Integrative analysis of the pragmatics of marketing discourse: violation of the maxims of cooperation as a strategy of relevance

The article examines the linguopragmatic mechanisms of the influence of marketing texts through the lens of H.P. Grice's implicature theory and the relevance theory of French cognitive scientist D. Sperber and British cognitive linguist D. Wilson. The relevance of the study is determined by the increasing digital competition of the national media industry in the global media space, where global brands are forced to balance between a unified corporate identity and deep cultural adaptation. In these conditions, studying marketing texts from different cultures becomes a necessary element for understanding social-communicative processes and mechanisms of cultural transfer that ensure the relevance of the message to a specific local audience. Linguocultural features of marketing text strategies have been identified: the Russian discourse is characterized by violations of the maxim of quality through scientific-sounding hyperboles, the English discourse through violations of the maxim of quantity via rhythmic repetitions and slogans, and the Chinese discourse through the violation of all maxims via an elaborate culturally rooted metaphor ("skin-lock"), appealing to values of family, protection, and duty. It has been established that violations of maxims are systemic and functional, serving as the main mechanism for creating hidden meanings (implicatures) in marketing communication. The methodological framework of the study includes an integrative approach combining Grice's implicature theory and the relevance theory of Sperber and Wilson. The primary method is a detailed discourse analysis of marketing texts in Russian, English, and Chinese, focusing on identifying the typology of maxim violations and their pragmatic functions. An integrative application of the theories of Grice, Sperber, and Wilson is proposed as a complementary model for analyzing marketing discourse. It is shown that the degree and nature of maxim violations correlate with the increased relevance of the message within a specific cultural context. It is concluded that the violation of the cooperation maxim is a systemic and functional tool of marketing communication aimed at the audience "completing" the desired implicatures. Grice's theory of implicature and Sperber and Wilson's theory of relevance highlight the importance of formalization – the external (linguistic and subject) structure, and internal (hidden) pragmatic potential, respectively. The conducted research allows for the combination of these theories in one analysis as a complementary perspective for explicating the second mechanism as a means of effectively creating hidden meanings in advertising and marketing communication.