Semiotics and advertising studies

This introductory article confronts basic semiotic concepts with the tasks of advertising and points out ways in which semiotics and advertising resea rch can cooperate. Advertising is defined as the attempt to influence consu mers by specific means of communication. The primary objective of advertisi ng research is to analyze and optimize the advertising process. Thus far, s emiotic studies of advertisements have often been restricted to the analysi s of advertisement content and tend to give socio-critical evaluations of t he effects of advertising. From the perspective of advertising research, th e application of semiotic concepts to advertising must be aimed more direct ly at the target system of advertising. This requires that a distinction be made between the optimization of the advertising process and the normative evaluation of its effects. In general, however, the opportunities for inte rdisciplinary cooperation between semiotics and advertising research are co nsidered positive. Semiotic concepts can provide a sound basis for empirica l studies of advertising. Likewise, the results of advertising research can enrich the semiotic subdiscipline of pragmatics by confronting it with the complexity of its subject matter.