METAPHORICAL MODELLING AS A LINGUOCOGNITIVE MECHANISM OF INTERNATIONAL COSMETIC COMPANIES’ IMAGE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The article focuses on metaphorical modelling as a linguocognitive foundation of corporate image development. The research data includes an electronic corpus of 867 press releases issued by four international cosmetic companies, namely Avon, Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, and Mary Kay between 2010 and 2019 and accessed on the company’s websites. Conceptual metaphor finds its expression in a text and discourse in the form of metaphorical models that have wide possibilities of linguistic realization: from traditional lexical and semantic variation to the construction of a text or discourse. Metaphorical modelling as a way of perception, categorization and evaluation of a certain fragment of reality with the help of frames belonging to another conceptual domain occupies an important place in the figurative representation of business in the cosmetics industry. Metaphorical modelling in the English-language corporate discourse of imagemaking is characterixed by the fact that business as a target conceptual domain attracts concepts from other thematic fields, which are sources of metaphorical expansion. The study resulted in singling out four major metaphorical models within this discourse – “Business is a human being”, “Business is art”, “Business is movement” and “Business is war”. Although these models do not embrace the whole range of sources of metaphorical expansion, they nevertheless essentially contribute to creating a relatively holistic image of a cosmetic company. The analyzed metaphorical models in the English-language corporate discourse of image-making characterize organizations’ activities from various perspectives, reflect different dimensions in the multidimensional space of business reality and produce a bright and powerful image in the mind of the recipient. The cosmetic company is viewed as a perfect organism with its multifaceted nature, which takes an active part in the creation of masterpieces, constantly moves towards achieving its goals and fights for the health, beauty and welfare of the target audience.