EXPLORING PRESUPPOSITIONS IN ADVERTISEMENTS OF SMARTPHONES OF INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES

Abstract

This paper studies the presupposition used in the online advertisements of four international smartphone companies. In particular, the study aims to identify and find out the most common presupposition types found in smartphone advertisements of each company according to Yule’s theory. This research applies qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect and analyze the data. The data of this research were 25 advertisements relating to the launch of new smartphones or their features published on the NEWSROOM pages of the four smartphone companies, specifically Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics, Vivo and Xiaomi, between January and December 2021. The findings showed that existential presupposition was the most common presupposition type found in smartphone advertisements of each company. Specifically, there are 1940 presuppositions, of which 1404 presuppositions, 34 factive presuppositions, 501 lexical presuppositions and one non-factive presupposition in 25 advertisements. Furthermore, the implication for helping readers approach advertisements with greater knowledge are provided at the end of the study.