L’influence de l’ordre des mots sur l’impact des messages publicitaires : une exploration des effets de la loi du second lourd

This dissertation deals with the use language in advertising. After a state of the art of marketing applications of linguistics, we focus on syntax and more precisely word order. We study the order of two coordinated words and examine a principle of organization coined by Claude Hagège, the Heavy Close Law (HCL), which says that languages tend to place the heavier term in the second (closing) position; heavier because it contains more syllables, or syllables in the lower frequencies of the acoustic spectrum. We propose that the origin of HCL can be found either in cognitive economy, because HCL could prevent parsing systems from overloading, or in prosody (the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech) because HCL conforms to the falling melody of the affirmative sentence. Subsequently, we test the effects of transgressing HCL on ads recall and recognition, and attitude towards the ad (Aad), in two laboratory studies. Finally, we examine the effects on the impact of an actual emailing campaign, by manipulating the subject line of a commercial email sent to 88,000 consumers. Results show that transgressing HCL has effects on recall and recognition only in the case of set expressions. Concerning (Aad), our study shows that transgression of HCL results in a tension that must be resolved at the end of the message. Moreover, when a message contains several phrases transgressing HCL, it is perceived as less irritating, less boring, and more credible. Finally, the study on email offers new linguistic perspectives for research on email marketing.