Communicating Brand Image on the World Wide Web: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the Red Bull Commercial Website Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA) an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Sandrina Harrer am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao.Univ.-Prof.Mag.Dr. phil. Margit Reitbauer Graz, 2017 Table of Contents 1 Introduction…………………………….…………………..………….…………...… 1 1.1 Structure and Aim……………..……………………………………………... 1-2 1.2 Methodology……………….……………………..………………………….. 3 2 Communicating on the World Wide Web……………………..……………………. 3 2.1 The Internet as a Mixed Medium……………………………………….…..... 4 2.2 Differences to Speech……………….………………..…………………….... 4-5 2.3 Differences to Writing…………………………………………..……….….... 6 2.4 The Linguistic Features of Netspeak………………………………………… 7 2.4.1 The Morphology of Netspeak…………………….……..…..……... 8 2.4.1.1 Acronyms…………………………………………..…..… 9 2.4.1.2 Compounds and Blends………………………….……...... 9 2.4.1.3 Affixation……………………………………………....… 9-10 3 Hypertext Linguistics…………………………………………………………........... 10 3.1 Defining Hypertext…………………………………………….....……….… 10-11 3.2 Reading Hypertext…………………………………………………….……... 11 3.3 Hypertext Structures………………………...…………………………….…. 12-14 3.4 Hypertext and Coherence…………………………………..…………..……. 14-15 3.4.1 Three Levels of Coherence in Hypertext….……….…………......... 15-16 3.5 Hypertext Links…………………………………………………………....… 16-18 4 The Language of Advertising…………………………………...…………………… 18-19 4.1 Linguistic Criteria for the Analysis of Advertising…………………….……. 19 4.1.1 Phonology……………………………………………………….…. 19 4.1.2 Morphology……………………………………………………...… 19 4.1.3 Lexis………………………………………………………………. 20 4.1.4 Syntax…………………………………………………………....... 20-21 4.1.5 Rhetorical Devices……………………………………………….... 21-22 4.1.6 Pragmatics…………………………………………………………. 22 4.1.7 Semiotics…………………………………………….……….......... 22-23 4.2 Attention-Seeking Devices in Advertising……………………..…..………... 23-24 4.3 Persuasion in Advertising………………………………..………..…………. 24-25 4.3.1 Attention…………………………………….....…………..………. 25 4.3.2 Comprehend…………………………………………….……….… 25-26 4.3.3 Yield…………………………………………….…..…………....... 26 4.3.4 Memorise…………………………….………….……………........ 26 4.3.5 Imagine…………………………….………………………....….....27 4.3.6 Distract…………………………….…………….....…………........ 27 4.3.7 Please…………………………........................................................ 28 4.4 Multilingualism in Advertising……….……………………………..........…. 28-30 5 Text and Image in Advertising………………………….…………........…….….….. 30-31 5.1 Multimodality in Advertising………………………………..……...….……. 31 5.2 Analysing the Text-Image Relationship in Advertising…………….……….. 31-34 5.3 „Picture Relation Type‟ (PRT)…………………………….……….....…….... 34 5.3.1 Syntax…………………………………….………………..….…..... 34 5.3.2 Embedding of Visual Elements in the Communicative Unit……….. 35 5.3.3 Semiotics……………………………………………….………….... 35 5.3.4 Semantics………………………………………………………........ 36 5.3.5 Visualisation methods……………………………………….....….... 36 5.3.6 Communicative Effects……………………………..…..…..….….... 36 5.3.7 Degree of Verbalisation……………………………………..…….... 37 5.4 Example of the „Picture Relation Type‟ Classification System……….…….. 37 5.4.1 Verbal Analysis…..…………………………………….…...…....... 37-38 5.4.2 Visual Analysis………………………..………….………………... 39 6 Communicating Brand Image Online…………………………………….……….... 39-41 6.1 Global Branding…………………………………………….……….............. 41-42 6.1.1 Brand Architecture……………………….…….………….………. 42 6.1.2 Brand Image…………………………………..………………….... 43 6.2 Global Branding Models and Strategies…………………………………...... 43-44 6.3 E-commerce and Website Design…………………..…………….………..... 44-46 7 ‘Gives you wings’ – Communicating Brand Image on the Red Bull Commercial Website …………………………………………...........………………..………….. 46-47 7.1 Red Bull‟s Marketing Strategy and Brand Image…………….……………… 47-48 7.2 Content and Sections…………………………………………….…………... 49-55 7.3 Language Use…………………………….……………………………..….... 56-58 7.4 Analysis of the Text-Image Relationship……………………………………. 58-62 8 A Hypertextual Analysis of the Red Bull Commercial Website……………....…... 62 8.1 The Dynamic Character of the Website…………………………..………..... 62-63 8.2 Hypertext Structure…………………………………………….…………..... 64-65 8.3 Link and Node Classification…………………………………….………...... 66-67 9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...…... 67-68 10 References………………………………………….................................................... 69 10.1 Table of Figures………………………………………….…….………........ 69 10.2 Bibliography……………………..…………………….………………........ 70-78 10.3 Online Sources…………………………………………………….……...… 78-80 Statutory Declaration: I declare that I have authored this thesis independently, that I have not used other than the declared sources/resources, and that I have explicitly marked all material which has been quoted either literally or by content from the used sources. Location, Date Signature: Acknowledgement: First of all, I would like to thank my parents for their never-ending love and support and for their continuous encouragement throughout my years of study. Special thanks go to my friends and my boyfriend who have always provided me with emotional support and made sure that I never lost my sense of humour. Finally, I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Reitbauer for her academic advice, her patience and her guidance in the process of writing this thesis. 1 Introduction In today‟s society, the internet has become one of the most important means of communication. This is also the reason why companies increasingly use their websites in order to communicate their brand image and advertise their products via the World Wide Web. A commercial website can be seen as the business card of a company. It is often the first contact that customers have with the company and the first source of information concerning products and services. Therefore, companies attach great value to the language and design that is used on their websites. The internet offers many possibilities to make advertising more attractive. For example, websites can combine texts, images, videos, and links with other information, which makes them more dynamic than conventional forms of advertising. Furthermore, if one takes a closer look at commercial websites, it becomes clear that each company has their own central theme which is supported by the right choice of words, textual structure, rhetoric strategies and images. All these components help to convey a certain brand image to the audience that is often referred to as corporate identity. This image intends to address people‟s emotions and eventually affect their buying behaviour. 1.1 Structure and Aim of the Paper The aim of this paper is to analyse the linguistic and semiotic strategies that are used to advertise a company and their products on commercial websites. This analysis will be carried out with the help of multimodal discourse analysis, hypertextual analysis, and semiotics. It will examine the linguistic strategies that are used in the language of advertising, the text- image relationship in advertisements, and the characteristics of hypertext and computer- mediated communication. Since this thesis also focuses on the communication of brand image, it will also examine the importance of corporate identity for a company, and the characteristics of online marketing. In order to illustrate the theoretical findings, it will provide an analysis of a selected corporate website and show how it combines language and images to communicate their corporate image to a large audience. The following thesis is structured in a theoretical part and a practical analysis of a selected website. In the theory section of this paper, I will discuss approaches to internet linguistics, hypertextual analysis, the language of advertising, the text-image relationships in 1 advertising, and the concept of branding. The practical part is concerned with an in-depth analysis of the Red Bull commercial website in terms of its hypertext structure, language, design, communication of its corporate image, and the text-image relationships in selected advertisements. Following the introduction, the second chapter presents an overview of the field of internet linguistics. I will provide some information on computer-mediated communication, the differences to traditional forms of communication, and the linguistic characteristics of Netspeak. The third chapter is dedicated to a discussion of hypertext linguistics. It will provide an overview of the field of hypertextual analysis, different types of hypertext, coherence in hypertext, and the study of hypertext links. The fourth part of this thesis focuses on the language of advertising. In this section, I will examine the linguistic characteristics of the language of advertising and discuss how rhetorical strategies in advertising are used to influence and persuade recipients. In addition, I will also show how multilingualism affects advertising and how different languages can be used to convey symbolic meaning. The fifth chapter will give an overview of the multimodal analysis of advertisements. It focuses on the analysis of the text-image relationship in advertising and provides a selected classification scheme of the verbal and visual elements of advertisements. The sixth chapter is concerned with the concept of corporate identity and the communication of brand image on the World Wide Web. It will examine the hidden ideologies that are conveyed in advertising and outline how brand image can influence buying behaviour and the success of a brand across various cultures. Chapter seven and eight are dedicated to the