A Semiotic Approach to Understanding Advertisements

Abstract

This research investigates the role of semiotics in comprehending the ideological and cultural symbols utilised in advertisements. The major aim of this study is to examine how the different approaches of semiotics contribute to interpreting the messages decoded in advertisements. Under the broad theory of semiotics, the current research presents Saussure's (1916) dyadic model of the sign as well as Peirce's (1955) triadic model of the sign. Furthermore, this research highlights the predominant role played by advertisements in our society these days. The study also gives an account of Barthes' (1977) categorization of the messages existing in advertisements into linguistic, denotative and connotative. In addition, an overview of van Leeuwen's ( 2005) social semiotic approach is presented. Findings of the study indicate that advertisements are loaded with signs whose interpretations depend largely on culture and ideology. The study also shows that the aforementioned semiotic approaches can help in revealing how advertisements perpetuate certain ideas and beliefs while ignore others. It indicates that most advertisements try to communicate implicitly the idea of how people are supposed to be.