplicity of information sharing makes people prefer to use internet in their daily life rather than printed sources.
Since the issue of global warming was raised, many mass companies have begun to reduce the use of papers and launch their products virtually. One of the internet’s impacts is a web-magazine, which is a magazine that published on a
website. Not only do web-magazines originate from printed editions available in the virtual world, but also web-magazines that can be found only on the internet. They are not launched weekly or monthly anymore but daily.
Popsugar.com is one of the web-magazines published because of internet’s invention in human lives. “Popsugaris a global women’s lifestyle brand
focused in media, commerce and technology” (http://corp.popsugar.com/). As stated in its ‘about’ page, the target readers or audiences of this website are
women from age 18 to 40 years old. Like other magazines, it contains articles in broad topics about lifestyle, specifically related to women. It also has advertorials that are written to persuade the readers to buy certain products.
readers. It requires the writer’s ability in using persuasive language in their writings. Persuasion in a language, as explain by Peter Verdonk inStylistics, is
…high proportion of complimentary words and phrases…Other words and images are rather emotive…Obviously, these loaded vocabulary choices reveal the writer’s motive, which is to persuade the reader… (Verdonk, 2002:8)
Language plays an important role creating such persuasive power in an advertorial since it is constructed by words that combined into phrases, connected into clauses that make sentences and create paragraphs of advertorial, it could not be made without language. The writer’s vocabularies of rhetoric words are absolutely required in creating persuasive effect of advertorials. As explained by Verdonk, the “persuasive technique is supported by the rhetorical structure of the
text as a whole” (Verdonk, 2002:8) thus this is one of the elements that build persuasive effect of advertorials.
Most of linguistics branches can be used in analyzing advertorials. It can be observed and analyzed from many possible perspectives. Phonology, for example, is applicable to analyze how sound can create persuasive effect. However, in this thesis it is the perspective of stylistics that will be used to observe and analyze beauty advertorials from Popsugar.com. Stylistics perspective is used to analyze the advertorial because the researcher wants to focus on looking at the advertorial style and its effect on constructing persuasive power.
find out what linguistic features are used in the text and how persuasive power of the text is reflected through the features. This research is conducted to find significant language feature in advertorial. The significant language feature is then analyzed further to find out how it reflects persuasion.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background, the problems for this research are formulated as follows:
1. What are the language features used in the beauty advertorials of Popsugar.com?
2. How is language persuasive power in the beauty advertorials reflected through language features?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding and to give readers background knowledge about this research, the frequently used terms in this research are described as follows.
The first term that is frequently used in this research is “persuasive language”. According to Peter Verdonk in Stylistics, persuasive language is characterized by
…high proportion of complimentary words and phrases…Other words and images are rather emotive…Obviously, these loaded vocabulary choices reveal the writer’s motive, which is to persuade the reader… (Verdonk, 2002:8).
Furthermore, Verdonk explainsthat “persuasive technique is supported by the rhetorical structure of the text as a whole” (Verdonk, 2002:8). Ronald L. Cramer, Chris Welles Feder, Lida Lim, Tara McCarthy, Norman C. Najimy, John Prejza, Jr., and DeWayne Triplett inLanguage: Structure and Usealso define that persuasive text aims
to convince an audience, the people to whom the writing is aimed, that an opinion is reasonable and acceptable. Persuasion can make an audience accept the ideas and act upon them (Cramer, 1984:357).
The second frequently used term is “beauty”. According to The Sense of Beauty, beauty is defined as “pleasure regarded as the quality of a thing” (Santayana, 1961:43). Furthermore, beauty is described as a value that has positivity in a way it contains “the sense of the presence of something good”
The third term is“advertorial”. According toMcLoughlin’sThe Language of Magazine, advertorials are defined as “features which are specially written to encourage consumption of the products mentioned in them” (McLoughlin,
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In conducting this research, there are former studies related to the topic used as references and linguistic theories applied in the analysis. These studies are reviewed in the first part of this chapter. The theories that are applied to this research’s observation and analysis are reviewed in the second part of this chapter.
The way theories are applied and used to solve problem formulation is explained in the last part of this chapter.
A. Review of Related Studies
Three studies related to stylistics and advertising are used to support this present research. All of these studies are done by students of English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University. Two of those analyze the style of language in advertisement, while the other analyzes the use of language features in magazine.
The first related studies the present writer use is a thesis entitled “Linguistic Features in Football Magazine: A Stylistic Analysis on the ‘Club
Other studies used as a reference for this research is also a thesis entitled “A Study on Language Style in Airline Advertisements in “Time” Magazine”
done by Ganis Widyapsasmi. This research aims to find out what language styles are used in the texts and what the significant towards the styles. This research is limited only on figurative and literal styles of language. The result of this research is that the figurative language style is used in the texts more than literal one and its significant is it can arouse the readers’ curiosity towards the products.
The last studies used as a reference is a thesis entitled “The Study of Language Power in Persuasive Message as Seen in Airline Advertising of Newsweek Magazines Issued from January – December 1999” by Caecilia Krismariana Widyaningsih. The aims of this research is to find out what the technique of speech act used in creating persuasive message, how the use of such style applied in the texts able to influence the readers, and how the words and phrases are arranged to create persuasive effects to the readers. The findings of this research are figurative language is the technique used in creating persuasive message and it can imply persuasion because it is created by the arrangements that related to the cooperative principle.
However, the present thesis still has few things that can make it different from the related studies. The researcher takes the object of the study from an online source, a web-based magazine, Popsugar.com, which is different from the studies above that use printed sources. Furthermore, the topic of the data used in this research is also diverse due to the fact that this thesis uses beauty advertorials as an object of the study. Thus, this thesis is made to develop the previous studies in linguistics using a new kind of text.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Advertorial
To promote its products to the consumers, an advertisement is usually used by the company as a medium since the purpose of advertisement is to increase consumption of some products, or in a simpler way, to sell some products. Roderick White, the author of Advertising: what it is and how to do it describes advertisement as “all part of the way in which a company presents itself to the
public and calls attention to what it has to sell.” (White, 1988:2). An
advertisement can be presented in any possible way of mass media; it can be in a form of video in television, sound in radio, picture or usually called as poster, and words or usually be defined as advertorial.
An advertorial itself is “any form of paid editorial material that has been written, designed, and executed so as to resemble a news story, editorial or other content.” (Sterling, 2009:25). Therefore it can be said that advertorial is an
2. Theory of Language Features
Stylistics as a “study of style and the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect” (Verdonk, 2002:4) sees
language features as an essential component in creating language style. According to Verdonk in Stylistics, language features is a linguistic context of a text. In a text, there are two contexts that affect its language style. The first context is non-linguistic contextsuch as readers’ interest and writers’ intention. For example, the style of articles in beauty magazine is different from politic magazine because of the interest of the readers and the aim of the writers of both magazines poles apart. The readers of beauty magazine will expect articles contain of review of a product and beauty trivia, meanwhile the readers of politic magazine will seek for actual news about government’scrisis or critics from politic experts in its articles.
The second context of a text style is linguistic context. Here, Verdonk explains that this context refers to“surroundingfeatures of language inside a text” (Verdonk, 2002:6) or language features. Language features are described by Verdonk as “typography, sounds, words, phrases and sentences which are relevant
to the interpretation of other such linguistic elements” (Verdonk, 2002:7).
a. Text Organization
Text organization is the way words and image are composed in the advertorial’s page. Thishelps give pleasure to the readers’ vision and attract their
attention at the same time. The organization of a text is important to make the readers interested to read the text.
b. Lexis
Lexis or also known as word is a key component in analyzing a written text. This is an essential element of advertorial, or say, narration text. The features of lexis are divided into three which are diction, metaphor, and simile.
i. Diction
The words used in the advertorials have been carefully selected in order to construct persuasive effect. Katie Wales described diction as “The characteristics or idiolectal patterns in the lexis of a text or oeuvre” (Wales, 2001:108). Therefore
the way a writer uses diction may differ from other writer that makes each writer has their own style.
ii. Metaphor
Metaphor is known as a part of figurative language that enables writer to emphasize expression in the text. The metaphor happens when “one field or
thing will be pictured as another different thing that has the same or similar quality, as in:
Sarah pointed at a giantwhite ball on the sky. She said, “Mommy, I want those cotton candy!”
Sarah can picture cloud as cotton candy because both has same quality; they look fluffy. This kind of quality makes cloud unable to be pictured as lolipop, for example.
c. Phonology
Phonology is defined as “the study of the ways in which speech sounds
form systems and patterns” (Fromkin, 2003:273). Repetition of sound is one feature that can be found in the advertorial headline. There are two kinds of repetition of sound, the first one is alliteration which is repetition of consonantal sound, and the second one is assonance which is repetition of vowel sound.
i. Alliteration
R.L. Trask describes alliteration as “the repeated use of the same initial
consonant sound in a string of words in a connected text” (Trask, 1996:15). In poem, this kind of repetition are used to help makes the sound of a line more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing for the readers.
Example:
“The burghers of Brighton briskly bundled the belligerent boatmen back to Brest” (Trask, 1996:15)
ii. Assonance
As described by R.L. Trask in his book A Dictionary of Phonetics and Phonology, assonance is defined as “the recurrence of the same vowel sound (or sometimes of similar vowel sounds) in two or more words in a phrase or in a poem” (Trask, 1996:38). For example, in a phrasesweet dreams, there is a vowel sound /i/ which occurs as the assonance.
d. Typography
The type, the size and the style of a font can create attraction to the readers’ visually (Goddard, 2002:128). Certain website has its own typography which can be used to differentiate it with other website. The typography is chosen and designed to make the readers feel comfortable while reading the content.
Example:
This is Arial font type in bold style with 14 pt font size.
This is Times New Roman font type in italic style with 12 pt font size.
This is Comic Sans in underline style with 18
3. Theory of Persuasion
In general, persuasion is considered as a way to convince other people to follow or agree with persuader. This concept can be applied to various aspects in communication such as politics, argumentation, and, of course, advertisement. Raymond S. Ross see this phenomenon as “a change process resulting mostly
from shared, symbolic thinking activity”. Ross argues that persuasion occurs because it is affected by influence and motivation (Ross, 1994:6-7).
In order to acquire persuasion effect, Charles U. Larson in his book Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility argues that tactics in using languages are needed. Larson called these tactics as persuasive symbols. However, the symbols are divided into four; functional dimension, semantic dimension, thematic dimension and metaphors. Only, there are three dimensions which are used in analyzing the data because there are no thematic dimension found in the advertorial.
a. Fuctional Dimension
Larson defines functional dimension of language as a work that can be done by a single word. He argues that words in a text are selected for a purpose, in this case, is to persuade the readers.
i. Strengthening Feeling
Example:
“There's nothing like a bad hair day (and its tragic partner, the ugly baseball cap) to make you feel horribly ordinary and deeply depressed.”
The words used in the sentence above create fear of bad hair day or a condition when hair is hard to style or looks messy. For the ladies who already have that problem, the sentence supports or strengthens the fear of having untidy hair. Finally, the sentence leads to persuade readers to buy product for solving their problems.
b. Semantic Dimension
This dimension explains how the meaning of words is important in creating persuasion. If we take a look at the dictionary, we will commonly find more than one meaning for a word. Choosing a right word with proper meaning can give more emphasize in persuasive effect.
Larson argues that “word choice also provides clues about the source’s
underlying intentions” (Larson, 2007:139). The writer’s thought and perspective
can be seen through looking at the meaning implies from the diction.
c. Metaphor in Persuasion
This figurative language “can also produce a texture or theme at the same
time they perform a function and carry a meaning” (Larson, 2007:140). Metaphor
helps transferring the persuasive ideas by provoking readers’ imagination so that
it “refer to common substances or events” (Larson, 2007:141). This way helps delivering persuasion message.
C. Theoretical Framework
This thesis focuses on analyzing the advertorial of beauty products in
Popsugar.com, a female web-based magazine. The theory of advertorial is used to sort the articles from the website to be selected as the objects of this study. After the objects of study are already chosen, the problem formulation is then made. There are two problems formulated for the analysis.
The first problem of this study aims to find out what language features are used in the advertorials. Therefore, the theory of language features from stylistics is applied. Verdonk’s theory of text organization, lexis, phonology and typograpgy is used in analyzing the language elements of advertorials.
18
METHODOLOGY
Three essential elements of this research will be explained in this chapter. First thing to discuss is object of the study used in the present research. Second, approach of the study will be explained. Afterwards, method of the study on how the data are collected and how they are analyzed will be discussed in detail.
A. Object of the Study
In conducting this research, eight advertorials about beauty products from Popsugar.com are used. According to its ‘about’ page, Popsugar.com is a web-based
magazine of women’s lifestyle whose audiences vary from age 18 to 40 years old. As a women lifestyle media, Popsugar.comcontent mainly discuss about topics related to women such as fashion, health, carreer, and beauty. These advertorials are basically advertisements that come in a form of narrative text. However, the way that is used to write the text are similar with other articles. Therefore, language, especially word or lexis is an element that is used as the object to be studied in this research.
B. Approach of the Study
Stylistics approach is used to help analyzing the data of this research. Since the focus of Stylistics is to discover how language features can give effect to the readers, this is a suitable approach to see how persuasion reflected through language features. Theory of
through essential language features in the text.
C. Method of the Study
These steps are used in this research:
1. Data Collection
This study analyzed sample data of advertorial in Popsugar.com. The sample were sorted using theory of advertorial; editorial content that promoted beauty products. The eight advertorial articles were chosen because they were packaged in a form of editorial articles. Therefore, the readers would not notice that the advertorials were made to promote certain products.
The sample data were taken after sorting articles and content in Popsugar.com using theory of advertorial. The seven of eight advertorial articles are chosen because it does not mention product name in the title. Meanwhile, an advertorial which mentions product name in the title is alson chosen as an example of advertorial variety. By looking at the headline, the readers will not notice that the articles are forms of advertisement.
2. Data Analysis
This study is focused on two problem formulations. First is to find out language features used in the articles. To solve this problem, theory of language features will be used to classify elements of articles content including its headline and text organization. At first,
advertorial language elements are observed based on Verdonk’s theory of language features.
21 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, analysis results using two problems which have been formulated are presented. There are two objectives used in this thesis. The first objective is to find language features used in the advertorials. This is then followed by second objective which is to analyze how persuasion reflected through language features.
As the data, eight beauty advertorials from Popsugar.comare analyzed in this chapter. These advertorials areStop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea, Five Products to Make Everyday Your Runway, 5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer, Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts, Try Breakthrough Treatment For Your Split Ends,Treating Blemishes Has Never Felt So Good,Looking For Your True Match?, and Beautiful Skin: It’s in Your DNA. Overall, these articles contain 1.154 words, 76 sentences, and 23 paragraphs in total number.
To discuss the first problem formulation, theories about language features
For the second problem formulation, theory about language dimension by Charles U. Larson stated in a book Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility is used to find the answer. The four language dimensions in persuasion are functional, semantic, thematic and metaphorical dimension. However, in the analysis there are only three language dimensions analyzed because there is no thematic dimension found in the analysis.
The analysis for the first problem formulation is elaborated as follows: A. The Advertorials Language Features
In this section, the analysis was done based on Verdonk’s theory about language features in order to answer the first problem formulation which is presented. The data are observed and analyzed to find language features which are used in the advertorials.
1. Text Organization
The way advertorials text is organized and composed is observed in this section.
a. Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea
Visualization image is put above the text in a big size which is 7x19 cm. The text itself contains two paragraphs. The first paragraph is an introductory paragraph about skin aging, skin care issue related to the product’s function. The second paragraph is an explanatory paragraph which explains the product’s function and ingredients as well as its excellence.
b. Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway
Headline, credit title, and share button has the same arrangement like the previous article. As in the text has few things different. First is the layout of visualization image. Each image of the product put after its name then followed by description about its function and good sides. There are five pictures featured on this advertorials, each represents the products in this hair care collection.
This text contains eight paragraphs. The first paragraph is discussing how bad it feels for a woman to have bad hair day. In the second paragraph, the product is introduced to the readers. Meanwhile, the third paragraph functions as a bridge for the next five paragraphs describing the products one by one.
c. 5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer
This article’s headline, credit title, and share button are arranged
d. Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts
The organization of headline, credit title, and share button are still the same with other previous advertorials. A product image is put before the advertorial text. The text itself has two paragraphs. The first paragraph is an introductory paragraph about a movie entitled Legally Blonde, this is a movie about Elle Wood who develops her appearance and character after a break up with her boyfriend. This story then relate to the product which has function to help clear acnes. Acne problem has been known as an issue which can affect a
person’s, mostly woman’s, confidence. By having clearer skin, a person is considered to have succeeded in enhancing his or her appearance.
e. Try a Breakthrough Treatment For Your Split Ends
This advertorial also has the same headline, credit title, and share button organization like other previous advertorials. A picture of product featured also provided before the text. This advertorial, however, has four paragraphs. The first paragraph contains two sentences which is stating that there is a product that can solve split end problem on hair. The second paragraph contains one sentence that isdescribing the product’s quality. The third paragraph is the longest paragraph in this advertorial, it contains three paragraphs describing the product’s ingredients and their function to the hair. The fourth paragraph only contains one sentence which ispromoting the product’s website and fan page.
f. Treating Blemishes Has Never Felt So Good
The product poster is put before the text. This advertorial only contains one paragraph with 108 words that begins with giving information to the readers about characteristic of a product which can help treating blemishes. Then, it is followed
by describing product’s excellence for the skin and the advertorial is finished with
suggestion to use the product daily. g. Looking For Your True Match?
This advertorial also has the same arrangement on headline, credit title, and share button. The poster of this product is put before the text. This advertorial contains three paragraphs; first, it introduces the product’s ability and excellence, then it explains the product’s effect towards the users, after that it suggests the readers to visit its website.
h. Beautiful Skin: It’s In Your DNA
The headline, credit title, and share button arrangement of this advertorial is identical with other advertorials and articles in Popsugar.com. This advertorial also contains image which put before the text. There are two paragraphs in this advertorial. In the first paragraph, the writer introduced the product and its function for solving skin problems. Meanwhile, the second paragraph suggests the readers to experience this product’s effect.
that are related to the product and a well-known beauty blogger. Three
advertorials display picture of the product’s packaging, while the other two
advertorials attach the product’s posters.
There are four advertorials that introduce and give information about product in the first paragraph. Meanwhile, the other four advertorials first paragraphs are giving readers information about problem they might face before describing the products in the following paragraphs.
In these advertorials’ credit titles, the writers’ names are replaced by the
name Sponsor to claim that these articles are not written by Popsugar.com editorial team.
This can be concluded that advertorial has the same component, organization, and arrangement like regular editorial article; it has title on the upper page, followed by credit title and the date the advertorial was posted, also an image was being put before the text. Only, advertorial specifically mentions the name of the product brand and give explanation about the product that meant to be promoted. As an annotation, the name of advertorials writers is replaced by “Sponsor” to inform the readers that the articles are not part of editorials’work.
2. Lexis
a. Diction
Diction is a choice of word employed by the writer to deliver message in the text. Words chosen by the writer has an important role in communicating the persuasion message in the advertorial. In creating persuasion, certain choice of words as follows are used by the writer of advertorial.
1. Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea
Words in the headline are organized to catch the readers’attention to read the advertorial. In this first advertorial, two words which have opposite meaning are intended to use to give the readers an idea about comparison of situation before and after using the product. Therefore, it aims to make the readers interested to read more about the product information.
Word Definition
Stop (verb) To cease activity or operation.
Fear (verb) To feel anxious concern.
Start (verb) To begin an activity or
undertaking.
Enjoy (verb) To take pleasure or satisfaction in.
Table 1.0 for headline of Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea
[image:42.595.86.514.233.607.2]Word Definition
Early (adv) Before the usual or expected time.
Start (verb) To begin an activity or
undertaking.
Best (adj) Most productive of good, or advantage, utility, or satisfaction.
Improves (verb) To enhance value or quality. Reduce (verb) To diminish in size, amount,
extent, or number.
Natural (adj) Existing in or produced by nature; not artificial.
Better (adj) Of a higher standard or less poor quality; not as bad as something else.
Table 1.1 for content of Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea
Words listed above are used to describe product’s quality and function.
Words with positive tone are chosen to attain readers’ good impressions about the product.
2. Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway
[image:43.595.82.515.139.628.2]headline can affect readers’interest to read and to find more information about the products.
In the body of the text, words with negative tone are used in describing a condition of messy hair to increase women’s insecurity feeling about untidy hair. The target readers, which are women, are prone to feel insecure about their appearance. Untidy hair, in the other hand, can make a woman look messy and it can affect their appearance and confidence.
Words listed in the Table 1.2 are used to describe problem that can be solved by the product which is being advertised in the first paragraph. Negative words are chosen by the writer in order to raise readers’ awareness about ‘bad hair
day’ as well astograsp readers’ attentionto read the advertorial further.
Meanwhile, words with positive tone below are used in the advertorial to describe the product being advertised that can solve hair problem:
Word Definition
Available (adjective) Present or ready for immediate use. Affordable (verb) To be able to bear the cost of.
Genius (noun) For something/for doing something a special skill or ability.
Revolutionary (adjective) Constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change.
Fabulous (adjective) Very great.
Perfect (adjective) Being entirely without fault or defect. Clean (adjective) Not dirty.
Resistant (adjective) Not damage by the thing mentioned. Help (verb) To make it easier or possible for
somebody to do something by doing something for them or by giving them something that they need.
Prevent (verb) To stop something from happening. Fashionably (adverb) Conforming to the custom, fashion, or
Du jour (adjective) Popular, fashionable, or prominent at particular time.
[image:45.595.86.514.236.617.2]Lasting (verb) To continue in existence or action as long as or longer than something. Table 1.3 for content of Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway
Positive tone words are used in describing product’s quality and function.
The result after using the product also describe with words in positive tone. These words are chosen in order to make readers’ interested to buy and to try the product.
3. 5 Skincare Tips to Safe and Happy Summer
Tips article are written to give readers’ instruction and/or suggestion to do
something. Here in this article, persuasion hides behind tips and tricks article that written to influence the readers to do steps by steps which are suggested by the writer. Words are functioned as instructions that persuade readers to do things as suggested by the writer.
First is the use of words “safe”, “happy”, and “summer” in the headline. Summer season is a condition when the weather gets dry and humid since the sun usually shines brighter than other seasons. This condition can make skin dry and
get burned. The use of words “safe” and “happy” to describe summer season in
the headline attract readers interest to find out the way to still have moisturized and healthy skin in that dry weather. The headline then leads the readers to read the advertorial.
define the dry and hot weather and “confused” to compare the writer’s skin condition with the readers’.
Words with positive tone are used to describe the product’s function and quality. For instance, the word “improved” shows that the product quality has been enhanced and reformulated so that it can give the best benefit for the users.
The word “natural” is functioned to convince the readers that this product is made of non-artificial and non-chemical ingredients, therefore it is safe for all skin types.
Word Definition
Improved (verb) To enhance value or quality.
Gentler (adjective) Soft, delicate.
Natural (adjective) Existing in or produced by nature; not artificial.
Completely (adjective) Total, absolute.
[image:46.595.86.517.247.622.2]Deep (adjective) Not located superficially within the body.
Table 1.5 for content of 5 Skincare Tips to Safe and Happy Summer Negative tone words are chosen in describing problem to make readers more aware about it. Meanwhile, words with positive tone are chosen to introduce
solution and describe product’s quality to convince the readers that their skin
problem can be solved with the product which is advertised. 4. Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts
In this advertorial, the writer compares breakup with breakouts and give impression that even the worst breakouts that makes the person feel sad and dissatisfied can be healed with the product being advertised. The word “banish”
trigger in getting readers interest to read the advertorial to find out solution for their skin problems.
Positive words that describe the product function and reflect suggestion to try the product are used by the writer to build persuasion. All words which are chosen by the writer have positive tone to make the readers interested to the product mentioned.
Word Definition
Outsmart (verb) To get better of.
Confidence (noun) A feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances.
Clear (adjective) Free from blemishes.
Clear (verb) To become clear.
Fade (verb) To sink away.
Powerfully (adjective) Having great power, prestige, or influence.
Help (verb) Give assistance or support.
Prevent (verb) To keep from happening or existing. Naturally (adverb) Without artificial aid.
Evening (adverb) To make being without break, indentation, or irregularity.
Recommended (verb) To present as worthy of acceptance or trial.
[image:47.595.87.520.214.613.2]Genius (noun) For something/for doing something a special skill or ability.
Table 1.6 for content of Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts
Those words with positive and encouraging tone are selected to present description about product quality and function. The words are chosen because it can help attain the readers’ interests in trying the product.
5. Try a Breakthrough Treatment For Your Split Ends
In this advertorial, words with positive tone are used to describe product quality and function.From the title, the writer choose the word “breakthrough” to
“breakthrough” means an advancement of knowledge or technique. By using the that word, the writer wants to trigger the readers so that they will be curious to know about a new advance treatment to solve their hair problem.
The result shown after using the product also described with positive tone words. Words such as “healthier” and “better” are used to tell the readers about
conditions they will get to their hair after using the product advertised in the advertorial. Hence, the readers will get good impression about the product.
6. Treating Blemishes Has Never Felt So Good
It usually takes complicated and painful treatments to remove skin blemishes. However, this advertorial offers a treatment pampering the skin. It
shows from the word “good” which is chosen by the writer. This word implies that the treatment with the product which is advertised will not give painful feeling to the skin. Nevertheless, this product still gives good result in treating blemishes, it shows through the diction used in the body text. By looking at the title, readers will be interested to find out the treatment that can heal their blemishes as well as gives good feeling to their skins.
In the body text of this advertorial, words with positive tone are used in describing product quality and function. The word “effective” that is used to describe product quality for example, it shows that this product will give desired
effect to the users’ skins. By using the word “calm” and “prevent” to define its
7. Looking For Your True Match?
The phrase “true match” is used in the headline of this advertorial is
actually name of the product being advertised. If the readers do not have any background knowledge about the product, they will not notice that an advertisement is hiding behind this article. Furthermore, “true match” can have
meaning as perfect pair as well. This gives significance that this product is a
perfect pair for the readers’ skins.
The product’s function and quality are described using positive words in this advertorial. It can be seen from the word “flawless”which is used to describe
the result that the readers will get after using this product. The word “unique”
takes role in getting readers curiosity about the roller aplicator of this foundation which is not like other common applicators.
Word Definition
Flawless (adjective) Less from an imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness.
Achieve (verb) To get or attain the result of exertion.
Transform (verb) To change the outward form of appearance of.
Radiant (adjective) Vividly bright and shining. Unique (adjective) Being without alike or equal.
Perfect (adjective) Having everything that is necessary; complete and without faults or weaknesses.
Seamlessly (adjective) Perfectly smooth.
Smooth (adjective) Having a continuous even surface. Polished (verb) To smooth, soften, or refine in
[image:49.595.85.521.212.699.2]By using words with positive tone, readers’ interest to try the product is aimed. The explanation about result after using this product is also expected to gain readers’ attention.
8. Beautiful Skin: It’s In Your DNA
The word DNA catches attention in the headline. DNA is an abbreviation of Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid. It is a nucleic acid that carries genetic information in organism’s cells. The writer of this advertorial wants to emphasize that everyone
has beautiful skin that does not need to be changed but to be maintained. Therefore, this product is offered to preserve the readers’ skin health and to prevent it from aging.
In the description and explanation about the product, words with positive tone are used. It uses a lot of words that compliment healthy skin, such as “smoother”, “younger”, and “radiant”. These words are used to describe the effect
the product will give to those who use it regularly. The word “clinically” and “proven” works to convince the readers that this product is made after the company conducted medical research.
Word Definition
Fortunately (adverb) In a fortunate manner.
Prove (verb) To test the truth, validity, or genuineness `of.
Reduce (verb) To diminish in size, amount, extent, or number.
Smoother (noun) Free from what is harsh or disagreeable.
Younger (noun) An inferior in age.
Clinically (adjective) Diagnosable by or based on clinical observation.
Radiant (adjective) Vividly bright and shining.
Dramatically (adjective) Striking in appearance or effect. Table 1.10 for content ofBeautiful Skin: It’s In Your DNA
From the analysis above, it can be seen that positive words always used to present description and explanation about quality and function of the products which are being advertised. It is used as well in explaining and describing solution for problems the readers’ might face. This tone is used to build positive impression from the readers toward the product being advertised. The aim is to make the readers interested to buy and to try the product.
Meanwhile, negative words are used to describe the problems which expected to be solved by the product which is promoted in the advertorial. The negative kind of tone is used to provoke the readers to feel more insecure about their skin or hair problems then find a way to solve it using the product mentioned in the advertorial.
[image:51.595.90.514.199.664.2]b. Metaphor
Figurative language or known as metaphor also used in the advertorials. Metaphors are used in the text to add expression and emphasis about the topic being discussed.
1. Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea In this advertorials, there is one metaphor found by the analysis.
a. “Give dry winter feet, elbows, and knees the soothing, long-lasting nourishment they crave...”
Therefore, it is not possible for these parts of body to have craved feeling. In this metaphor, those body parts are assumed as an animate thing with the strong desire to get soothing and long-lasting nourishment.
In the advertorial, this metaphor is used to describe product’s function and effect towards its users’ skins.It claims that feet, elbows, and knees strongly need function offered by the product which is promoted in this advertorial.
2. Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway In this advertorial, there are two metaphors used:
a. “…nothing like a bad hair day (and its partner, the ugly baseball
cap)…”
According toMerriam-Webster English Dictionary,“partner”is defined as “one associated with another especially in an action”. “Bad hair day” is a term referring to a condition when one’s hair is not in a good condition. It cannot do any action with baseball cap. “Bad hair day” in this sentence is figured as an animate entity that can work together with a baseball cap.
b. “…our everyday secret weapon is Vidal Sassoon Pro Series VOLUME Shampoo…”
According to Merriam-Webster English Dictionary, “weapon” is “something (such as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy”, it is
also defined as “a means of contending against another”. Here in this sentence, the
In this advertorial, metaphors are used to describe product’s function and a
problem which can be solved using this product. 3. 5 Skin Care Tips to Safe & Happy Summer
There is one metaphor used in this advertorial. a. “...your skin is just as confused as mine is!”
According to Merriam-Webster English Dictionary, word “confused” is
defined as “to disturb in mind or purpose”. Meanwhile, “skin” is a layer in our body that covered our flesh and bones, which means has no mind to be disturbed. In this sentence, “skin” is assumed as a being which has ability to get confused just like human mind.
4. Banish Worse-Than-Breakeup Breakouts There is one metaphor used in this advertorial. a. “Channel your inner starlet by outsmarting acne”
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “starlet” is defined
as “a young woman actor who plays small parts and hopes to become famous”, meanwhile, “channel” is “a way of expressing ideas and feelings”. In this
sentence, “starlet” is considered as a confidence within a woman that can be let out by having a skin without acne. This metaphor is used to explain the product’s function.
expression does not appear often in the advertorial because it is only function as a way of delivering message that can arousereaders’ emotion and feeling
3. Phonology
In the advertorial, phonological feature plays its part on the headline of the text. There are two features of phonology, alliteration and assonance that occur on the headline of the advertorials which are analyzed. However, metre and rhyme are not analyzed because they are not found in the data.
a. Alliteration
In the headline of advertorials, sound of initial consonant of one word is repeating in other word in one headline in order to make readers interested to read the advertorials.
1. Banish Worse-Than-Breakup Breakouts
In this advertorial headline, the consonantal sound /b/ is repeatedly used for the word“banish” /’ba-niʃ/,“breakup” /’breIk-ʌp/,and “breakout” /’breIk-aʊt/ which means these words have exactly the same first syllable. This phenomenon makes the article grasps the readers enthusiasm to read the text because it sounds rhyming.
b. Assonance
This phonological feature appears when the same or similar vowel sound occurs in two or more words in a phrase. Repeating the vowel sound can make the headline sounds more interesting.
1. Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It With Restorsea
In this headline, the vowel sound /i/ is used repeatedly in the word “fearing” /’fir-Iŋ/, “aging” /’a-giŋ/, “enjoying” /in-‘jOIŋ/, “it” /it/, “with” /wiθ/, and “Restorsea” /rI-‘stɔr-sI/. This assonance makes the headline sounds rhythmical. It triggers attention and interest of the readers to read the advertorial.
2. Five Products to Make Every Day Your Runway
In the headline of this advertorial, vowel sound /eI/ is repeated in the word “day” /deI/ and “runway” /’rʌn-weI/. This makes the headline sounds rhyming. It helps aiming readers’ attention to read the advertorial.
Assonance only appears in the two advertorials, while other seven advertorials do not use this kind of phonological phenomenon. This happens because emphasizing in diction or words considered as the most efficient way to gain readers’ interests in reading the advertorials.
4. Typography
Since the data of this research are taken from one source, which is an online media Popsugar.com, therefore the typographical analysis will be more general; it covers eight advertorials.
The headlines or the title of the articles in this website using Helvetica as font style which has clean and simple detail with font size 27 to make it looks prominent.
Try a Breakthrough
Treatment For Your Split Ends
Graphic 1. for advertorials headlines typographyGeorgia, the font used in the article body does not makethe readers’ eyes strain while reading because it has large, clean, spacy, and simple style. The size of the font is 12 pt, not too big or too tiny. The color of the font is black, regular font color that can make the reader feel comfort while reading the text.
You don't need a team of makeup artists to get a flawless look. Now, there's an easy way to achieve the professional
airbrushed finish withTrue Match™ Perfecting Roll On Makeup.Its unique roller applicator picks up the perfect amount of product every time you use it. The makeup rolls on seamlessly transforming your skin to smooth and polished in minutes.
Graphic 2. for advertorials contents typography
The use of these kinds of typographical feature makes the advertorial looks clean, casual, but formal. It also makes the advertorials more enjoyable to read because their layout does not make the readers’ eyes strain. On the other
B. Lexical Feature Contribution in Persuasion
Since more than a half part of advertorial consists of written text; therefore lexis, one of language features, has strong contribution in creating persuasion effect. Lexis or word can be analyzed using three persuasion symbols reflected through language that are defined by Charles U. Larson in his book Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility.
1. Functional Dimension
a. Strengthening Feeling
In strengthening feeling, a word is able to encourage readers to have certain feeling such as happy, sad, or anxious. Emotive words are used in
provoking readers’ feelings.
The word “early” taken from Stop Fearing Aging and Start Enjoying It with Restorsea, for instance, provokes the readers to feel it is important to take action immediately to prevent skin aging. The word “best” still from the same
advertorial also plays role on strengthening feeling to the readers that skin can still look best despite getting older. From another article about “bad hair day”, in a
phrase to call a condition when someone’s hair is difficult to style, the word
“horribly’ provokes the readers feeling that bad hair day is certainly unpleasant
and should be solved.
By creating illusion of feeling to the readers through words, advertorial writers aim to make more sales of products featured in the article more. Exposing women’s problems about their appearance is alwaysan effective way to advertise beauty products. This way can make women feel insecure and try to find a solution to make them look flawless.
From the analysis, there are 17 adjectives, 10 verbs, four adverbs, and one noun found in eight advertorials which are used to persuade the readers using strengthening feeling, one of functional dimentions in persuasion. The 18 adjectives are used in describing products functions, expected results after using the products, quali
