Cognitive Aspects of Persuasion in Marketing Discourse a Cognitive Linguistic Study

The use of language in digital discourse for marketing has rapidly developed through mass media. This paper elucidates how advertisers employ various pragmatic strategies to persuade the recipient to act (behavior) by purchasing specific products. This study utilized different theoretical and conceptual frameworks (Theory of Reasoned Action and Aristotle's Models of Persuasion) to address the shortcomings of the social cognitive approach in studying persuasion, to investigate how language of advertisements can influence the recipient's thinking of a product from a psychological perspective. Guided by the principles of TRA, the present study argues that persuasion in advertisements is structured by three dimensions: attraction (through language features and appeals), evaluation (through beliefs, attitudes, and intention), and behavior (social acceptance or reluctance). This study revealed eight persuasion techniques employed by advertisers including demonstrating distinction, honoring commitment, expressing authority, hyperbolizing, glorification, providing proofs, expressing solidarity, and proving success. Showing distinction and Honoring commitment were the most frequently used strategies. Additionally, the study found that strategies of persuasion involved ethical, logical, and emotional appeals for their large effect on the recipient as they contribute to the recipient's positive evaluations. Appealing to reasoning (logic) is the most common one in slogans.