IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF BRANDS ON INTERNET: AN ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI DISCOURSE OF ADVERTISING By MEHREEN UMAR Registration No. 2012-PhD (Eng)-002 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHD) IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE, FATIMA JINNAH WOMEN UNIVERSITY RAWALPINDI i IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF BRANDS ON INTERNET: AN ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI DISCOURSE OF ADVERTISING By Mehreen Umar APPROVED BY _____________________ Supervisor _____________________ External examiner _____________________ External examiner ______________________ Chairperson ii Certificate of Approval This is to certify that the research work presented in this thesis, titled “Identity Construction of Brands on Internet: An Analysis of Pakistani Discourse of Advertising” was conducted by Ms. Mehreen Umar under the supervision of Dr. Sarwet Rasul. No part of this thesis has been submitted anywhere else for any other degree. This thesis is submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Field of English (Linguistics), Department of English, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi. Student Name: Mehreen Umar Signature: __________________ Examination Committee: a) External Examiner 1: Name Signature: __________________ (Designation & Office /Address) ………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………… b) External Examiner 2: Name Signature: ____________________ (Designation & Office Address) ………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………….. c) Internal Examiner: Name Signature: ___________________ (Designation & Office Address) ………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………… Supervisor Name: Signature: _______________ Name of Dean/HOD: Signature: _______________ iii AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I, Mehreen Umar, hereby state that my PhD thesis entitled Identity Construction of Brands on Internet: An Analysis of Pakistani Discourse of Advertising is my own work and has not been submitted previously by me for taking any degree from Fatima Jinnah Women University or anywhere else in the country/world. At any time, if my statement is found to be incorrect even after my Graduation, the university has the right to withdraw my PhD degree. Student/Author‟s Name: Mehreen Umar Signature: ______________ Date: iv PLAGIARISM UNDERTAKING I solemnly declare that the research work presented in the thesis entitled Identity Construction of Brands on Internet: An Analysis of Pakistani Discourse of Advertising is solely my research work with no significant contribution from any other person. Small contribution/help wherever taken has been duly acknowledged and that the complete thesis has been written by me. I understand the zero-tolerance policy of the HEC and Fatima Jinnah Women University towards plagiarism. Therefore, I as the author of the above titled thesis declare that no portion of my thesis has been plagiarized and any material used as reference is properly cited. I undertake that if I am found guilty of any formal plagiarism in the above entitled thesis even after the award of PhD degree, the University reserves the right to withdraw/revoke my PhD degree and that the HEC and the University has the right to publish my name on the HEC/University Website on which the names of those students are placed who submitted plagiarized thesis. Student/Author‟s Name: Mehreen Umar Student/Author‟s Signature: ______________ v ABSTRACT In the backdrop of the emerging trends of branding in Pakistan, the advertising discourse on online media platforms has become increasingly popular owing to its interactive merits and dynamic textual features. With the emergence of popular brands in Pakistan, and their persistently increasing presence on online advertising platforms such as websites and social networking sites, the concept of identity construction in advertising discourse has found new meanings focusing largely on the construction and negotiation of a certain desired image created by the use of textual strategies by the brand. In this context the thesis examines how various brands in Pakistan use discourse of advertising on internet to construct and promote their identity. The focus is on examining the linguistic and semiotic strategies used in the Pakistani discourse of advertising by various brands to represent their identity or various multi-faceted identities on their official websites and official Facebook pages. The data consists of the content on the official websites and official Facebook advertisement pages of a total of nine brands. The selected brands belong to three different domains: clothing, food, and cosmetics. The purpose of analysis is to study the linguistic and semiotic features used in the Pakistani discourse of advertising of various brands to examine how they are used in the advertising discourse to construct identity. To analyze the linguistic, semiotic and thematic aspects of the discourse used in these advertisements Fairclough‟s (1989) questions for textual analysis, Janks‟ (1997) rubrics for textual analysis, and Berger‟s (1998) semiotic model are incorporated to devise certain parameters of textual analysis for the present research. The parameters then are integrated into Fairclough‟s (1989) three dimensional Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) model to examine discourse and its meanings in social context as the underlying theory and method for analysis in the present research work. The findings indicate that the producers aim at creating a certain desired identity in the advertising discourse as suited for their respective brands by using different themes focusing on the aspects that are usually attributed to the brands of certain vi domains. The findings also indicate that there is a unique aspect of identity in every brand despite having a mutual aspect of identity found in the brands belonging to the common domains and this unique aspect of identity differentiates the brand from other competing brands of the same or different domains. Key words Discourse; advertising; language of advertising; social media; Facebook; websites; advertisements; brand identity; Discourse Analysis; Textual elements, linguistic and semiotic devices used in the discourse of advertising. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Certificate of Approval………………………………………………………………...…iii Author‟s Declaration……………………………………………………..………...……..iv Plagiarism Undertaking ...…………………………………………………….……..…....v Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….......vi Table of Contents………………………………………………………..……………... viii List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………....xiv List of Figures...………………………………………………………………………....xiv Acknowledgements…………………………..…………………………..……………... xv Dedication…………………………………………..……………………..…………….xvi Chapter 1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………...........1 1.1 Introduction to the Chapter ……..…………………………………………………….1 1.2 Background of the Research …...……………………………………………………..1 1.3 Language and Communication in the World of Advertisements ……………..…........3 1.4 Discourse of Advertising ……...…………………………………….………………..4 1.5 Significance of the Study of the Discourse of Advertisements……….……………....5 1.6 Some Operational Definitions ...………………………………………………..……..5 1.6.1 Discourse………………………………………………………………...….6 1.6.2 Text ……………………………………….…………………………………6 1.6.3 Identity………………………………………………………………………7 1.6.4 Identity Construction………………………………………………………..8 1.6.5 Advertiser/ Producer ……………..…………………………………………8 1.7 Statement of the Problem ……………………………………………………………..9 1.8 Reasons for Undertaking the Research ……………………………………………...10 1.9 Significance of the Research …………………………………………………...……11 1.10 Aims and Objectives ……………………………………………………………….14 1.11 Research Question..…………………………………………………………….…..15 1.12 Delimitations ……………………………………………………………………….15 1.13 Research Design ……………………………………………………………………16 1.14 Structure of the Dissertation ……………………………………………………….16 Chapter 2 Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………...18 2. Introduction to the Chapter .........................................................................................18 2.1 Part A: Discourse and Communication in the World of Advertisements ……...18 2.1.1 The Pervasive World of Advertising ……………………………………………...19 2.1.2 Language- A Communicative Scheme of Codes, Symbols and Signs ……………21 2.1.3 Language and Communication in Discourse of Advertising ….…………………..23 2.1.4 Advertisements and Branding ……………….………………………...…….…….24 2.1.4. i Branding – Uniqueness and Value Adding is the Key…………………...27 viii 2.1.5 Brand Identity ……………………………………………………………………..29 2.1.5. i Brand Name and Logo …………………………………………………..32 2.1.5. ii Brand Image ……………………………………………………………34 2.1.6 Brand Advertisements Online……………………………………………………...35 2.1.7 Brand Advertising Discourse and its Effectiveness ……………………………….36 2.2 Part B: Discourse of Advertising and Identity Construction …………………...38 2.2.1 Discourse and Identity in the World of Advertising ……………………………... 38 2.2.1. i. What is Discourse?...................................................................................39 2.2.1. ii What is Identity? ………………………………………………………..40 2.2.1. iii Identities Online ……………………………………………………….41 2.2.2 Language- An Instrument of Identity Construction …………………………….....42 2.2.3 Discourse on Internet: Use of Language and Symbols to Create Desired Identities…………………………………………………….....…. ……43 2.2.3. i Identity Construction on Official Websites and Facebook Profiles……..44 2.2.4 Construction of Self and Self-Presentation…………………………………….…. 45 2.2.4. i Multi-Faceted Personal and Social