Pragmatic Traps in Arabic Misleading Advertisements

Abstract

The present research deals with the Arabic deceptive language used by advertisers within a pragmatic framework. It sheds light on the problem related to the tricks used by advertisers to misrepresent their advertisements in an attempt to affect their consumers' perceptions. Thus, it aims to identify the pragmatic traps in Arabic misleading advertisements. The study hypothesizes that advertisers use misleading claims in their advertisements and that different pragmatic traps can be identified in misleading advertisements at the level of all pragmatic theories It also hypothesizes that all pragmatic theories can be used in identifying the traps that exist in these misleading advertisements. To achieve the aim of the study and to verify its hypotheses, two independent models have been adopted for data analysis. The first one is the "deception by implication" model by Hastak and Mazis (2011); it is concerned with identifying misleading claims. This model has been applied to 400 advertisement claims related to different types of products collected through an observation method from different sources. The second model is an eclectic one; it is concerned with identifying the pragmatic traps in deceptive advertisements under the framework of Searle’s speech act theory (1979), Grice's cooperative principle theory (1975), Leech's politeness theory (1983), presupposition (1996), and deixis. After analyzing the data qualitatively, it is concluded that Arabic advertisements contain a specific type of deceptive advertisements which is misleading advertisements, and these misleading advertisements are presented differently through different strategies by advertisers. It is also concluded that all theories and aspects of pragmatics can account for and identify the pragmatic traps in misleading ads.