ORIENTAL GAZE OF EASTERN: SOCIO-CULTURAL AND IDENTITY DOMINATION IN SELECTED MALAYSIAN BEAUTY PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS
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This study investigates the interplay between power and sociocultural dynamics in Malaysian beauty advertisements and examines how these factors influence consumers’ purchasing intentions. Although advertising has long served as a key arena for the negotiation of cultural meanings, insufficient attention has been paid to how sociocultural elements and power relations embedded in Malaysian beauty commercials shape consumer behavior. Situated within the Malaysian context, where beauty advertising is deeply intertwined with cultural identity and societal values, this research analyzes how language, imagery, and symbolic representation construct beauty discourses that guide consumption practices. Drawing on Hall’s (1990) Theory of Cultural Identity and Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), four selected digital advertisements were critically examined. The findings reveal that advertisers strategically employ persuasive language, visual aesthetics, and culturally resonant symbols to legitimize and normalize beauty ideals. Notably, Malaysian beauty advertisements foreground Eastern cultural identity through appeals to natural ingredients, halal certification, and community-oriented messaging, thereby reinforcing prevailing cultural norms while shaping consumer perceptions of beauty. By integrating multimodal analysis with critical discourse perspectives, this study offers new insights to the fields of linguistics, media, and cultural studies and underscores the importance of broader cross-cultural inquiry to deepen theoretical engagement with advertising discourse.
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