SEMIOTICS OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON ADVERTISING THROUGH STYLISTICS AND PRAGMATICS

Abstract

The article explores the semiotic construction of consumer identity through the stylistics and pragmatics of Harley-Davidson discourse, actualizing semiotic codes of its advertising. The findings provide evidence of the role of metaphorical expressions encoded in slogans and other stylistic devices in actualizing the hermeneutic code of the brand's advertising. The antitheses underlying the juxtaposition of brand values against mainstream ones underlie the symbolic code of the slogans' messages. The actional code relies on directives that stimulate the behavioral model, and implicit commissive acts, promising to fulfill the consumers’ needs. The obtained data demonstrate the semiotic function of the key signified Freedom and its derived sub-concepts in constructing the target brand identity