Language, Advertising, and Rhetorical Situation: A Study of Bilingual Advertisements in Iranian In-Flight Magazine

Abstract

This study investigates the rhetorical functions of language choice in bilingual advertising in Iranian in-flight magazines, focusing on how the use of Persian, English, bilingualism, and differences between linguistic versions contribute to the construction of audiences, products, and consumer identities. The present study adopts a qualitative and descriptive-interpretive approach to analyze five advertisements purposively selected from the bilingual in-flight magazines of Iran Air (Homa) and Qeshm Air. The advertisements were examined in terms of language choice, translation status, product and brand characteristics, presumed audience, and contextual conditions, and were interpreted based on Bitzer’s (1968) Rhetorical Situation Theory, with emphasis on exigence, audience, and constraints. The findings show that language choice is closely related to product characteristics, brand positioning, presumed audience, and communicative purpose. The exclusive use of English in advertisements for luxury products may contribute to the construction of concepts such as prestige, distinction, and cosmopolitan consumer identities, whereas Persian-only advertising is more closely associated with mass-market and domestic products. However, bilingual advertising may serve both accessibility and rhetorical differentiation. Overall, this study demonstrates that language choice in advertisements in bilingual in-flight magazines constitutes a rhetorical resource through which advertisers not only communicate with audiences but also construct particular audiences, products, and consumer identities.