The effectiveness of advertising texts largely depends on the way they are written. Torresi’s information-to-persuasion ratio is a way of defining the stylistic traits of advertising texts in terms...Show moreThe effectiveness of advertising texts largely depends on the way they are written. Torresi’s information-to-persuasion ratio is a way of defining the stylistic traits of advertising texts in terms of their informativeness and persuasiveness. This ratio can be used to determine the way an advertising text should be translated, so that the translated advertising text is effective. The purpose of this thesis was to experiment with Torresi’s theory by examining the effects different information-to-persuasion ratios have on readers, and to determine the potential this ratio holds for sales optimisation, using three translations of one English advertising text that have different information-to-persuasion ratios. One translation had the same ratio as the source text, one translation was more informative, and one was more persuasive. The results, gathered through a survey, did not always concur with Torresi’s theory. The results showed that translating texts in a more informative or persuasive manner may have a few benefits. For instance, it may provide readers with a better understanding of the product being sold. In addition, the general information about the product was considered more credible in the informative TT compared to the neutral TT. However, it appeared that changing the ratio may also have several negative effects that override the benefits. For example, it may lengthen the text to such an extent that the reader finds it more difficult to focus on the text. Moreover, the readers of the neutral TT found the product the most relevant for them. Overall, the neutral translation was the most effective translation. In other words, experimenting with the information-to-persuasion ratio did not improve advertising effectiveness in this case, and may therefore hold little to no potential for sales optimisation.Show less
This study is about framing of migrants by political parties and non-profit organizations in the Netherlands. The recent increase in the influx of immigrants in the Netherlands has intensified the...Show moreThis study is about framing of migrants by political parties and non-profit organizations in the Netherlands. The recent increase in the influx of immigrants in the Netherlands has intensified the immigration debate and brought about more polarization in the debate about ‘refugees’; on the one hand the use of negative frames; and on the other positive frames. The frames used in the immigration debate aim to influence the general public’s attitude towards the issue. This study consisted of a content analysis of six political parties (VVD, PVV, PvdA, SP, SGP, CDA) and six non-profit organizations (Vluchtelingenwerk, Stichting Vluchteling, Stichting Gave, Cordaid, Rode Kruis, UNICEF) in two time periods to determine if there are any shifts in the way immigrants are framed. The first time period is before the recent increase, in 2012, and the second period is the current year, which is after the large influx of immigrants. The analyzed texts are the election programs of the political parties and the annual reports of the non-profit organizations. The content analysis focused on frame categories and the use of frame categories in combination with stock issues and means of persuasion. One of the main findings of this study is the need for a ‘neutral’ frame in the immigration debate. Secondly, the use of framing by some political parties in combination with social movement stock issues. And thirdly, the recent increase of immigrants in the Netherlands did not cause an increase and diversification of frame use in all the analyzed texts. The findings of this study complement our understanding of the frame use of these actors regarding immigrants in combination with stock issues and means of persuasion.Show less
This thesis examines the persuasive differences between U.S. President Barack Obama’s war speech on ISIL (2014) and former President George W. Bush’s war speech on Iraq (2003). Obama and Bush Jr....Show moreThis thesis examines the persuasive differences between U.S. President Barack Obama’s war speech on ISIL (2014) and former President George W. Bush’s war speech on Iraq (2003). Obama and Bush Jr. both made use of various language strategies to influence the audience’s perception of their speech. Because Obama needed to gain much more public approval in 2014 than Bush Jr. did in 2003, it is expected that Obama’s speech contains much more persuasive strategies than Bush Jr.’s speech. The stylistic and linguistic analysis in this thesis, however, show that this is not the case. Obama does not make more use of persuasive strategies than Bush Jr. does, but focuses on different strategies instead.Show less
This thesis discusses the different rhetorical tools used by Gandhi and Hitler in their speeches; thereby revealing that despite their opposing images they were quite identical in terms of their...Show moreThis thesis discusses the different rhetorical tools used by Gandhi and Hitler in their speeches; thereby revealing that despite their opposing images they were quite identical in terms of their use of rhetoric.Show less
