Inferences in advertisements: exemplifying with relevance theory

Resumo

Ever since Sperber and Wilson presented their theory of relevance, a lot of work has been done to corroborate or to refute it as the best available communication theory. What is known is that throughout the years not only linguists but cognitive theorists in general have applied the principles of Relevance theory to explain different phenomena concerning aspects of human communication. Our paper is no different. It discusses the possibilities of analysing advertisements with verbal and visual elements through relevance theory, specifically in terms of what triggers inferential comprehension in such pieces. The three pieces analysed do not engage in selling marketing products, but they sell ideas that become ostensive by means of merging visual and linguistic inputs to inferential understanding of what they mean.