Conceptualizing visual metaphors in high tech products advertising: Results and conclusions from an empirical research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33919/dasc.24.7.3Keywords:
advertising, visual metaphors, abstract metaphors, high tech products, interpretation, understanding, meaning, elicitation, qualitative and quantitative researchAbstract
The use of visual metaphors is a popular method of advertising nowadays. This paper briefly reviews the theoretical framework of metaphorical expression in advertising, and particularly the use of visual metaphors. It then continues with presenting results and findings from an empirical study on the use of visual metaphors in the ads of high-tech products. Given the nature of metaphors, the analysis is based on both qualitative and quantitative readings of the data, in order to reach more insightful conclusions. Based on the research findings and following the theoretical introduction, the paper concludes with implications and guidelines for the marketing utility of exploring the meaning and other features of visual metaphors.
References
BASES Pack Survey+. NIQ. Available at: https://nielseniq.com/global/en/products/bases-pack-survey (accessed May 2024).
Dehay, E. K., J. R. Landwehr. 2019. “A MAP for Effective Advertising: the Metaphoric Advertising Processing Model”. AMS Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, 289–303.
Faria, J. 2024. Leading Advertisers Worldwide in 2021, by Ad Spending. Statista, 11 January 2024. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/286448/largest-global-advertisers/ (accessed May 2024).
Hawkins, D. I. 1973. “Model of Symbolic Communication”. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 13, No. 3, 33–38.
Lakoff, G., M. Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
McQuarrie, E. F., D. G. Mick. 1999. “Visual Rhetoric in Advertising: Text-Interpretive, Experimental, and Reader-Response Analyses”. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 26, No. 1, 37–54.
Min, B., J-Y. Kim. 2018. “The Types of Visual Metaphors in Advertisements of High-tech Products and the Persuasion Effect that Social-face Sensitivity has on the Participation Behavior and Citizenship Behavior of Consumers”. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 118, No. 24.
Morgan, S. E., T. Reichert. 1999. “The Message is in the Metaphor: Assessing the Comprehension of Metaphors in Advertisements”. Journal of Advertising, Vol. 28, No. 4, 1–12.
Morris, P. and J. A Waldman. 2011. “Culture and Metaphors in Advertising: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States”, International Journal of Communication, Vol. 5, 942–968.
Palacio, X., L. Ajaluni. 2023. “ESOMAR’s Global Top-50 Insights Companies”. ESOMAR’s Intelligence Unit.
Phillips, B. J., E. F. McQuarrie. 2009. “Impact of Advertising Metaphor on Consumer Belief ”. Journal of Advertising, Vol. 38, No. 1, 46–61.
Putra, Y. P., A. Lisdayanti. 2020. “The Influence of Effectiveness Electronic Advertising with EPIC Model on Web Series toward Consumer Purchase Decisions on Tropicana Slim Stevia Products”. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research, Vol. 4, No. 1, 102–109.
Sakr, A. 2016. The effect of visual metaphor on advertising response: an integrative framework. [Thesis]. Aston University.
Siltanen, S. A. 1981. “The Persuasiveness of Metaphor: A Replication and Extension”. The Southern Speech Communication Journal, Vol. 47 (Fall), 67–83.
Zaltman, G. 1997. “Rethinking Market Research: Putting People Back In”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 34, No. 4, 424–437.
Zaltman, G., Z. Lindsay. 2008. Marketing Metaphoria. Harvard Business School Press.
