CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
THE SEMIOTICS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION IN PRINT ADVERTISEMENT:
HOW TO READ BETWEEN LINES
GAJENDRA S. CHAUHAN, PhD
Semiotic Approach
According to the practitioners of semiotics school, they believe that the meanings of pictures are not in the pictures but rather from what we gather from them. Visual interpretation lies on the perception which includes language and cognition and this in turn is affected by the social, cultural, and personal frames. These in turn help us to explain the complexity of visual communication while processing visual details and producing meanings from the advertisements. The crucial thing here is to establish the underlying conventions, identify significant distinctions and oppositions in an attempt to mould the system of categories, relations (syntagmatic and paradigmatic), connotations, distinctions and rules of combination employed.
How Does Semiotics Help Us to Understand the Meanings of Images?
Images that we find in the ads are difficult to comprehend their meanings .For a normal consumer, the reality always eludes. The detail study of the ads will help us to; unfold hidden social and cultural realities. We learn from semiotics that we live in a world of signs and we have no way of understanding anything except through organized signs and codes. Through the study of semiotics we become aware that these signs and codes are normally transparent and disguise our task in 'reading' them (Daniel Chandler 1985). It is important to mention about the basic theory of semiotics that inspired me to decode the visual images of the selected advertisements. The works of Ferdinand De Saussure and Charles Pierce on semiotics help to study images in advertisements and help us in reading the hidden meanings and underlying current of advertising signs. (Scollon 2003).
There is awareness among researchers that print advertisements are an important source of product information for consumers, especially for clothing products. Even though images play an important part in the communication of messages for fashion apparel, research to develop an understanding of how images influence consumers is very important.
Although advertising theory may help to fill this gap in the apparel research literature, advertising theory is still evolving. Some researchers have argued that images offer issue-relevant information, may be as involving as text in advertising, and may contribute to involvement. However, the lack of agreement about how to conceptualize and measure involvement within consumer research makes it difficult to compare results, especially when some social scientists have begun to recommend simpler and more powerful methods of analyses. Previous studies have relied on student samples that may limit the generalizing of results. In addition, studies have manipulated involvement. Because involvement is a personal state that varies from person to person, it is more appropriate to measure the concept along a continuum from low to high.
Advertising Is a System
There are different signs in an advertising system, and what the meaning what an advertiser wants to convey depends upon how these signs are organized. Semiotics helps the consumer to understand the meaning of an advertisement in its actual sense.
1. Marlboro
For semiotic analysis the researcher has taken Marlboro advertisement. Here in this ad there is an iconic image of the product with a macho male model in his sporting mood which was considered as the secret of heroic deeds in those days. This ad also followed with a verbal message: ‘Come to where the flavor is’ as a signified linguistic concept. It is difficult to ignore the powerful iconic image of a typical American cowboy who stands for adventure, freedom and fearlessness. The print ad is designed with a purpose to create an image of a Marlboro Man –an icon that is an antithesis of an ordinary man. In the given ad, he is his own man in a world he owns. Two images are very prominent in the ad: First that is the subject, (the image of the muscular man) provides a youthful element of glamour and adventure, which serves both the product and the text in which it is being advertised, and second that is the image of Marlboro countryside is a physical acknowledgement of the product name.
However, these images alone certainly do not convey this central signified concept, for this is only guaranteed by the inclusion of the advertisement of the statement: ‘Come to where the flavour is.
Thus, a strong relationship is allowed to emerge between the 'signifiers,' (the photographic image of the Marlboro Man and his physical environment) and the 'signified', which is the linguistically expressed: ' Come to where the flavour is.' The linguistic sign is very meaningful here to lead the target audiences to the desired results.
2. The Aesthetic Clinic
This is a print ad of Aesthetic clinic. I highly appreciate the element of creativity shown by the advertiser in communicating a simple business message artistically in this advertisement. The way the entire ad is designed, I feel, it is, probably, the most innovative way to obtain the consumers attention and lead them to purchase the product in question. The entire visual of Aesthetic clinic ad is extremely eye catching and distinct- the use of colours, text and photography are all key factors to make it persuasive and to awaken the desired emotions, feelings and values in the consumer. We have a very different set of symbols in the visual. The first sign ‘e’ is a signifier and it symbolizes the problem of baldness faced by most of the people.
The sign is unique and apparently in no way resembling with the concept of baldness, but the moment, we relate this sign to the next sing close to it, we understand that advertiser smartly works on emotional weakness of the target audience and elegantly tries to provide solution in the form of hairy head. All signs whether they are icons or symbols are indexes. That is because all signs must be located in the material world to exist. Both signs do not have any meaning in isolation unless we see them in context of linguistic message. The simple and straight verbal sign is an index which shows the existence and relevance of the two signs centrally posed in the visual. The advertiser uses just two symbols and does not want to distract the audience from the overall impact of the advertising message. The ad is set in green background and two symbols and textual sign are shown in white colour. The green colour symbolizes the productivity, prosperity and happiness, that is the ultimate solution offered by the advertisers in the form of new hair on the scalp while the authenticity of the business purpose is further endorsed by white colour that shows purity, truthfulness and an acknowledgement of the advertising claims made by the marketer.
4. The Hutch
The next ad is of Hutch mobile services. The ad is strikingly visual and with its visual representation, it elucidates the basic massage that underlines the entire service of advertising SMS services. The visual consists of different alphabets and their visual forms. The visual signifies that every alphabets stands for a new abbreviated form of spelling that can be used for SMS messages. For example the letter ‘A’ stands for apple but in the given ad the emphasis is very much on learning the short and simple spellings for the existing standard words. That’s why the world ‘Apple’ is rewritten as ‘Apl’ and ‘Butterfly’ as ‘Bttrfly’ and so on. With the emphasis on having a new experience of SMS language, the print ad encourages the audience to take the message the way it is presented and finally associates the visual with the textual part of the message: “SMS. The new language” What it means here is that the advertiser uses language cleverly in visual image so that he may persuade the audience to buy and accept the new advertising concept, which is the sole aim of the present ads.
The next print ad that I am taking for semiotic analysis is about social consciousness for our environment. The ad comes with a strong visual and a sincere message to keep our environment, especially trees intact. The impact is very high as we can see the scene of natural calamity in the form of flood, where the entire area is submerged in water and the
lone man in the picture finally gets a safe refuge in the lap of nature. The entire representation of flood is a prominent signifier that signifies the careless attitude of human being towards Nature. It is interesting to note that a man sitting on a tree stands for entire human civilization, seems to be desperate and helpless about his own misuse of natural resources. The connection is also forged between the visual and textual message
On the extreme top right side, the advertiser has a clear message: Save Trees. Trees Save. If we care the nature, nature will reciprocate in similar force. The tall image of a tree on which a man sits is indexical to the real world where Nature always cares, protects and guides the human world. Furthermore, the grim photography of the natural disaster and the colour combination of black and white are the additional signifiers of how the society is moving forward callously without any commitment to Nature. The ad is symbolic to demonstrate that the Man and Nature are closely interdependent.
The Ultimate Object of Advertising
The ultimate objective of advertising efforts is to gain more consumers to ensure growth and long term profits. The magic mirror of advertising works like any ordinary mirror in that it lets the consumers see their own image in the mirror (of advertising). The ‘Magic’ happens only when, unlike in ordinary mirror, they see themselves not as what they are, but as what they want to be. By playing up the wants and aspirations, advertising makes the brand desirable (Sanjay Tiwari).
While maintaining the supremacy in International Markets, the successful global players localize their advertising messages to become unique, saleable and relevant to the local conditions. To win consumers, the print ad of McDonalds, designs it message to local needs and serves a business purpose. The print ad beautifully shows a south Indian pandit with religious marks on his forehead. The sign is a strong indicator of McDonalds’ commitment to the globalization of an advertising message in which the person’s head is marked with McDonalds’ ubiquitous logo resembling like ‘M’. The sign on the forehead is a signifier that signifies the linguistic sign (The 100% Vegetarian Festival) shown on the top right hand side of the print advertisement. The brand McDonalds shows its solidarity with the people of the nation while keeping the outlets 100% vegetarian during festive seasons.
IMAGES IN FASHION ADVERTISEMENTS: THEIR ROLE IN INVOLVEMENT AND THE CONSUMER COMMUNICATIONS PROCESS
MONICA SANTAELLA
Visual appeal always had a prominent place in advertising. The old saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words; so many advertisers usually try to visually communicate messages, rather than bog down the receiver in heavy text (Hecker & Stewart state). Print advertisements are one visible way to communicate the latest fashion information and the images in them often play a key role in the communication of the message. Despite the extensive use of images in advertisements, research on the way in which consumers respond is limited (Oh & Jasper, 2006). Consequently, there is a gap in the literature.
The role and relevance of images in advertisements to promote the latest fashions is not well understood within industries (Oh & Jasper, 2006). However, a review of the consumer behaviour, advertising, social psychology, economic, and psychology literature revealed a better understanding of the use of images emerges. While images, as relevant arguments in the advertisement messages, have not always been the central topic of study among these disciplines, various articles have been written that may offer some insight into consumers ‘perceptions.
Psychological theory has also sustained advertisers ‘views that images work in communication as triggers of memory and recall. However, these views are changing. Some researchers now believe that simply recalling information from memory is not enough to indicate persuasion when there is no information processing (Monroe & Lee, 1999). Consumers may interpret visual information about products because they also negotiate the meaning of cultural and social symbols (Kaiser, Nagasawa, & Hutton, 1995). This is an important implication for assumptions drawn on the basis that consumers actively engage in making socially appropriate purchase decisions. Many researchers have come to realize that the difference between images and copy might just be philosophical. For the most part, the exploration of persuasion has been guided by tradition. Interpretations of classical theories from philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato have often been used to develop explanations of the effects of arguments and speaker presentation on persuasion (Winkielman, Schwartz,
Reber & Fazendeiro, 2003). As a result, some researchers now believe that images are as important as text in communicating issue-relevant information, but more studies are needed in order to develop the rhetoric understanding in this area (McQuarrie & Mick, 1999).
According to Wells et al (2003) advertisers are interested in selective processes because they affect whether consumers will perceive an ad, and, if so, whether they will remember it. An individual’s attitudes toward the person, situation, and idea in an advertisement also strongly influence selective perception, and therefore the individual will remember details about the message such as product features and brand name, when perception is intense. Perception leads to learning; that is, a human cannot learn something unless the information, and the meaning of it, have been accurately perceived. Learning is often an unconscious activity. If advertises understand how consumers learn, they can design ads that make it simple for consumers to learn the ads key elements, such as brand name, product features, and price. They can also tap into the different attitudes, beliefs, preferences, values, and standards.(Wells et al.,2003)
2.2 The Linkage between Mental Imagery and Emotion
Singer, an emotions theorist, (1978) assumes that emotions constitute the primary motivational system for human beings. The author’s key proposition is that fantasy processes, dreams and mental imagery provide a major link between cognition and emotion, thus providing representations of human motives (Izard, 1977). Although most of Singer’s work was implemented within a clinical psychology context, it does present parallels to Holbrook’s (1984) thesis which has been successfully applied to a consumer behavior / decision-making context. Holbrook’s consciousness – emotion – value (C-E-V) model encompassed the full range of emotional phenomena in the consumption experience. The first phase consciousness - involves imagery, fantasies, daydreams, subconscious thoughts and unconscious mental processes. The second phase – emotion - entails physiological responses, cognition, behavioral expression and feelings. The final phase – value - includes the consumer preferences based on their affective responses and the overall consumption experience based on the use of the product of particular relevance to this study were the first and second phases of the C-E-V model. Within the current context, consumption vision is viewed as representing the first phase and the consumer’s emotional response represents the second.
This previous literature is somewhat suggestive that should a marketer responsible for the promotion of intangible products be successful in evoking mental imagery among their audience, they may also expect some form of emotive response to their product offering.However, empirical research to date is yet to reveal the effectiveness of print advertising in terms of its impact on the strength of the relationship between a consumer’s consumption vision and their emotional responses to print advertising materials. Walters Sparks& Herington_S6 S1 P3.
2.3 Images in Information Processing Theory
Scattered within research in the information giving out literature are a restricted number of studies that have examined the role of images in advertising. While images are not always the central focus of all these studies, many have prejudiced the current understanding and theory expansion of the role that images play in advertisement. However, some of their conclusions may not be generalizable because their experiments used convenience samples. Consequently, the frameworks used for understanding the effects of advertising exposure on choice have considered the role of images within a perspective of traditional learning theories that may not be completely predictive of consumer behaviour.
An interest in understanding how consumers perceive and code brand information led researchers like Mitchell and Olson (1981) to study the effects of images in advertisements. Internal evaluations of brands have been an important topic of concern for these researchers. As part of their study of attitude and beliefs toward brands, they examined the different effects of verbal (copy) versus visual information in advertisements for branded products.
From the perspective of Edell and Staelin (1983) the role of images had intrigued researchers because previous studies had documented how individuals were consistently better able to recall advertisements with pictures. However, they argued that more research was needed to better understand how consumers learn about brand information from advertisements that used images. This led Edell and Staelin to test a model to explain how consumers processed brand information from pictures in print advertisements.
Edell and Staelin (1983) also believed that images might distract viewers from their brand learning task and thus offer different insights when looking at pictorial versus verbal advertisements. They wanted to find evidence to suggest images and not verbal formats activated previous information stored in memory.
Pictures in advertising have been generally considered attention-getting devices, but some researchers have explored pictured-based persuasion and the moderating role of involvement like Minard, Bhatla, Lord, Dickson, and Unnava (1991). Additional discussions on appropriateness and relevance of pictures revealed that the instruments used might not have been able to measure such structures. Overall, Miniard et al. findings showed that consumer recall of verbal advertisements tended to decay faster from memory. Although both verbal and visual advertisements were both likely to be processed, audiences preferred the visual versions. These findings are important, but should be approached with caution.
THE USE OF FINE ART IN ADVERTISING: A SURVEY OF CREATIVES AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ADVERTISEMENTS
AMIR HETSRONI AND RIVA H. TUKACHINSKY
This study was conducted in Israel in 2002 by the means of scrutinising the substance of fine art, painting and sculptures and by input of who may be known as advertising creative’s (art-directors, graphic designers, creative directors and copywriters) inspects their nature in advertising.
This research paper methodically records the occurrence, in history, of the paintings and sculptures in advertising through a content analysis of print advertisements. A comparison is made between ads that involve art and those that do not, to understand the dissimilarities in product type, product image and selling approach. Practitioners were asked what they thought as art which is appropriate to utilise in ads. To comprehend the correlation between their opinion and the emergence of art in advertisements, the results of the survey was put side by side with the analysis of the core of the art. Eventually, a parallel was drawn between the personal preference of the creative’s and what they perceived as appropriate art to be used in ads.
Since the study was done in two parts – the content analysis and survey of creative’s, samples for each were taken separately. For the content analysis, the samples were taken from three weekly magazines.
Of the articles that quote, copy or refer to recognized works of art (paintings or sculptures), two hundred forty-four advertisements were sampled and of those that do not quote, copy or refer to a recognized work, two hundred and eighty three advertisements were sampled. The three weekly magazines used were, a weekend supplement to a national daily (The Nation—’Haaretz’), a local-regional paper (News of the Valley and the Galilee—‘YediotEmeqVegalil’) and a women’s weekly (To the Woman—‘Laisha’). Between them, these papers reach over half of the paper reading Israeli adults so the ads that were analysed were exposed to a large number of consumers. Random sampling was used although it was intentional that in each group about twenty ads were taken from each month. It was known that advertised products alter throughout the year in concurrence with the transforming of seasons.
Therefore, months were assigned as strata and equal sampling across the months was maintained. The sampling ratio in the ads that show art sample was found to be higher than the sampling ratio in the ads without art sample according to a survey so a higher number of the former samples were taken.
For the survey component of the paper, 100 advertising creatives from 15 Israeli agencies which had the highest advertising budget the previous year, were requested to participate in the study. Approximately, forty-five of them conceded and filled the questionnaire. It was noticed that sixty-five percent of the creatives who took part in the study were women and that the respondents’ mean age was 29 years. It is said that these figures are rather typical for advertising creatives in Israel as per IAA (Israeli Advertiser’s Association, Review 2002).
To assist the survey, the questionnaire took account of factors such as the kind of product, artistic works that seemed suitable enough to appear in their advertising, personal preference and the characterisation of products and their necessity when chosen in an ad. The advantaged found in using open-ended questions was the high probability of possible answers to questions regarding art .Also the requirement of a all-inclusive gamut of the products that are appropriate to be advertised with art and that the subjects would feel more at ease to write candidly about their work rather than tick answers in a questionnaire.
The researchers did not face the usual inconvenience encountered with the analysis of open-ended responses, as the answers were to the point and adequately conformed to the coding scheme (classical/modern/non-western).
On completion of the data collection and on analysis of such data, the significant finding were divided into advertisements and advertising creative before underscoring the hypothesis. According to the content analysis of the advertisements, in ads that do not show works of art, the largest product category is leisure and entertainment (18.4%), succeeded by food (14.2%) and cosmetics, fashion apparel and health (12.4%). As for ads that do show works of art, cultural establishments has the lion’s share (29.3%), followed by cosmetics, fashion apparel and health (14.2%) and furniture and household (12.6%). From further analysis, it is evident that there is a visible statistically significant difference in products between ads that show works of art and ads that do not show such works. The division of products in ads that do not show works of art is representative for print advertisements.
The distribution of products in ads that do show works of art is extraordinary in the high share of cultural establishments and the low share of leisure and entertainment. Consequently, the employing art in advertising is disproportionately distributed across different products.
The research related to those individuals interviewed as creatives, ninety percent of them had an academic degree. According to the CBS 2002 (central bureau of statistics), in the overall Israeli adult population, their respective share is only 37.7%. This portrays that these creatives are apparently more highly educated than the ordinary citizen. It was also noted that 71% of the creatives studied art or art history. The significance of these findings are emphasised due to their concurrence with results of American surveys (Davis 1994; Young 2000)
The researchers further discuss that evidence that the art used in advertising is not only Renaissance, but also Neoclassicism and Romanticism and that these focus on a relatively tight spectrum of products. They found that none of the ads that showed art advertised cigarettes, toys or chain stores. The number of ads for leisure products and entertainment were also minimal.
As understood by the findings, repeatedly art was used to advertise cultural establishments that were openly connected to some form of art and to promote prestigious products. In conclusion, the study charted the appearance of fine art in advertising. It was determined that not all styles are equally portrayed. They concluded that European paintings created between the early 15th century and the middle of the 19th century was indisputably over-represented in advertisements. It was learnt that the announced purposes of creative had a noticeable correlation with the appearance of their work in the media, but it was not a perfect match. Also observed was that the distribution of modern art in advertisements is thrice more than what it should have been according to the creative. So, the creative being professionals probably are acquainted with that their personal taste being different from that of the general public. They concur that their design should not be influenced by their personal preference. Although creative do not consciously influence the art making decisions of the general public, they do create awareness about art that they display.
The researchers provided an obligatory managerial recommendation to provide increased control over the creative process and rely less on the intuition of the creative in view of the discrepancy between the in practice share of modern art in advertisements and the share as is it should have been.
No comments:
Post a Comment