This research examines advertising discourse in Russian and English as acts of communicative exchange and interpersonal relationship between advertising discourse participants. The purpose was to identify and describe the way that viewers process information contained in television commercials and how they become consumers moving from getting information to acting upon it. The present research was conducted within the framework of Yokoyama's (1986) Transactional Discourse Model (TDM), as further developed in Yokoyama (1998-manipulation), Moon (1995) and Chapman (2001). The framework was applied to the analysis of empirical data from 150 Russian and 150 American TV commercials representing a set of data hitherto unnoticed. As such, it describes a specific set of questions dubbed "non-informational". This is the first study that has systematically investigated the pragmatic/informational interaction between non-verbal/visual components of an ad and the linguistic shape of the ad. It also contributes to further development of the discourse model applicable beyond advertising genre. The analysis demonstrates a cognitive basis for the pragmatic/informational interaction both at a linguistic and a non-linguistic level and emphasizes the direct connection between cognitive processes and the syntactic and pragmatic components of language, thereby contributing to our understanding of the phenomenon of manipulation, particularly as it occurs in the contexts of advertising: through camera work on the non-verbal/visual level and, at the linguistic level, through the use of ellipsis and non-informational questions. The study sheds light not only on the manipulative strategies used in advertising to sell the product, but also on representations of Russian and American cultural communicative norms and values. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]