Exploring cultural differences in processing visual communication design on Islamic commodification in advertising
Visual communication design is a necessity in advertising. However, it carries differentinterpretations by different audiences. Therefore, this study was conducted to discoverIslamic commodification signs on advertisements, with attempts to understand the meanings of thosesigns, and to investigate t...
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| Format: | thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ir.upsi.edu.my/detailsg.php?det=6870 |
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| Summary: | Visual communication design is a necessity in advertising. However, it carries differentinterpretations by different audiences. Therefore, this study was conducted to discoverIslamic commodification signs on advertisements, with attempts to understand the meanings of thosesigns, and to investigate their effects of semantic noise interpretations of themessages. This studys meaning-making framework adapted two important theories in the visual field symbolic interactionism and communication model. This study began with a content analysis ofseven billboards and continued with semi-structured interviews to get in- depth feedbacks froma maximum variation purposive sampling of 12 informants. Practitioners of visualcommunication field like art director and graphic designer, lecturer, and student from the samefield were also involved. This studys qualitative analysis was coded by three main themes usingthematic analysis in Atlas.ti namely the commodification sign, sign meaning and noise effects. Thesubsequent analysis used symbolic interactionism theory in describing the result. Islamic elementswere indeed present in most of the ads, often in images and texts as emotional interplays ofinterpretations with many other forms of symbolism, intuition and even imagination insymbolic perception. The existence of Islamic symbols is transformed into a commercial entity thatis used to enhance the effectiveness of advertising and causes communication noise aconfusion that affects the recipient's understanding of the actual message; especially tonon-Muslims. Consequently, it allows the real meaning to be changed even though it is significantto the targeted group of Malay- Muslims. Overall, these ads should be emphasizing on theproduct-type, functions, and benefits over everything else, to avoid exaggeration andmisrepresentation of the products or the religion itself, made by the multi-racial audiences as thereceivers. The findings are clearly significant to marketers or advertisers wherebyalthough cultural elements are significantly important in advertising, the understanding ofsymbol appropriateness within the communication element is required.Keywords: Advertising, Islamic Commodification, Visual Communication, Culture,Symbolic Interactionism |
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