Discourse And Connotation Analysis

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To understand how a company can foster such a powerful relationship one must recognize the power of discourse and connotation. Tepperman and Curtis (2009) define a discourse as a “set of ideas and understandings about a topic or issue… communicated through society” imprinted on the subjectivity or identity of a human being as they age (Tepperman & Curtis, 2009, p. 45). Tepperman and Curtis (2009) stress the fact that, from the moment of birth, self-identity is created through the process of socialization (Tepperman & Curtis, 2009, p. 58). This process allows individuals to become successful members of society (Tepperman & Curtis, 2009, p. 58). Brands that have positive discourses and connotations exploit this cognitive development enabling …show more content…
2). According to Tepperman and Curtis (2009) “television is the primary medium accessible to your children and is a potent agent of socialization” (Tepperman & Curtis, 2009, p. 66). Easy access to media combined with the fact that “children are bombarded with over three thousand commercial messages each day” (Barbaro, 2008) leads one to the conclusion that marketers are exploiting children’s socialization process to create lifelong customers. According to Hill (2011), consumer culture does not offer children any sort of empowerment or real freedom of choice. All it does is trap kids in an “endless quest of acquisition tied to identity” (Hill, 2011, p. …show more content…
Hill (2011) explains that girls are “swamped by ultra-thin ideals not only in the form of dolls but also in figures that appear in comics, cartoons, TV, movies and all forms of advertising along with all the associated merchandising” (Hill, 2011, p.358). These messages directly relate body image and ownership of goods to girl’s self-identity and Dittmar (2006) claims that the “ultra-thin female beauty ideals have been linked with the extraordinary prevalence of negative body image and unhealthy eating patterns among girls and women” (Dittmar et al., 2006, p. 283). Furthermore, young boys also fall prey to the social pressures of modern advertising and marketing; they are subject to an overwhelming number of violent advertising for toys, food, and media programs during their formative years (Barbaro, 2008). Studies have “repeatedly found positive associations between media violence and aggressive thoughts, hostile emotions, and aggressive or violent behavior… in both children and adults” (Jones et al., 2010, p.