Trends In Matrimonial Advertisements Media Essay

Society comprises of group of people residing together with different wants, needs, demands but common interest. Society consists of different region religion to come together and share their experiences, problems, happiness & sorrows. How to react in society, one learns from his/her family. We have family members who teach and instruct us how to behave in the society. From where this society begins? It begins from home…. Marriage (also called matrimony or wedlock) is a social union or legal contract between people called spouse that establishes rights and obligations between the spouses, between the spouses and their children, and between the spouses and their in-laws. The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged.

“Show me a man or a woman alone and I’ll show you a saint. Give me two and they’ll fall in love. Give me three and they’ll invent the charming thing we call ‘society’. Give me four and they’ll build a pyramid. Give me five and they’ll make one an outcast. Give me six and they’ll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they’ll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.”

― Stephen King, The Stand. The marriages planned in heaven but commence on earth. Nowadays the various consultancy, bureaus, print media, new media etc. are striving their best in helping the bachelors to find their suitable match.

Print media comprises of newspapers, magazines, journals, books, direct mail, etc. Advertisement carried by print media is known as print advertisements. The newspaper being a vehicle delivers messages along with news, views, entertainment, columns etc. The large group of readers get interest in advertising content published in the newspapers which varies from person to person. A newspaper is typically either a daily or weekly publication that is regarded, with some exceptions, as a local advertising medium. Newspapers normally selects their news, features and editorial subjects with an eye to the wants and needs of people with in a particular community. Newspaper advertising can be classified as follows:

Classified advertisements

Classified display advertisements

Display advertisements

Insertials etc.

Classified advertisements: As the name implies, classified advertisements are placed under a specific heading called classified. They are dull and dark form of advertising with no matter of display. These are very cluttered and cheap in rates. It is the reader who put an eye of his interest. Example: wanted ads, sale purchase ads, to-let ads, matrimonial ads etc.

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Classified display advertisements: In these type of advertisements a little matter of display is added to make the advertisement stand individually from the cluttered classified advertisements. In this advertisement display involves borders, larger types, white space and illustrations are added. Example: tender notice, government notices, legal notices etc.

Display advertisements: such type of advertisements are attractive and eye pleasant element of newspaper. It is placed on news pages. It work as a crown for front page. It carries glamour pictures, multicolor, illustrations which please the eyes of the reader to go through. They are costly and generate huge revenue for newspapers. Examples: commercial advertisements of goods and services.

Insertials: insertials means are those advertisements which are inserted in newspapers. They also carry messages in the form of advertisements. Examples: pamphlets, leaflets etc.

Matrimonial advertisements fall under the category of classified advertisements.

The following picture shows that matrimonial advertisements placed in one of the leading newspaper known as “The Tribune”

But nowadays we have hybrid style of matrimonial classified advertisements.

The following picture shows the matrimonial advertisements placed in one of the leading newspaper known as “The Times of India”.

Review of Literature:  

R.S Pathak stated in Matrimonial Advertisements in India: A Sociolinguistic Profile (june,2005)

The interrelationship between language and society, through highly complex, looms large over the present-day sociolinguistic deliberations. Language, as K.L. Pike (1960:293) says, holds the key to “social nucleation”. The relationship between them is twofold – functional and existential. It presupposes correlations between linguistic and social phenomena. As Hymes (1961) puts it, “we look simultaneously at language in social matrix and at society in its linguistic medium”. Language is the most effective communication system to signal ‘social reality’ or ‘culture’ (Halliday 1978:2) and is characterized by its highly organized system of human communication. It is, in fact, a system of systems, which aims at communicating methods effectively. The social environment can get neatly reflected in language, as is evident from kinship vocabulary, for example, the values of society can also have a noticeable effect on its language. Any in-depth language use in social context would unfold the way society matrimonial advertisements (ads, for short) explicitly reveal the functioning of what Halliday (1967:26) calls the linguistics of social roles’. Indian English reveals a repertoire of socially and culturally determined language functions. The repertoire of styles and register found in such functions of language reflect a social context within which innovations are meaningfully attempted. As Leech (1996) suggests, “It is certainly desirable that we should cultivate an objective and critical awareness of the linguistic transactions into which we enter day by day, either as initiators or passive recipients”. This approach finds an event more forceful advocate in Halliday(1973:365), who maintains:….. We are interested in how people use language and in how language varies according to use. Behind this lies a concern with nature of languages itself: once we interpret the notion ‘uses of language ‘in sufficiently abstracted terms we find that it gives us insight into the way language is learnt and, through that, into the internal organizations of the language, why language is as it is. Behind this again is a still deeper focus on the society and the transmission of culture; for when we interpret language in these terms, we may cast some light on the baffling problems of how it is that most ordinary uses of language, in the most everyday situations, so effectively transmit the social structure, the values, the systems of knowledge, [and] all the deepest and most pervasive patterns of the culture. With a functional perspective on language, we can begin appreciate how this is done. Ulrike Wanitzek and Frauz Twaib stated in Presentation of claims in matrimonial proceedings in Tanzania (1996) As a system deals with social ordering , the law is very much a function of words i.e. of language. Language is one of the most effective way of communicating. Marriage proceedings are regulated by the law of marriage act, 1971. A matrimonial proceeding is any matter touching upon a marriage relationship which is brought to court by way of a petition for decision for declaratory decree, annulment of marriage, separation or divorce or a chamber application for maintenance, custody of children, division of matrimonial property or other matrimonial relief. Hence, one sees within the law of marriage act concepts which are based on the common law, Islamic law & the customary laws of the various ethnic group in the country.

Objectives: The broad objective of the study is to know about the latest trends in matrimonial advertisements. The specific objectives are:

What is total coverage of matrimonial advertisements in newspaper?

Whether sms (short message service) language is used in advertisements?

What type of appeal are made in it?

What type of looks of advertisement is preferred?

Research methodology: The researcher employed census method for data collection. The census method is quantitative approach. Here content analysis is used as a tool of data collection. Content analysis is a method of studying and analyzing the communication in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables.

Reference period: The reference period for the study is the month of November & December2012. In this period, Sunday of every week was considered for matrimonial advertisement as they appears only on Sundays of “The Tribune” and “The Times of India”.

Sample selection: The sample selected for the study is the 18 newspaper of The Tribune & The Times of India. The advertisements appear on Sunday of every week. In the month of November (4, 11, 18, and 25) & in December (2, 9, 16, 23, and 30). This sampling is stratification by week of the month and by day of week. (Wimmer & Dominick, 2012)

Hypotheses: The hypothetical view of the researcher is that there is a shift in trends from classified matrimonial advertisements to hybrid classified matrimonial advertisements.

Finding and discussions: The following table carries the interpretation of data which states that: