This week we looked at representation and interpretation and particularly understanding the role of semiotics in these signs. Semiotics is the study of signs and their intended purpose (Chandler, 2020).
There were several prominent people associated with the study of semiotics including Louis Hjelmslev , Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Peirce.
Most notably was Saussure research and involvement into the sign, signifier and signified.
The signified refers to the form taken by sign and the signifier refers to the concept
Peirce is credited with contributing to the study of semiotics with his use of the Triadic model which represents in what way semiotics works and how the meaning of a sign is compromised into 3 parts (Chandler, 2020)
- The representamen (form taken by sign)
- Interpretant (what is meant by sign)
- Object (that to which the sign refers)
For example, with ‘stop’ on a traffic light the representamen would be the traffic light at the intersection, whilst the interpretant shows vehicles halting and lastly the idea that the red light indicates to stop is considered the object of a sign (Danesi and Beasley, 2020).
Both Peirce and Saussure work in the study of semiotics has evolved into the methodology for researching and analysing consumer behaviour.
Looking firstly at the denotation of this image we can see the advertisement is of an apple cider bottle lying label side up on a flat green surface with a bottom section of around 2-3cm cut off. Both cut off ends are shaped like an apple slice which appear to be holding in the liquid, a squeeze of juice and 2 seeds fall between ; and a long black knife sits to the side. From the positioning of the apple cider bottle it allows audience or potential consumers to still understand what product is being sold and/or what brand is being advertised even if you can’t tell what the hidden message or meaning behind the advert is.
Switching over to analysing the connotation of this image. Its important to note that when the company has advertised their product, they’ve thought about the different ways it can be interpreted. For instance, my initial response to seeing this brought back memories of the infamous quote ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ and the apple could be used to symbolise how fresh the ingredients are or give the audience a more ‘family’ feel . This creates a sense of trust and authenticity with the consumer towards the brand, allowing them to market more effectively with an established bond. With the outbreak of COVID-19 , researchers have noted a 30% rise in alcohol sales, this could benefit the company right now in terms of advertising and increasing sales.
Another interpretation of the advertisement could be the apple symbolizing the nutrition value that the drink replaces or lastly the apple could also simply be there to show what you’re ‘technically’ consuming, an apple instead of a sugary alcoholic beverage
By analysing these images using semiotics we are able to gain a wider understanding of what the image represents not just what it shows.
References
Chandler, D., 2020. Semiotics For Beginners: Signs. [online] Cs.princeton.edu. Available at: <https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/semio2.htm> [Accessed 6 April 2020].
Danesi, M. and Beasley, R., 2020. Persuasive Signs. [online] Google Books. Available at: <https://books.google.com.au/books?id=KsdJ4T_ltF4C&lpg=PR5&ots=ij6lm4ZCgq&dq=semiotics%20in%20advertising&lr&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false> [Accessed 5 April 2020].
Upload.wikimedia.org. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Charles_Sanders_Peirce.jpg> [Accessed 11 April 2020].
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