How we Interpret and Understand Advertisements

 

 

Interpretation of advertisements will vary from person to person based on personal understanding and experiences. Thus, opinions may vary from person to person on the understanding and interpretation of an ad. In Lawrence Grossberg's book Mediamaking: Mass Media in a Popular Culture he "considers ways to analyze and interpret the messages or texts or the media in all their diverse forms."( Grossberg. 1998, Page 147) although Grossberg analyzes how we interpret and understand television these theories and models apply to advertising as well.

The Shannon-Weaver communication model, the concept of en-coding and decoding messages, our internalization of behavior, meaning, theme and symbols are all variables which shape and mold our interpretation and understanding of any text or advertisement.

 

 

 

Lisa Ramdial
Student,
Communication Studies Program, Social Science Division,
York University, Toronto