INVESTIGATING PRAGMATIC TRAPS IN ADVERTISING MESSAGES OF ZAIN – IRAQ TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of pragmatic traps in advertising messages and their impact on customers, with a particular focus on the messages of Zain Telecommunication Company in Iraq. Pragmatic traps are false or misleading claims in advertising that deceive customers by distorting the reality of the product or service being offered. The research aims to investigate the extent to which Zain uses pragmatic traps in its advertisements and how these traps affect customers. The analysis of fifty advertising messages from Zain reveals a high use of persuasive language, emotional appeals, particularized and coded implicature, and violations of the maxims of quantity and quality of the cooperative principle. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the elective model of pragmatic traps in advertising and the ways in which advertisers can use language to manipulate the context and meaning of a message. As customers, it is important to be aware of these traps to make informed purchasing decisions.  Article visualizations: