Advertising Images: From Persuasion to Polysemy

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between style and persuasion, and how audiences become involved with a message long enough to acknowledge and cognitively process it. Using a melding of cultural studies and cognitive processing as a theoretical backdrop, and inspired by photo-documentary advertising—a relatively new genre of ads encoded with ambiguity —this study posits that the use of ambiguity in ads invites polysemous, or multiple readings, which tend to involve audiences through pleasure and ambiguity resolution. Findings from a consumer survey support this position and suggest that polysemy may not only involve an audience, but may enhance memorability for ads in this genre.