CC BY
5UDC 316.77:659:[811.161.1+811.111+811.411.21] DOI 10.52928/2070-1608-2024-70-2-72-76
EXPLORING CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION TACTICS: A STUDY OF ADVERTISING TEXTS ON THE EXAMPLE OF RUSSIAN, ENGLISH, AND ARABIC LANGUAGES
A. S. MOUNIR (Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov)
The study aims to acknowledge the communication tactics in the advertising texts used to implement strategies in the light of Russian, English, and Arabic examples. The paper considers the concept of advertising texts and the implementation of communication strategies into advertising texts, as well as highlights the main tactics, like "minus" tactics, positive presentation tactics, slander tactics, provocation tactics, warning tactics, deflecting or rejecting criticism tactics, cooperation tactics, motivation tactics and promise tactics. The study applies the methods of contextual and content analyses of advertising texts with reference to the methods of implementing communication strategies through text analysis as well as the advertising text. Results in describing the communication tactics and the language means that realise each tactic correspondingly.
Keywords: advertising concept, advertising text, communication tactics, communication strategies.
Introduction. Advertising represents a deliberate, sponsored, non-personal communication via mass media channels aimed at promoting goods, services, or concepts to a targeted audience. Its core function lies in imparting information, fostering favourable perceptions, and inciting desirable actions beneficial to the advertiser. The term advertising texts can be distinguished as written materials that are exclusively prepared to accomplish the advertising of the product, service, or concept. It is a form of mass communication that is conducted in such a way that it is non-personal and addressed to the masses. Advertising text is an instrument that draws the focus of the targeted audience to a certain brand, notion, or product and encourages them to make a buying decision. They can appear in various forms, such as print ads, internet ads, etc. The distinct features of the advertising texts are the high power of persuasion, the commercial nature of the goal, and the pursuit of the desired audience in order to sell or accomplish other marketing goals. Advertising tactics include methods to clearly discern and widely let these contents be known to the targeted audience. Such tactics include targeting the public, developing convincing messages, selecting the proper linguistic tools, etc. The effectiveness of the advertising tactic lies in the fact that advertising strategies determine whether the message is persuasive, enticing and relevant to the target audience. One needs a variety of tactical options to carry out a strategy, and as one's communicative proficiency increases, their inventory of these tactics increases as well. A variety of communicative tactics are used to implement communicative strategies, which are collections of speech actions created to address a particular communicative task. According to Wilson (2001), in order to further the chosen strategy, a combination of behavioural and communicative patterns is employed at specific points in a conversation, which are referred to as communicative tactics [13]. O. S. Issers defined communication tactics as "one or more actions that contribute to the implementation of the strategy." Moreover, they are interconnected as "genus and species" [7, p. 111]. These tactics may change if the advertiser or the speaker modifies his objectives or communication goals in the communication process. Thus, in our opinion, these tactics can be flexible, changeable, and dynamic. Consequently, to have effective and efficient communication, one should employ a variety of tactics, each of which contains a number of effective targeting phrases. In this article, the author considers the communication strategy as "a collection of tactics, the careful choice of which ensures communication success and enables the speaker to control not only the act of communication but also the interlocutor's opinion and, consequently, the actions and attentions of the recipients or the addressee." Accordingly, chosen communication tactics can help in engaging the target, making contact, and influencing them. Experienced advertisers, speakers, and interlocutors should be able to modify their tactics as the discussion progresses. As a result, communication tactics are a part of a more limited communication process because they relate to a set of communicative intentions rather than the result itself (see G. A. Parshutina & K. V. Popova, 2018 [11]). The use of the manipulation technique, which makes it possible to have a significant impact on audience opinion, is one of the key indicators of these tactics. Modern linguistics defines the term "communicative strategy" using a variety of methods, leading to a variety of classifications. This has to do with how strategies operate simultaneously across different discourse domains; consequently, this affects their approach to communication tactics. The paper raises the question of advertising text tactics and the linguistic approach to these advertising texts. By describing the specific language tools used in these tactics, we can describe how advertising text tactics are implemented. The most popular strategies in Russian, English, and Arabic advertising text are outlined here, along with their advantages: analysis: "minus" tactics, accusation tactics, positive presentation tactics, slander tactics, warning tactics, provocation tactics, tactics of deflecting or rejecting criticism, motivation tactics, cooperation tactics, and promise tactics.
Studying communication tactics in Russian, English, and Arabic texts is crucial for several reasons:
1. An important element for businesses that want their operations to be geared to a global scale is that they have an in-depth understanding of the diverse communication styles and strategies. Each culture has its own ways in which communication is done, and when you are aware of these nuances, communication across cultures is much more effective.
2. Understanding the diverse communication paradigms can be extremely useful to businesses in their attempts to adapt to the markets and, consequently, increase their probability of success in the non-native markets.
3. Taking into consideration divergent styles of communication creates awareness of cultural diversity and thus helps prevent misunderstandings that would otherwise generate misinterpretation or alienation of target groups.
4. Flexibility to utilise different communication approaches allows for tracking a rapidly changing environment and improves the effectiveness of global marketing operations.
5. Addressing communication patterns across languages helps to improve our community's understanding of human communication and will further the collaboration of scholars and professionals on a global level. In this way, researchers as well as practitioners can add value to the process of creating compelling narratives and building a good rapport with a diversified audience. This type of research leads to the creation of marketing plans that are inclusive and culturally sensitive and, thus, appeal to people that come from different backgrounds.
Literature review. Communication strategies are structured around the pursuit of goals and are interactive, directed, systemic, and realised through a range of speech tactics. Thus, the strategy determines the structures that will be used to help the advertisers, the speakers, or the interlocutor achieve their overall communicative intentions and objectives. According to T. S. Komisarova (2008), one's own self-presentation, which is represented by the tactics of identification and solidarization, is the source of speech influence [9]. Tactics that influence speech include vocabulary marking, emotional-evaluative vocabulary, and metaphor. When it comes to speech strategies, which are adaptable and can be realized by a variety of tactics and the intricate use of linguistic resources and methods, the concepts of a communicative strategy and tactics are interconnected as a type and a subtype. The goal of tactics is to carry out a specific communicative task in accordance with a specific milestone in the implementation of the strategy. A strategic speech plan is a collection of strategies, along with their tactics and techniques. Most researchers focus on the communication strategies without giving the communication tactics used to implement these strategies enough attention. Advertising texts are usually evaluated in terms of their strategies and tactics, which have been researched by a number of authors, such as Van Dijk (2000), Skulimovskaya D. A. (2017) and Oshchepkova N. A. (2020). People's interest in advertising texts has increased in recent years. As a result, they have developed a strong interest in the inspiring, thought-provoking, cooperative content that allows marketers and advertisers to use advertising text for public opinion influence. Advertising texts are targeted to inform or express the opinion; they are always aimed at forming a "positive or negative recipient attitude or worldview to influence his way of thinking" [1, p. 23]. D. A. Skulimovskaya (2017), after analysing the Barack Obama speech text, concluded that the tactics of the theatrical strategy are actively used [12]. N. A. Oshchepkova (2020) examines speech influence strategies and tactics in advertising text using speeches by foreign and Russian politicians as examples [10]. She paid attention to the manipulative characteristics of the advertising text. I.V. Bazarova (2020), paying attention to the study of small talk participants' communication strategies and tactics (mainly positive and unfavourable politeness in small talk), led her to identify the following tactics: tactics of showing interest in the interlocutor and a positive evaluation; tactics of intimization, social advantage, and negative evaluation of other people, etc. [2]. What separates romantic communication in the Russian and English linguocultures is the application of romantic communicative personality tactics, which are implemented at the linguistic level in romantic communication situations, according to a study done by A. S. Zagrebelnaya (2021) [14]. Despite the fact that tactics can be predetermined as part of a prescriptive or deliberate strategy that is detailed in a written plan, they are frequently discovered and improvised during a communication effort, which can result in the rejection of emergent operational strategies. Tactics are typically chosen based on the communicator's knowledge and experience, observations of other people's communication activities, historical precedent, practicality, requests or inquiries from others, instructions or recommendations from clients, and/or requirements imposed by external circumstances. The purpose for which tactics are used is typically their foundation. According to Hallahan Kirk (2018), a tactic is a set of actions used to carry out a strategy [6]. In this article, we will focus mainly on advertising communication tactics using Russian, Arabic, and English examples.
Methodology. We used the descriptive qualitative research design in this study to identify, examine, and analyse the tactics used to implement communication strategies in advertising text. The article focuses on certain strategies that are primarily employed in advertising text. The main research methods used in this study are context-specific, content-specific, and speech analyses of advertising text. The samples chosen and analysed are media interviews, newspaper publications, and speeches of Presidents and Prime Ministers and politicians from Egypt, Russia, and the UK, which are accessible online on the official website. We chose different speeches from different time periods to enhance the article's results and the rigour of this scientific work. The researchers retrieved data ranging in date from 2014 until 2023. The researcher obtained the materials used in this article for analysis from the official internet website. The author searched the website archives for materials within the specified period. Then we used the keywords in advertising texts to find materials related to the research topic. These materials were downloaded and converted to Microsoft Word documents. Some of these materials have already been officially translated into English (the main language of this research). The material and data of this research consisted mainly of texts from the abovementioned countries and newspaper publications to identify the communication tactics used, besides previous scientific publications, dissertations, and international publications. The topics of these texts are related to advertising texts in the abovementioned countries. The author delineates the strategies employed to accomplish the primary goal of advertising text. Due to its wide range of advertising, including pamphlets, billboards, handouts, etc., as well as the fact that it is primarily the most productive area for research, linguists worldwide have become very interested in advertising texts. The information was taken from websites providing online promotional materials in Arabic, Russian, and English.
Analysis-"minus" tactics - strategies, where the interlocutor uses primarily lexical language to convey a negative communicative message while also subtly expressing negative emotions in relation to the events described. Generally, it carries a hidden effect that is characteristic. A relevant example, in our opinion, is what R. Sunak used in his inauguration speech: "The government I lead will not leave the next generation, your children and grandchildren, with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves... I will work day in and day out to deliver for you"1.
Accusation tactics - tactics are used in advertising text in which establishing the guilt of a specific person entails making accusations against opponents and proving their guilt with facts and arguments. Negatively construed words are usually used to criticise an opponent; impersonal denunciation is another form in which the communicator refers to the target by pointing at it and using vague personal pronouns and deictic language. To increase the impact on the listeners or the recipients', one may use syntactic and stylistic devices, specifically metaphors and a rhetorical question. Verbs with a strong negative connotation are used to describe the opponent's vicious actions; examples include "kills," "cuts," "tortures," and "launches rockets." Utilising lexical tools with a negative connotation, such as "dictator, criminal, murderer, and tyrant," allows for the creation of negative connotations.
Positive presentation tactics - tactics in which an individual "emphasises one's own virtues" in order to accomplish professional or personal goals; describing the subject only favourably by using words that have a positive connotation. One variation is the use of self-presentation techniques, which become a strategy when they are used as the primary goal rather than just a communication tool, mainly used in advertising text. T. A. van Dijk [5, p. 21] identified two tactics that are similar, presenting one favourably and painting the competition in a negative light. The goal of this tactic is determined by the speaker's desire to present a favourable image of himself in order to increase his status in the eyes of the audience. In his first inauguration speech as leader, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi talked about how strong and tough Egyptians are. They faced hard times and made a path for a better tomorrow. By saying this, he made people feel hopeful and made them trust him.
Slander and insulting tactics - tactics in which the speaker intentionally offends the other party in order to highlight his accomplishments and good looks in contrast to them. Kateneva (2010) makes the distinction between direct and indirect insults clear. Indirect insults include things like amphibolization, disphemization, and changing an anthroponomy into an ethnonym [8]. This strategy involves using words that have negative connotations, and it is most commonly used in advertising text. Moreover, slander and insulting tactics primarily employ offensive language and insulting vocabulary.
Warning Tactics - the warning tactics are carried out using the demonstration of potential solutions, and they are used in advertising text. These advertisements provide answers to the issue at hand and make recommendations for how to lessen its negative effects or provide strategies for avoiding its unfavourable effects, i.e., requesting that the addressee not do anything that could endanger or damage his reputation or the situation. For example, in our opinion: "if you do not purchase this product, you risk injury and death"2.
Provocation tactics. The term "provocation" comes from the Latin word 'provocatio\ which means "challenge." These tactics are regarded as manipulative and confrontational in nature. It is used in advertising text. Journalists utilise the provocation technique to accomplish their communication goal: to gather the necessary information and expose the politicians, i.e., promote behaviours that have detrimental impacts; some strategies include the use of taboo subjects, the rejection of universal human values, and the support of aberrant and delinquent behaviour. According to Dahl et al. (2003), the Benetton Company is frequently credited with developing provocative advertising appeals [4].
Tactics of deflecting or rejection of criticism - tactics contains arguments to justify certain actions in which the communicator or speaker attempts to defend himself in front of a sizable audience without getting into any sticky situations or bringing arguments in support of someone's position to support his or her actions. Whereas distancing him or her from the situation shows the audience that, they are impartial and innocent of the events being reported.
In the UK, leaders try to shift blame by pointing to outside stuff, saying their plans are right, or proposing other reasons for problems. These moves might help for a while, but they might not fix the real problems or tackle valid worries.
Motivation tactics - tactics, wherein the pronoun "we" is typically used to instill a sense of ownership in the addressee. It is a call to action, motivating the recipient to take a specific stance and convincing them to act in a way that benefits the communicator. Cruz et al. (2017) looked into the effect of pronouns on consumer interaction [3]. It was discovered that the utilisation of second-person pronouns in brand messaging, such as "you" and "yours," raises the message's level of personal relevance and the number of people who like, comment on, and share it with others. For example: " We will create a future worthy of the sacrifices so many have made andfill tomorrow and every day thereafter with hope"3.
Cooperation tactics - tactic, which is a method of interaction that entails appealing to the recipient's principles and opinions in order to use them for one's own ends; the best outcomes arise from developing a trustworthy relationship with the person being addressed. For example: "Economic and social development should go side by side with cultural development that could be attained through the contribution of men of culture and creativity, along with media people and artists in Egypt"4.
1 URL: https://www.conservatives.com/news/2022/rishi-sunak-s-first-speech-as-prime-minister.
2 URL: https://hbr.org/1987/09/product-liabilitv-voure-more-exposed-than-vou-think.
3 URL: https://www.nvtimes.com/2022/10/25/world/europe/rishi-sunak-speech-uk-prime-minister.html.
4 URL: https://www.sis.gov.eg/Storv/78278/Statement-bv-President-Abdel-Fattah-El-Sisi-at-ceremonv-marking-his-inauguration?lang=en-us.
Promise tactics - tactics? in which it is the addressee's duty to fulfil the recipient's wishes after meeting any requirements; it is also vital that the addressee has faith in these promises, mostly employed in texts about advertising. Perfective verbs in the future tense are employed in this strategy. For example: "I will unite our country, not with words, but with action"5.
Table. - Analyzing linguistic devices in communication tactics
Tactics tittle Linguistic device
Analysis-"minus" tactics Lexical linguistic means
Accusation tactics - Lexemes with a negative connotation; - Ambiguous personal pronouns and deictic language; - Metaphors and a rhetorical question; - Verbs with a strong negative connotation
Positive presentation tactics Words that have a positive connotation
Slander tactics Words that have a positive connotation. Offensive language, entirely taboo vocabulary
Warning Tactics - Imperative mood; - Warning expressions and phrases
Provocation tactics Provocation language
Tactics of deflecting or rejection of criticism Language of argumentation, controversial language
Motivation tactics Second-person pronouns mainly used
Cooperation tactics Metaphors, rhetorical questions, using visual aids and cooperative language
Promise tactics Perfective verbs in the future tense
Conclusion. Today, there are many approaches to the definition of the concept of communication tactics, which accordingly leads to the diversity of their classifications. The "minus" tactic employs lexical language to subtly express a negative message, emphasising the virtues of the speaker while indirectly expressing negative emotions about certain events. It aims at creating a good image of the speaker while slightly castigating others. On the other hand, accusation tactics involve negatively worded statements and impersonal disapprovals being used to condemn an opponent in order to find him guilty. By using strong negative connotations, communicators hope to discredit their opponents and influence the audience so that it can favour them. Positive presentation tactics involve showing off your good qualities and things you have done using positive words to make a good impression. This way, you can improve how people see you and make them think better of you by showing yourself in a good way. Slander and insulting tactics involve intentionally offending others to highlight one's own accomplishments and good qualities in contrast. By using offensive language and insulting vocabulary, communicators seek to elevate themselves at the expense of others. Warning tactics employ imperative language and warning expressions to caution against potential risks or negative consequences, urging the audience to take specific actions or avoid certain behaviours. Provocation tactics are approaches that stir up debate and controversy to elicit strong reactions. They aim to challenge norms and provoke reactions by addressing controversial and taboo subjects. Tactics of deflecting or rejecting criticism involve using them to counter criticism and defend actions, employing argumentation to justify actions and reject accusations, and aiming to maintain innocence and credibility in the eyes of the audience by distancing oneself from criticism and offering alternative explanations. In summary, these various communication strategies are essential in shaping texts, influencing viewpoints, and achieving specific communication objectives. Communicators strategically employ each tactic to navigate intricate communication situations effectively, whether it involves self-promotion, criticising adversaries, inspiring action, or countering criticism.
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Поступила 16.09.2023
ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ТАКТИКИ МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ: ИЗУЧЕНИЕ РЕКЛАМНЫХ ТЕКСТОВ НА ПРИМЕРЕ РУССКОГО, АНГЛИЙСКОГО
И АРАБСКОГО ЯЗЫКОВ
А. С. МУНИР
(Витебский государственный университет имени П.М. Машерова)
Целью исследования является рассмотрение коммуникативных тактик в рекламных текстах, используемых для реализации стратегии, на примере русского, английского и арабского языков. В статье рассмотрено понятие рекламных текстов и реализация коммуникативных стратегий в рекламных текстах, а также выделены основные тактики, такие как тактика «минуса», тактика позитивного представления, тактика клеветы, тактика провокации, тактика предупреждения, тактика отклонения или отклонения критики, тактика сотрудничества, тактика мотивации и тактика обещания. В исследовании применяются методы контекстного и контент-анализа рекламных текстов с привязкой к методам реализации коммуникативной стратегии посредством анализа текста, а также текста рекламы. Описываются тактики коммуникации и языковые средства, реализующие каждую тактику соответственно.
Ключевые слова: рекламная концепция, рекламный текст, коммуникационная тактика, коммуникационные стратегии.
