En kvalitativ studie om Volvos och BMWs reklamfilmer mellan 1990 och 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine if and how the content and design of car commercials has changed the past three decades (1990 - 2019) and to examine if the intensified climate debate and concern for the climate changes has influenced what is communicated in the commercials. As theoretical framework a neo institutional theory was used. Nine commercials from Volvo and six commercials from BMW was analysed with a semiotic and rhetorical analysis to answer the following questions. 1) What characterizes Volvo’s and BMW’s commercials in the 1990s, the 2000s and 2010s? 2) Have the commercials changed during the past three decades? If yes, in what way have they changed? 3) Do the commercials in some way reflect the intensified climate debate and concern for the climate changes? If yes, in what way? The result indicates that Volvo's and BMW's commercials have changed from a focus on highlighting and conveying the car and its features, to a focus on arousing emotions of the consumer. No aspects of the intensified climate debate and concern for the climate changes was reflected. In a constantly changing society, which over the years has led to new conditions and challenges for car companies regarding advertising production, it is important that companies adapt the communication in their advertising to the requirements and expectations of the environment in order to be more easily accepted by different stakeholders. The result should be seen as an initial step in the research area. Knowledge about how advertisement tend to change is important for all companies in the society since advertisement increases the company’s visibility and sales