Flouting maxims in Thai mobile network advertisements on television

Abstract

This study aims to examine the flouting of Maxims found in Thai mobile network advertisements released from 2016 to 2017 on Thai television by using Herbert Paul Grice’s theories of the Cooperative Principle and Flouting Maxims to analyze the selected data, which was collected from the advertisement dialogues. The appropriate dialogues used included the narrator and the presenters’ conversations which illustrate the interactions between them. The advertisements produced and released in that time frame were interesting because the fourth generation of broadband mobile network technology was the trend, and the mobile operators competed with each other in promoting their products and services. The fourteen samples of Thai mobile network advertisements were collected from the website www.youtube.com by selecting samples of conversations where speakers flouted the various maxims. The selected data were analyzed in terms of types of Flouting Maxims, the number of maxims flouted categorized by brand, and the language techniques used in flouting the maxims. In terms of the types of Flouting Maxims, the results of this study revealed that in fourteen samples, the maxims were flouted twenty-four times in total. The Maxim of Manner was flouted the most at nine times, the Maxims of Quantity and Relation were flouted seven times each, and the Maxim of Quality was flouted only one time. In terms of the number of maxims flouted categorized by brand, the results of this study revealed that flouting the Maxims of Manner and Quantity were found in Dtac advertisements the most, flouting the Maxim of Relation was found the most in the advertisements for AIS and Dtac, and flouting the Maxim of Quality was mostly found in TrueMove advertisements. In terms of the language techniques used in flouting the maxims, the results of this study revealed that ambiguity was most frequently used in the fourteen samples to flout the Maxim of Manner, followed by an evasive response used to flout the Maxim of Relation. Insufficient information, excessive information, or repetition were moderately used in order to flout the Maxim of Quantity. The language technique referred to as a rhetorical question was used the least in the fourteen samples to flout the Maxim of Quality. Interestingly, the results also revealed that flouting different maxims in the same advertisement was commonly found as well.