Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to influence the semiotic advertising efficacy on Gen-Y purchase intent of reputable major brands of smart phones. Semiotic advertising is an effective, modern approach of advertising that focuses on the use of different signs, symbols, images, and other visual aids for the purposes of marketing a given product or service. Since these signs tend to create an image of the brand in the minds of consumers and also demonstrates the association of the brand with their cultural orientations, beliefs and values, semiotic advertising is said to have a significant impact on the brand equity as perceived by generation y customers. Methodology: The data for this study were obtained from existing literatures on reputable major brands of smart phones. The methodology relied on existing previous literatures on the subject being dealt with. Results: The study presents evidence on the influence of semiotic advertising efficacy on generation-y’s purchase intent of smart phones. The study confirms that since higher brand equity is based on its components of perception, recognition, parity, loyalty, and trust and since it positively influences the purchase intentions and decisions of generation-y smart phone users, semiotic advertising must also have a positive influence on the purchase intention of buyers. Implications: It is hence implemented that purchase intentions of generation Y smart phone users increase when the efficacy of semiotic advertising increases.

This paper presents a theoretical discussion regarding how semiotic advertising is adopted by international firms. The semiotic advertising concept as explained in this study is defined as an advertising approach or method based on the use of signs and symbols for the purpose of communicating with a target audience. The signs and symbols act as indirect communicators of messages that firms try to convey to consumers. Since this method of advertising is focused and based on the use of different symbolic features or signs, it was found to be beneficial for cross-cultural advertising by international firms. Therefore, this study evaluated the use of semiotic advertising by two (2) premium smartphone brands in three countries, i.e. South Korea, USA and China. Analysis of different advertisements adopted by these firms in the three countries revealed that there were two underlying factors regarding the use of semiotic advertising. The first factor was definitely the cultural factor, where it was found that Apple’s hidden messages in the advertisements were highly aligned to each country’s cultural aspects and other factors. The other factor established by Samsung was the use of signs to create a special perception about the brand, thus, leading to the development of better relations between the brand and the customer. The findings showed that the use of semiotic advertising by international premium smartphone brands was definitely different across countries.

The paper presents an empirical analysis to demonstrate the influence of semiotic advertising efficacy on generation-y purchase intent of smart phone. Semiotic advertising is an effective, modern approach to advertising that focuses on the use of different signs, symbols, images and other visual aids for the purpose of marketing a given product or service. Since these signs tend to create an image of the brand in minds of consumers and also demonstrates the brand association with their cultural orientation, beliefs and values, semiotic advertising is said to have a significant impact on the brand equity as perceived by generation y customers. The study also confirms that since higher brand equity based on its components of perception, recognition, parity, loyalty and trust influences the purchase intentions and decisions of generation-y smart phone users positively, semiotic advertising must also have a positive influence on the purchase intent of the buyers. The study has thus been based on the responses received from 620 generation-y smart phone users from a survey based on an instrument developed by the researcher to measure semiotic advertising efficacy, brand equity and purchase intentions as perceived towards advertisements of four smart phones shown to the respondents while undertaking the survey. The data obtained from the questions based on Likert scales has been analysed to prove the hypotheses as derived in the study. Outcomes as based on statistical path analysis establish that overall equity of a brand as perceived by generation y customers, increases with an increase in semiotic advertising efficacy and also the perceived brand equity has a positive and direct influence on purchase intentions. It is hence concluded from the discussions and findings that the purchase intentions of generation y smart phone users increase when the efficacy of semiotic advertising increases. The brands can be recommended to thus make sure that the visual elements and semiotics used in their advertisements align with cultural characteristics of buyers to enhance their overall efficacy.