"Visual Rhetorical Figures in Advertising"

Summary

This video delves into the increasingly vital role of visual rhetorical figures in advertising. Over the past 70 years, images have gradually become more dominant than text in ads. Visual rhetorical figures, which include artful deviations from expectation, are highlighted as powerful tools in persuasion, influencing attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Fabian Brinsley from the University of St. Gallen discusses various types of visual rhetorical figures, their persuasive mechanisms, and potential pitfalls in their usage. The video's core message is understanding these visual elements can significantly enhance the effectiveness of advertisements, although careful consideration is necessary concerning their complexity and the target audiences' interpretative abilities.

Highlights

• The shift from text to visual communication in ads has revolutionized advertising methods 📺.
• Images in ads often serve as puzzles, inviting consumers to solve them for a rewarding experience 🧩.
• Visual rhetorical figures include metaphors, hyperboles, and comparisons that defy literal interpretation ✨.
• Successful visual figures require cultural and cognitive considerations to avoid misinterpretation 🌐.
• A 2004 typology from Phillips and McQuarrie structures visual rhetoric by richness and complexity 🎨.

Key Takeaways

• Visual communication has overtaken text in ads over the last 70 years 📈.
• Visual rhetorical figures are more persuasive than straightforward images 🎯.
• Artfully deviated images induce a pleasurable 'aha' moment when comprehended 🤯.
• Complex visual figures can backfire if they're too hard to interpret 🙈.
• Future research should explore the balance between visual figures and verbal anchoring 🔍.

Overview

In the realm of advertising, visual rhetorical figures have become indispensable as they have proved to be more compelling than traditional, straightforward images. This shift over the last 70 years has led to visuals frequently carrying the core message of advertisements, engaging audiences in unique ways. These visuals operate almost like puzzles, where artful deviations from expected norms encourage viewers to spend more time processing the message, leading to deeper engagement and understanding.

Fabian Brinsley breaks down the anatomy and taxonomy of these visual rhetorical figures, demonstrating how they range from simple juxtapositions to complex fusions of imagery that invite various levels of cognitive engagement. He emphasizes that while these figures can enhance persuasive power, they must be carefully designed to avoid viewer confusion. If a visual puzzle is too intricate, it risks frustrating the audience instead of enticing them.

As advertising continues its visual evolution, future research promises to explore the synergy between these figures and textual elements. The cultural context and audience's background heavily influence interpretation, suggesting that understanding these dynamics is crucial for creating impactful and culturally sensitive advertisements. The discussion underscores the necessity of striking a balance between captivating visuals and necessary verbal anchoring for optimal persuasion.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction to Advertising The chapter talks about the importance of being seen and standing out through creative and compelling advertising, which is crucial for companies and nonprofit organizations to achieve success. It highlights the fundamental question for communication practitioners and researchers: what are the ingredients for impactful advertisements. The chapter also mentions the growing significance of visual communication in modern advertising.
• 01:30 - 03:00: The Evolution of Visual Communication in Advertising In recent years, advertising has experienced a significant transformation, particularly in the emphasis placed on images compared to words. Studies over the past seventy years show a trend towards prioritizing visual communication. Images are now often the primary vehicle for conveying the central message of an advertisement, with accompanying text serving to clarify or anchor the image's meaning. This shift underscores the importance of understanding visual communication to grasp the nuances of modern persuasive techniques in advertising.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Understanding Visual Rhetorical Figures The chapter introduces the concept of visual rhetorical figures in advertising, highlighting their effectiveness in influencing attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. It raises questions about their mechanisms and potential pitfalls, setting the stage for a detailed discussion. The speaker, Fabian Brinsley, welcomes the audience and transitions into the main content of the virtual talk.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Importance of Visual Rhetorical Figures The chapter titled 'Importance of Visual Rhetorical Figures' begins with an introduction from a research associate and PhD candidate at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The speaker was invited by the Association for Business Communication to give a virtual talk in response to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting lives globally. The focus of the talk is on visual rhetorical figures in advertising. The chapter promises to first provide an overview before diving deeper into the subject.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Effectiveness and Challenges of Visual Rhetorical Figures The chapter discusses the basics of visual rhetorical figures and their relevance in advertising, focusing on their functionality.
• 07:30 - 10:00: Classification of Visual Rhetorical Figures This chapter explores the classification of visual rhetorical figures in advertising. It begins with a comparison of two advertisements. The ad on the right contains a visual rhetoric figure, while the ad on the left does not. The right ad features a simple, straightforward image of a caged tiger in a zoo, which is intended to have a literal interpretation, reflecting a reality-based depiction to communicate its message. The chapter delves into the nature of straightforward images and their role in visual rhetoric.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Typologies and Examples The chapter titled 'Typologies and Examples' discusses the visual literacy of advertisements and rhetorical figures. It explains the difference between literal and non-literal interpretations of visual content. The example given in the transcript describes an ad with a swarm of fish, one of which is fused with a panda, illustrating how two unrelated entities can be combined to convey a message. The chapter emphasizes understanding the relationship between different visual elements in rhetorical figures.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Persuasive Effects of Visual Complexity The chapter discusses how visual complexity in advertising acts as a persuasive tool by presenting elements that deviate from expectations, compelling viewers to infer meaning and engage in deeper interpretation. It highlights how some endangered species might receive more attention in media compared to others, while emphasizing that all need assistance. Rhetorical figures in ads are thus utilized to draw attention and elicit thoughtful engagement.
• 20:00 - 23:00: Key Takeaways The chapter discusses the concept of artful deviation from expectation where such deviations are not considered faulty. It highlights that literal interpretations might be nonsensical, yet they are accepted due to adherence to specific templates. The text also touches on the concept of metaphor, where unlike things are compared by viewing one object in the light of another.
• 23:00 - 26:00: Future Research Directions The chapter titled 'Future Research Directions' explores how rhetorical figures are comprehended through repeated exposure, emphasizing the competencies gained in responding to them. It discusses the role of learning in understanding rhetorical figures and how they guide inferences while limiting possible interpretations. The chapter notes that rhetorical figures can be both verbal and visual, indicating an interest in further exploration in this area.
• 26:00 - 28:50: Conclusion and Farewell The chapter delves into the concept of visual rhetorical figures, explaining how they guide attention and evoke arguments by focusing on certain elements in images using specific templates. This capability allows them to stand alone, even without accompanying text. The discussion also touches on the importance and impact of visual rhetorical figures in advertising, emphasizing that the evidence strongly supports their relevance and efficacy.

"Visual Rhetorical Figures in Advertising" Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 being seen and standing out with sophisticated creative and compelling advertising is crucial for companies and nonprofit organizations to achieve their goals and to be successful therefore one of the most fundamental questions for communication practitioners and researchers is what are the ingredients for truly impactful advertisements in modern advertising visual communication has become increasingly important we've
• 00:30 - 01:00 witnessed a remarkable shift in advertising over the last seventy years as evidenced by multiple studies the emphasis on images over words has continuously increased leading to a prevalence of visual communication as a result imagery often communicates the key message of the ad while the verbal text explains or anchors the meaning of the image therefore understanding visual communication has become key to understanding persuasion in an
• 01:00 - 01:30 advertising and in particular visual rhetorical figures have shown to be enormous ly effective to influence attitudes intentions and even behaviors but how do visual rhetorical figures work and what are our potential pitfalls when using them we will touch upon and discuss these questions in the following minutes however let's get out of this scene first so with that being done I would like to welcome you to this virtual talk my name is Fabian Brinsley
• 01:30 - 02:00 and I'm a research associate and a PhD candidate at the University of st. Gallen in Switzerland ABC the Association for business communication invited me to give a virtual talk as a response to the corona virus pandemic which is currently affecting the lives of us all so today I have the pleasure to give this talk about visual rhetorical figures in advertising but before we dive into the topic let me first give you an overview of this talk first we're going to have a
• 02:00 - 02:30 look at the basics and discuss what all visual rhetorical figures how relevant they are in advertising and how they work second we're going to have a deep look at how to classify and identify different types of visual rhetorical figures based on their meaning operation and the visual complexity and third we address how visual complexity influences the persuasiveness of visual rhetorical figures so with that being said let's
• 02:30 - 03:00 start with the basics on this slide you can see two ads the ad on the right contains a visual rhetoric figure the ad on the Left doesn't but why is that the ad on the right shows a tiger that is caged in a zoo such images are what we call a straight forward image straight forward images are meant to effect depictions of reality and can therefore be interpreted literally in
• 03:00 - 03:30 other words what is shown is also what is meant in contrast the ad on the Left cannot be interpreted literally we see a swarm of fishes whereby one of the fishes is fused with a panda when we look at this image we realize that something's wrong here we see that two things are put together that don't belong to get our adult rhetorical figures are concerned with the relationship of one thing to another
• 03:30 - 04:00 they are like puzzles that need to be resolved because they present two elements in a way that's artfully deviates from expectation what this image really means needs to be inferred from the pattern of reasoning that is present in this image an interpretation of the ad might be that some endangered species receive more attention than others although all of these animals need our help hence a rhetorical figure is defined as
• 04:00 - 04:30 an artful deviation from expectation that is not rejected as faulty although literal interpretations would be nonsensical or at least untrue we do not perceive such deviations as arrows because they adhere to identifiable templates that are limited in number for instance a metaphor requires to compare unlike things to one object in the light of the other or
• 04:30 - 05:00 hyperbole exaggerate something for emphasis the repeated exposure to this template over time we have gained the competencies to respond to rhetorical figures and to understand them and this learning allows rhetorical figures to channel inferences and to delimit the range of possible interpretations important to note is that rhetorical figures can be verbally or visually expressed our interest lies in a letter
• 05:00 - 05:30 that is visual rhetorical figures by guiding our attention towards particular elements in the image and by relying on specific templates rhetorical figures evoke arguments and lines of reasonings this allows visual rhetorical figures to potentially stand alone without text but how relevant are visual rhetorical figures in advertising the evidence speaks clear language not only has the
• 05:30 - 06:00 frequency of visual rhetorical figures drastically increased over the past 70 years also has advertising become predominantly visual in this context some even speak about a pictorial turn that has taken place in advertising a reason for this trend is that older ads pursue an attentive reader when more recent ads assume a visually oriented and casually browsing viewer the
• 06:00 - 06:30 following examples illustrate how much advertising has changed within the last decades and how it looked back then in the 1950s over 50 years lie between these ads and as you can see here the difference is striking in the 1950s advertising was heavily text centered and images were used to support whether text said and therefore mainly had an accompanying function visual rhetorical
• 06:30 - 07:00 figures were rare or almost never used because the dominant view was that images should accurately depict objects that they referenced pictures that deviate from reality or from our expectation were regarded as distortions or deceptions and were therefore avoided moreover the photo editing tools were much more limited back then this might have made it more difficult to create as
• 07:00 - 07:30 sophisticated visual rhetorical figures so over the years the text image ratio has changed and images have become the dominant elements in advertising and as you can see here some ads even come without any verbal copy at all the entire message of the ad is conveyed by the image which contains a visual or torkoal figure the ad might be interpreted as saying that using this
• 07:30 - 08:00 detergent is a good idea because it makes your laundry clean and fresh so but why do you advertise this increasingly use visual rhetorical figures and what is their advantage over straightforward images so the short answer is that visual rhetorical figures have shown to be more persuasive than straightforward images and the middle longer answer is that their superior persuasiveness works through so-called tension and relief processes when we
• 08:00 - 08:30 look at an image which includes a visual rhetorical theory we realize that something's wrong or that it's not an accurate depiction of reality this initial incongruity of rhetorical figures induces tension and invites us to resolve the puzzle and resolving the puzzle is rewarding and prompts what for example semiotics literature describes as pleasure of the text in other words
• 08:30 - 09:00 understanding an initially incomprehensible message evokes the pleasurable experience of finally getting it thus we can think of visual rhetorical figures as puzzles perceiving the process of going through the add as pleasurable makes more likely that recipients have a favorable attitude to and toward the advocacy but obviously for pleasure to arise the puzzle needs to be successfully resolved and if
• 09:00 - 09:30 people fail to come up with a meaningful interpretation and understand the visual rhetorical figure they're likely to experience frustration or even anger this in turn translates into decreased persuasion the implication for advertisers is that if they use visual rhetorical figures they should make sure that their target audiences are actually able to resolve the puzzle this might depends on a number of
• 09:30 - 10:00 factors such as audiences prior knowledge about a topic their motivation to more thoughtfully engage with the topic or their cognitive capacities moreover there are particular types of visual rhetorical figures which increase or decrease the likeliness people figure out the meaning of a visual rhetorical figure we will discuss this aspect more in depth later so despite these potential pitfalls visual rhetorical figures have shown to
• 10:00 - 10:30 influence both the precursors of persuasion and persuasion itself an accumulating body of research shows that as with rhetorical figures not only attract more attention than straightforward ads but also increase the extent and the depth of processing and the elaboration of an ad and most importantly rhetorical figures have also shown to increase persuasion including attitudes intentions and behaviors so we
• 10:30 - 11:00 have elaborated what our visual rhetorical figures and we understand how to work but we don't know yet what types of visual rhetorical figures there are and having clear-cut apologies is fundamental for both communication research and practice first systematizing different types of visual rhetorical figures helps to manage complexity and to gain a better
• 11:00 - 11:30 understanding of the subject second typologies help to make more precise predictions about the effects of visual rhetorical figures as we will see later topologies provide the foundations to understand under which conditions certain types of visual rhetorical figures might be more or less persuasive the problem most popular and widely used typology was developed by
• 11:30 - 12:00 Phillips and McQuarrie and published in 2004 the topology is structured along two axes visual richness and visual complexity visual richness describes the degree of policing of a visual rhetorical figure it is determined by meaning operation which refers to the way that the two elements that constitute a rhetorical figure are linked to each other the typology
• 12:00 - 12:30 differentiates between three meaning operations so in the meaning operation of connection recipients are guided to establish a link between two depicted elements a is associated with B because in meaning operation of comparison recipients are guided to compare two elements with each other a is like B because or a is not like B because
• 12:30 - 13:00 according to Phillips and McQuarrie the meaning operation of comparison is richer than the meaning operation of connection because answering how is a like B or how is a not like B is expected to generate a broader set of inferences than answering how is a associated with B the second axis is concerned with visual complexity of a visual rhetorical figure visual
• 13:00 - 13:30 complexity refers to the demands and image places on the recipients to process the yet complexity is determined by the structure of a net and refers to the way two elements that price the visual rhetorical figure are physically pictured and yet the leads complex way to arrange two elements is to juxtapose them side-by-side a more complex structure includes fusing two
• 13:30 - 14:00 elements together and the most complex way to organize two elements is to replace one elements by the other the element that is present calls to mind the elements that is absent I will now illustrate the different types of visual rhetorical figures using real-ass as examples this sad shows a visual rhetorical figure with the juxtaposition structure we see that two things are put side by side which
• 14:00 - 14:30 normally don't go together we will never expect a penguin standing in front of a city that is built within a desert because this is far from the natural habitat penguins are considered marine birds and spend up to 80% of their lives in the sea morover the meaning operation of connection is used to establish a link between the penguin and the city in the desert the penguin is put in front of the city to point out the consequences
• 14:30 - 15:00 of climate change because of climate change in global warming the penguin finds itself in a man-made world where water scarcity is a reality and where there is no place for animals this ad here shows dolphin with a protective Musk again this ad uses the meaning operation of connection to establish a link between the dolphin and the mosque the dolphin wears a mask because the water is polluted the visual
• 15:00 - 15:30 structure is somewhat different because here the dolphin and musk are not juxtaposed to each other but instead they are melted together this is what Phillips and McQuarrie referred to as fusion this ad uses a replacement as visual structure the over dimension plastic bowl calls to mind a stranded marine mammal the plastic ball resembles the Marine Mammal through its form the
• 15:30 - 16:00 way it lies on a beach and the way people gather around and pour water over it and just like the former adds this visual rhetorical figure words through connection the message is not that the stranded mammal is like a plastic bottle instead the image articulates that the marine mammal was killed because it mistaked plastic for food here we see a visual rhetorical figure which juxtaposes elements it shows two fishes
• 16:00 - 16:30 and a classic back and the way that the fishes and the plastic bags are arranged side by side resembles a food chain with a plastic back being the biggest predator the meaning operation here is what Phillips and McQuarrie turn a similarity the plastic back is like a predator in this sad a drink account is fused with a grenade the ad conveys that throwing away waste kills thousands of
• 16:30 - 17:00 marine creatures accordingly the drink can and the grenade are linked by similarity the image suggests that the drink can is like a grenade this ad shows two forests one of them being damaged the shape of the two forests calls to mind human lungs and the image message is that we are destroying our plants lungs by destroying forests what
• 17:00 - 17:30 follows is that the image also uses a similarity meaning operation it articulates that the forest functions as lungs for the world they're following three ads all include figures of positions the sea horse and the toothbrush are juxtaposed at first glance we might think that the image depicts two sea horses but at second glance we realized that the elite sea
• 17:30 - 18:00 horse on the right is in fact a toothbrush the ad can be interpreted as saying that waste might be as colorful as marine creatures and might even similar but that it can never replace them I have shown you this ad at the beginning of the video taking a look at it again we understand that the two elements so the fish and the Panda are linked by a position these fishes are not like pandas because they don't
• 18:00 - 18:30 receive the same amount of attention or concern the last ad shows a replacement by a position figure because obviously the image is saying that waist is not like real animals the waist calls to mind a swarm of fishes and points to the fact that our oceans are more and more colluded by waste so far we have seen how to categorize different types of visual rhetorical figures but do these types also differ in their persuasive
• 18:30 - 19:00 effects particularly one dimension namely the visual complexity dimension has received attention from research some scholars argued that more complexity leads to greater persuasion the underlying assumption is that increases in complexity produces great attention because the image places higher cognitive demands on the recipients the resolution of the image puzzle should therefore be more avoiding
• 19:00 - 19:30 so but differently the more effort it costs to interpret the rhetorical fear the more pleasure of processing the rhetorical figure may yield however findings for previous research indicates to cut the complexity is only pleasurably arousing within limits a recent study provide evidence that the effects of visual complexity form an inverted u curve with fusions being the tipping point as we replacement figures
• 19:30 - 20:00 yielded similarly low attitude scores than ads with straightforward images the explanation offered was the replacement figures were too complex to be understood and that this decreased comprehension which then translated into decreased processing pleasure and AD this implies that caution is warranted when using visual rhetorical figures if a figure is too complex it might fail to
• 20:00 - 20:30 produce the desired effects because people just don't understand what the image wants to say and get frustrated as a consequence so overall what are the key takeaways from this talk first I want to outline by visual rhetorical figures merits are our attention we have seen that advertising has become increasingly visual and that many ads rely on visual rhetorical fears moreover
• 20:30 - 21:00 I have explained what rhetorical figures have been consistently found to be more persuasive and straightforward images when we look at an image which includes a visual rhetorical figure we realize that something is wrong and that it is not an accurate depiction of reality and this initial incongruity induced by rhetorical figures induces tension and invites us to resolve the puzzle and when we are able to resolve the puzzle
• 21:00 - 21:30 we experienced pleasurable feeling of finally getting it second I presented a topology that helps to identify and classify different types of visual rhetorical figures I've also addressed the effects of these types of visual rhetorical figures and pointed out that highly complex figures might be counterproductive and even decrease persuasion and before we get to the end of this talk I would like to point out
• 21:30 - 22:00 some questions that I think could be worth addressing in the future from a research perspective it would be important to explore the interplay between visual rhetorical figures and verbal anchoring for instance it is still unclear what amount of verbal anchoring is most persuasive should adds completely spell out the meaning of a visual rhetorical figure only give a hint at the meaning of the figure or provide no verbal copy at all and particularly does the complexity of a
• 22:00 - 22:30 visual rhetorical figure influence what amount of verbal anchoring is most effective from a practitioners perspective it might be worth to reflect on best practices to develop compelling and sophisticated visual rhetorical figures what are different approaches and techniques and what has worked particularly well or not furthermore it may also be important to think about whether there are any
• 22:30 - 23:00 specific topics services or social issues for which visual rhetorical figures might be inappropriate also it might be interesting to consider to what extent people respond differently to visual rhetorical figures based on their cultural background so with that being said I would like to thank you for your attention for your interest and for your persistence to watch the full video if you have any comments or questions please don't hesitate to contact me I
• 23:00 - 23:30 will be happy to reply to your feedback and last but not least don't forget to subscribe to the ABC YouTube channel if you haven't yet and thanks again for watching and bye [Music] you