4 - I Thought They Were Hairy Breasts!

Summary

Chapter 4 explores potential sources of audience variation in responses to figurative language, considering issues such as age, gender, need for cognition, and cultural background. It investigates how these sources of variation impact on the understanding and interpretation of figurative messaging. It reports findings from the authors’ own work as well as findings from existing literature in the area. Individual differences are found to shape the ways in which people respond to advertisements containing metaphors in different ways. They are shown to affect the kinds of meanings people perceive in the metaphors, the speed with which they are able to find meaning, and their levels of appreciation of the advertisements. The chapter also explores how individual difference variables interact with one another and with the context in which the advertisements are seen.