Language in E-Business: Gender-Based Perspectives of Male and Female Beauty Products’ Advertisement on Instagram: The Linguistic Features and Copywriting Differences in Marketing

Abstract

This study aims to identify the types of illocutionary acts employed in both male and female beauty product advertisements on Instagram, as well as to discover the male and female customers’ perspectives on the linguistic features of the advertised products as shown in their comments. The data were taken from six (6) official Instagram accounts of beauty product brands, particularly 10 male and female product advertisements and the customers’ comments of those products. The data were analyzed qualitatively by categorizing and comparing the types of illocutionary acts employed in the advertisements. Moreover, the customers’ comments were analyzed based on the tone and context as well as the copywriting techniques used. The findings show that there are 3 types of illocutionary acts found in 10 advertisements: representatives, directives, and commissives. Male products have in total of 12 representative acts, 4 directives, and 1 commissive act, while female products used 12 representative acts, 5 directives, and 3 commissive acts. Furthermore, this study also found that both female and male customers give more positive comments toward each gender's products. However, there are no significant language differences between male and female products in their copywriting techniques. We hope that this study could provide insight on the use of illocutionary types, particularly in e-business and copywriting, to get a better understanding of the hidden intention behind the advertisements as well as to provide sufficient information for the readers to explore.