A Discourse Analysis on Bazaart Photo Editing Software Advertisement Published by Apple Inc.

Abstract

This research discusses the language ideology that is used in the advertisement published by Apple Inc. which is to promote Bazaart application software. The research objectives are to investigate the intentions, techniques and discursive strategies of the advertiser and to analyze the social practices within the discourse. To understand how text works to make meaning, the researcher adopted Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework and Halliday’s theory of Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL). The research design is qualitative descriptive and the data source is in the form of social media captions posted by Apple Inc. on their Instagram page. The study applies a textual analysis to look at the advertiser’s strategies in using indirect language to attract readers’ interests. The findings reveal that direct language and imperative word choices are two dominant strategies used in most advertisements. That is to say, today, online advertisements are not enticing to audiences. The software advertisement delivered by Apple Inc. uses a slightly different strategy as they do not mention imperative words to persuade the readers to use Bazaart software. The result of this study is that social practices shown by language power in the advertisement delivered by the company can draw targeted readers’ interest.