The Psychological Impact of Language in Persuasion and Advertising

Abstract

This paper explores the issues of language influencing psychology of advertising and the extent to which it influences consumer perception, attitudes and behavior. The research is conducted based on the interdisciplinary knowledge of marketing, psychology, and linguistics on understanding how some linguistic strategies such as appeal to emotion, framing, reconstruction, and involvement in the story make the messages persuasive. It used a mixed-method design, in which quantitative survey data were used to get the responses of 300 respondents and qualitative content analysis of adverts. The findings indicate that emotional language is the best predictor of purchase intention followed by narrative engagement, framing, and repetition among others with the total consumer decision making being proposed at 62 percent. The findings of the correlation also confirm that strong relations between linguistic strategies, consumer engagement and brand recall are present, as well as perceived risk reduction. The study supports the Elaboration Likelihood Model because it confirms that the central and the peripheral processes take place concurrently when responding to advertising language. Furthermore, the findings indicate the need of the culturally sensitive and ethically responsible communication in improving trust and long-term brand relationships. The theoretical contribution of this research in the study of language as a central tool of persuasion, and the practical implication of this process in developing more efficient and responsible advertising practices in the modern digital world, are not less significant.