The use of symbolic consumption rhetoric in advertisements in the process of emotional identification: The automotive industry example

The phenomenon of consumption, which has changed from the past to the present, defines the fulfillment of both psychological and sociological needs with the effect of postmodern culture as well as the satisfaction of physiological needs. Symbolic consumption is the purchase and consumption of products and services in order to show their status and prestige to the environment by giving meaning to them according to the symbolic meanings they carry. The advertising industry, which surrounds modern life and dates back to ancient times, uses rhetoric effectively to persuade the consumer. The important innovative approach of this thesis is the concepts of "symbolic consumption rhetoric" and "emotional identification". Symbolic consumption rhetoric is a field that uses symbols to persuade the consumer and enables the consumer to establish an emotional connection with the consumed product through rhetoric and shapes the emotional identification process. Emotional identification is the feeling of establishing an emotional connection with a particular brand, person, event, or group. The emotional associations of the brand in advertisements form the basis of the consumer's emotional identification with the brand. The consumer distinguishes the brand from its competitors as a result of establishing an emotional relationship with the brand. The main subject of this study is the emotional identification experienced by the consumer to the extent of establishing an emotional bond with the automobile in terms of Burke's theory of identification in rhetoric. According to Burke, persuasion cannot occur without identification. The study, it is aimed to reveal the importance of the strategic use of emotion in advertisements prepared to persuade the consumer. For this purpose, automobile advertisements belonging to the automotive sector, which have become the symbol of modern life and are seen as symbolic consumption objects, are used. In these advertisements, the automobile is presented to the consumer in an anthropomorphized form using symbolic consumption rhetoric. It has been tried to reveal which emotions the car uses in the process of ensuring the emotional identification of the consumer with the brand and how the consumer receives it by the focus group interview method.