Meaningless or meaningful? Interpretation and intentionality in post‐modern communication

Abstract

Contemporary television advertising is more sophisticated than ever, employing subtle and complex visual imagery. Nevertheless, critics suggest that highly imagistic advertisements fail because they do not communicate basic information. Qualitative methods were used for investigating the interpretation and intentionality in a highly imagistic television advertisement for perfume. The results suggest that consumers recover intended meanings and generate a variety of idiosyncratic responses to advertisements. Consumer interpretation of advertisements depends on contexts and individual, social and cultural structures. Overall, this study demonstrates that complex television advertising imagery is meaningful and leaves the viewer with a sense of what the brand stands for.

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