How language and image construct synaesthetic metaphors in print advertising

Abstract

Research in (multi-)sensory marketing suggests that engaging consumers’ senses is an efficient way to create effective advertisements. In this study, the authors explore how sensory cues are used in print advertising. In particular, they identify and describe print advertisements featuring instances of synaesthesia, that is, a metaphor by which properties of a given sensory modality are attributed to a concept that relates primarily to a different sensory modality. They propose that these advertisements can be classified based on the role played by the image and the text, as well as based on the way visual and linguistic elements interact. They also outline how their contribution can set theoretical groundwork for the design of new empirical research questions in cognitive sciences and marketing studies.

Critical analysis of dehumanizing news photographs on immigrants: Examples of the portrayal of non-citizenship

“…Multimodal research started expanding in the mid-2000s, as language researchers became interested in exploring the integration of language with other resources in different areas of study. Therefore, there are studies that have concentrated on exploring the relationship between language and image in print advertising (Bolognesi and Strik Lievers, 2020; Kjeldsen and Hess, 2021). There are other studies that explore visual stereotypes of race, culture, criminality and normification in news media (Mortensen et al, 2020), that is, these studies deepen understanding of how racial, criminal and cultural stereotypes linger in mediated visual portrayals.…”

Coronavirus, Demons, and War: Visual and Multimodal Metaphor in Chinese Public Service Advertisements

“…Forceville (2009) lists nine plausible modes that can represent multimodal metaphors including pictorial signs, written signs, spoken signs, gestures, sounds, music, smells, tastes, and touch. Forceville’s research on pictorial and multimodal metaphors has promoted numerous relevant studies that cover various text and genres such as advertising/billboards (Bolognesi & Lievers, 2020; Feng, 2019; Feng & O’Halloran, 2013; Forceville, 1994, 1996, 2017; Kaplan, 2004), cartoons/drawings (Alousque, 2020; Bounegru & Forceville, 2011; Bowen & Evans, 2019; El Refaie, 2003, 2009; Godioli & Pedrazzini, 2019), and films (Carroll, 1996; Fahlenbrach, 2015; Whittock, 1990), just to mention a few. This article deals with metaphors in the genre of PSAs which involves three types: verbal, visual and verbo-visual, with visual, and verbo-visual metaphors being its focus.…”

Heroes or criminals: discursive representation of cancer patients in health awareness advertisements

“…Visual metaphors are effective for conveying messages in advertisements (Bolognesi and Strik Lievers, 2018; Sifaki and Papadopoulou, 2015). In terms of qualitative studies, Sifaki and Papadopoulou conducted a diachronic semiotic analysis of posters advertising a Tate Gallery contemporary art award.…”

“…They found that the posters in the 1990s were much more informative than newer posters; in recent years, the visual metaphors in the posters, such as ‘an open eye’, reflected the intention of the gallery to forge a closer relationship with its audience. Bolognesi and Strik Lievers (2018) identified the visual synaesthesia in print advertisements and indicated that the advertisers often used images directly to convey visual concepts, while sensory concepts were represented by other modalities as well.…”