在現今這個時代，廣告滿天飛，許多廣告以直述的方式詳細的訴說產品之各項優點，但我們捫心自問，這些廣告能在我們腦海中留下印象的究竟有幾則？
隱喻起源於修辭學，一則巧妙的隱喻能夠帶給我們愉悅感，而近年來有許多廣告業者亦開始在廣告中，利用隱喻來說明產品的功能，其目的無疑的是想在眾多廣告中脫穎而出，讓消費者留下深刻的印象，然而在隱喻式廣告中，所牽涉的是圖像的隱喻，其理解歷程又較文學的隱喻更為複雜，因為在文學的隱喻中，主體與載體的對應是明顯的 (例如：「時間」就是「金錢」)，然而廣告中圖像的隱喻，卻需要我們自己去發掘廣告中，究竟何者為主體 (產品)，何者為載體 (對應主體的圖像元素)，然後再比對主、載體的特性，進而發掘主體 (產品) 訴求及載體意義，並於最後串聯產品 (主體) 訴求及載體意義，解讀廣告內容，因此隱喻式廣告的理解與個體的智力及邏輯推理能力有極大關聯。
而個體的智力及邏輯推理能力，會隨著年齡的發展而產生變化，教育的訓練亦能夠顯著的提升個體的邏輯思考能力，因此，不同的年齡層及教育水準之消費者對於隱喻式廣告的理解可能會有差異。
根據上述原因，本研究擬調查不同年齡層及教育水準之消費者，對於隱喻式廣告之理解度是否具有差異，並針對具有顯著差異的族群，分析其理解歷程，以藉此瞭解各族群之消費者，在廣告的理解過程中產生理解度差異的原因，並且提出有關於隱喻式廣告設計的建議及後續的研究方向。

Nowadays, advertisings can be seen everywhere. Some advertisings display the advantages of products by directly describing them. However, it is in doubt that how many advertisings could impress us and leave in our minds.
Metaphor is derived from rhetoric. An ingenious metaphor could bring us joyfulness. In recent years, a few advertisers have started using metaphor to illustrate the claims of products, with the aim to stand out above the other ads and impress consumers deeply. However, metaphorical advertisings involve pictorial metaphor, which is more difficult to comprehend than literary metaphor. Because in literary metaphor, the corresponding of topic and vehicle is obvious (ex. “Time” is “money”), in pictorial metaphor used in advertisings, it is not as simple as the former one. In pictorial metaphor involved in advertisings, consumers have to find out what is topic (the product) and vehicle (the pictorial elements corresponded to product), followed by comparing the characteristics of topic and vehicle. Next, consumers have to find out the appealing of topic (product) and the meaning of vehicle. Then combine both of them so that consumers could figure out the contents of ads. With the complicated process of comprehending, the comprehension of metaphorical advertisings is highly related to individual’s intellect and the capability of logic reasoning.
Individual’s intellect and the capability of logic reasoning would change with age. Also, the capability of logic reasoning could be markedly elevated through education. Therefore, the comprehension to metaphorical advertisings may differ from consumers with different age ranges and educational levels.
According to the above reasons, this research aims to investigate whether there is any difference exists in the comprehension to metaphorical advertisings of consumers with different age ranges and educational levels. Furthermore, aiming at the specific groups which have obvious differences, this research will probe into the cause of differences by analyzing the comprehending process of consumers in each group. At last this research will present some suggestions about designing metaphorical ads and follow-up research.

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