Metaphorical Expressions in Pakistani Beauty Product Advertisements: A Cultural Approach

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to examine the use of conceptual metaphorical techniques in Pakistani social media advertisements and the forms in which culture is presented in advertisements with the help of metaphorical expressions. The current study is qualitative in nature and the data collected consists of beauty product advertisements from the year (2013-2023) from YouTube channels. For data collection purposive sampling technique is used and only relevant advertisements are selected for analysis. In the current study two theories: Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Cultural Linguistic Theory by Sharifian (2003) are employed for data analysis. The findings reveal that in Pakistani advertisements there is an extensive use of metaphorical expressions for the persuasion of target customers and also for cultural depiction. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the target purchasers should be aware of the persuasive strategies used by the advertisers to enhance the effectiveness and understanding of their products.