L'immagine pubblicitaria dell'olio d'oliva, della pasta e del caffè : uno studio comparativo sulla ricezione

The aim of this study is to describe how Italian advertising for olive oil, pasta and coffee reflects traditions, customs and culturally specific patterns regarding the ways in which these products are used in Italy, and how these culturally specific patterns are interpreted by native readers and non-native readers (Swedish students). The study is based on 22 Italian and 22 Swedish interpretations of three Italian print ads for olive oil, pasta and coffee. The theoretical framework encompasses linguistic pragmatics, semiotics and rhetoric, and the approach used involves a systematic search for correlations between production and reception to shed light on the relationship between advertising and culture. Print ads have numerous components: images, captions, typography and colours, each of which is capable of signifying in multiple ways, creating connotations. After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 deals with the structure of the visual message: the strategies used in advertising to establish values for the product. Ads make use of metaphors to create positive connotations for a product. To facilitate the decoding process, it is essential for the sender to use stereotypes which the receiver can instantly relate to. Chapter 3 discusses different aspects of visual perception. Chapter 4 deals with context. The discourse and reception of advertising cannot be adequately understood if they are dissociated from the socio-cultural context. Knowledge must be shared between the sender creating implications and the receiver making inferences. Most of the messages sent by ads are implicit, and for them to be understood the receiver must co-operate, fill in the gaps and make inferences. Implicit information in ads is usually based on shared encyclopaedic background knowledge about the product. Receivers who lack such shared knowledge may fail to understand the information. This is true for instance of receivers with a different socio-cultural background, who are unfamiliar with the situation depicted. Inference-making is based on recognition of standard repetitive patterns and relationships between the sender and the receiver. Chapter 5 includes a brief description of traditions and customs regarding the ways of using olive oil, pasta and coffee in Italy and Sweden, respectively. A synthesis of the theoretical framework is presented in Chapter 6. Chapters 7?9 analyse the native and Swedish readers? interpretations of the three Italian print ads for olive oil, pasta and coffee. The main finding of this study is that receivers? encyclopaedic and cultural background knowledge plays an important role in the reception of advertising messages. Encyclopaedic knowledge of relevance here concerns the use of the products as well as the value systems obtaining in Italian society for the products in question and the stereotypes linked to these values. Comparison of the Italian and Swedish receivers? interpretations of the Italian ads for olive oil, pasta and coffee shows that Italian receivers, because of their encyclopaedic knowledge, make an interpretation which corresponds well to the sender's intended meaning. Swedish receivers, of a different socio-cultural background, do not recognize the frames used by the sender