A textual analysis of bottled water print ads
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Bottled water ads provide an opportunity to study a product that is essentially identical across brands. This research looks at the magazine print advertisements of three bottled water brands, Smartwater, Fiji and Propel, through the lens of Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas stated that for effective communication to take place it must be comprehensible, truthful, sincere, and legitimate. Three of Habermas' four norms (comprehensibility, truthfulness, and legitimacy) were studied using textual analysis. The print ads were then analyzed to determine the persuasive techniques used. The majority of the ads were found to meet Habermas' three norms, excluding a Propel ad that didn't meet the norm of truthfulness. The most common persuasive technique used was making a claim, located a total of 13 times overall, with special ingredients and association following and each used 10 times overall.
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PubMed ID
Degree
M.A.
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Access is limited to the campuses of the University of Missouri System.