The Language of Discounts and AI-Enhanced Advertising Between the Permissible and the Forbidden: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Arab consumers are facing hundreds of different product advertisements, many of which are trying to dominate their cognizance by using themes such as sex, comfort, fantasy, beauty, and attraction on daily basis. In the last two years, the rise of artificial intelligence has further transformed the advertising landscape, enabling the rapid production and personalization of AI-generated advertisements that intensify visual appeal and promotional messaging. The aim of this study is to converge on textual-visual language of discounts and the advertising communication process through which such advertisements contents, including AI-generated ads, have become an operative and a cognitive tool to attract attention and to influence Arab purchasing behavior. The study also highlights the recent advertising contents in Arab markets and the role these play in shaping Arab consumers' awareness today. It is constructed through Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006) multimodal analysis to unfold the textual-visual choices in ads. Findings show that the language of discounts have been the most influential images and texts that are mostly used as an object to upsurge effectiveness and awareness and to increase sales rate of these products and the growing integration of AI-generated advertising visuals contributes to the intensification of persuasive strategies through its automated design. Specifically, the findings reveal that discount advertisements rely heavily on visually striking elements such as typography, bright colors, numerical symbols, AI-generated imagery, and strategic image placement to highlight promotional offers and capture consumer attention.