Encounters between theory and practice: Semiotic and pragmatic principles in advertising

Advertising has long been of interest to semiotic, linguistics and pragmatic theorists including Barthes (1957; 1977), Williamson (1978), Myers (1994), Cook (2001) and Tanaka (1994). Marketing scholars, including Brierley (2002) and Beaseley (in Beaseley & Danesi, 2002) show a reciprocal interest in the potential for semiotics to advance their discipline, but there is no apparent awareness of theories of pragmatics or its relevance to their field. While semiotics offers a tool in understanding how meaning is conveyed through linguistic and non-linguistic signs, pragmatics focuses upon language, speaker intentions and the interpretation of utterances in context. This study compares these two approaches in understanding the creative processes involved in the design of advertisements. Universities and professional bodies were contacted to ascertain whether these subjects were taught to prospective and practising advertising professionals and, if so, what was the precise content. Considerable variation is found between institutions, ranging from no input to a moderate level of input in semiotics; pragmatics is absent in the syllabus. Where semiotics is taught, it is confined to using theories to deconstruct selected advertisements rather than employing semiotic principles as a design technique. In addition, five copywriters are interviewed to ascertain their awareness of semiotics and, more generally, the creative processes they adopt. While a vague knowledge of the theories is reported, and some appreciation of their possible relevance to the industry, practitioners make no attempt to apply semiotics systematically in their design practices. There is evidence of an awareness of the effects of signification and context which aligns with the theoretical frameworks, although this alignment can be explained more through intuition and job experience than a conscious application of theories. It is recommended that further research should be conducted into the value of teaching semiotics to marketing students, that an applied semiotic method is developed specifically for students of advertising and that consideration is given to incorporating aspects of pragmatics into their training

Social Sciences and Cultural Studies

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social) and the Humanities and the private and the public sectors of society. The chapters speak across socio-cultural concerns, education, welfare and artistic sectors under the common desire for direct responses in more effective ways by means of interaction across societal structures

ATHENA Research Book, Volume 2

ATHENA European University is an association of nine higher education institutions with the mission of promoting excellence in research and innovation by enabling international cooperation. The acronym ATHENA stands for Association of Advanced Technologies in Higher Education. Partner institutions are from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovenia: University of Orléans, University of Siegen, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Niccolò Cusano University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Maribor. In 2022, two institutions joined the alliance: the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University from Poland and the University of Vigo from Spain. Also in 2022, an institution from Austria joined the alliance as an associate member: Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. This research book presents a selection of the research activities of ATHENA University's partners. It contains an overview of the research activities of individual members, a selection of the most important bibliographic works of members, peer-reviewed student theses, a descriptive list of ATHENA lectures and reports from individual working sections of the ATHENA project. The ATHENA Research Book provides a platform that encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects by advanced and early career researchers

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission