Representation of values in advertising creatives: the research possibilities of the Semiotic Square methodology by A.J. Greimas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47475/2070-0695-2026-59-1-15-26Keywords:
semiotics, semiotic square, brand, advertising communication, values in advertising, video advertising, fast food advertisingAbstract
This article is devoted to the possibilities of semiotic analysis of the value aspects of advertising creatives. The main emphasis is placed on the study of the potential of the semiotic square of A.J. Greimas as a method of analyzing advertising materials. Despite its powerful analytical potential, this tool is rather poorly used in advertising research, in particular, its axiological aspect. The paper provides a comparative review of existing semiotic approaches (including an analysis of the works of Ch. Pierce, R. Barth, F. Saussure, etc.) and substantiates the advantage of the semiotic square for identifying the main semantic and value elements. The authors turn to the analysis of values in advertising, the peculiarities of their perception by the audience and broadcasting through advertising materials.
The possibilities and limitations of the Greimas method are demonstrated by analyzing promotional videos on the fast food market. The article examines in detail the case of one of the videos, which makes it possible to visually trace the algorithm for constructing semiotic squares, interpreting its elements, building relationships with each other and subsequent analysis. As a context for the axiological transformations of advertising, the authors turn to the situation of import substitution in the Russian fast food market, which made it possible to more accurately identify the specific changes accompanying the process of import substitution in advertising communication. The main conclusion of this work is the assessment of the semiotic square as an effective way not only to analyze the general semantic structure of advertising creatives, but also to consider the values and meanings contained in them, to analyze axiologically complex multilevel messages. The key limitations of the method are also identified (the subjectivity of identifying images and interpreting their connections, focusing on strictly defined semantic categories). The results of the study can be applied in the practice of semiotic analysis of advertising messages, as well as taken into account in the development of creative strategies.
References
Ageev, V. N. (2002). Semiotika [Semiotics]. Moscow, Ves' Mir, 256 p. (In Russ.).
Arens, U., Veingold, M., Arens, K. (2010). Sovremennaia reklama [Modern advertising]. Moscow, Eksmo, 880 p. (In Russ.).
Barthes, R. (1989). Mif segodnya [Myth today]. In Izbrannye raboty. Semiotika poetika (pp. 72–130). Moscow, Progress. (In Russ.).
Brazgovskaia, E. E. (2019). Semiotika. IAzyki i kody kul'tury [Semiotics. Languages and Codes of Culture]. Moscow, IUrait, 187 p. (In Russ.).
Gerasimenko, E. (2008). Denotatsiia i konnotatsiia v strukture iazykovogo znaka [Denotation and connotation in the structure of a linguistic sign]. Izvestiia vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii. Severo-Kavkazskii region. Obshchestvennye nauki, 6. 116–119. (In Russ.).
Davletova, S., Turysbekovna, A. A., Melsovna, Amirgalieva, A. H. (2025). Otsenka effektivnosti reklamnykh kampanii v internete [Assessing the effectiveness of internet advertising campaigns]. In The World Of Science and Education, 31. 32–36. (In Russ.).
Dzhefkins, F. (2008) Reklama [Advertising]. Moscow, IUniti-Dana, 543 p. (In Russ.).
Evgrafova, IU. A. (2020). Sotrudnichestvo adresanta i adresata: interpretatsiia ekrannogo teksta [Cooperation between the sender and the recipient: interpretation of screen text]. Voprosy sovremennoi lingvistiki, 4. 13–24. https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-712X-2020-4-13-24. (In Russ.).
Ezhova, E. N. (2018). Mediareklamnaya kartina mira: ob’ekty, sub’ekty, atributy [Media advertising worldview: objects, subjects, attributes]. Medialingvistika, 5 (4). 398–408. (In Russ.).
Ivleva, A. U. (2007). Kontseptsiia simvolicheskikh smyslov R. Barta [The concept of symbolic meanings by R. Barthes]. Izvestiia vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii. Povolzhskii region. Gumanitarnye nauki, 3. 104–111. (In Russ.).
Kazak, M. Yu. (2012). Spetsifika sovremennogo mediateksta [The specificity of the modern media text]. Lingvistika rechi. Mediastilistika. Kollektivnaya monografiya, posvyashchennaya 80-letiyu professora G. Ya. Solganika (pp. 320–334). (In Russ.).
Kiriliuk, O. M., Tsalko, T. V. (2018). Primenenie aksiologicheskogo podkhoda v marketingovoi deiatel'nosti klientoorientirovannogo predpriiatiia [Application of the axiological approach in the marketing activities of a customer-oriented enterprise]. Ekonomicheskie nauki, 2. 106–110. (In Russ.).
Kislitsina, A. N. (2020). Otrazhenie natsional'no-kul'turnykh tsennostei v reklame fast-fuda [Representation of National and Cultural Values in Fast Food Advertising]. Retsenzent. 179–184. (In Russ.).
Medvedeva, A. G. (2020). Rol' vizual'nykh komponentov v reklamnykh kampaniiakh Mcdonald's Corporation [The Role of Visual Components in Mcdonald's Corporation Advertising Campaigns]. Sovremennye diskursy sotsiologicheskoi teorii i praktiki. 128–134. (In Russ.).
Soboleva, A. A., Nazina, E. P., Kravchenko, E. S. (2017). Istoriia razvitiia reklamy i ee vidy psikhologicheskogo vozdeistviia [The history of advertising development and its types of psychological influence]. Ekonomika, upravlenie i pravo: innovatsionnoe reshenie problem. 257–261. (In Russ.).
Sokhan', I. V. (2011). Fast-fud kak aktual'naia gastronomicheskaia praktika potrebleniia [Fast Food as a Relevant Gastronomic Consumption Practice]. ZHurnal sotsiologii i sotsial'noi antropologii, 14. 260–269. (In Russ.).
Starov, S. A. (2008). Brend: poniatie, sushchnost', evoliutsiia [Brand: Concept, Essence, and Evolution]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Menedzhment, 2. 3–39. (In Russ.).
Yakuba, IA. O., Kozhemiakin, E. A. (2013). Reklama v Internete: diskursno-semioticheskie kharakteristiki [Advertising on the Internet: Discursive and Semiotic Characteristics]. Voprosy zhurnalistiki, pedagogiki, iazykoznaniia, 6. 138–146. (In Russ.).
Aaker, D. A. (1996). Building strong brands. New York, Free Press, 380 p.
Badir, S. (2012). How The Semiotic Square Came. The Square of Opposition. A General Framework for Cognition. 427–439.
Beasley, R., Danesi, M. (2010). Persuasive Signs: The Semiotics of Advertising. New York, Walter de Gruyter, 204 p.
Corso, J. J. (2014). What Does Greimas's Semiotic Square Really Do? Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, 47. 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1353/mos.2014.0006.
Floch, J. M. Lettre aux sémioticiens de la terre ferme. Acta Semiotica, 2. 209–216. https://doi.org/10.23925/2763-700x.2022n3.58412.
Grewal, D., Roggeveen, A. L., Sisodia, R., Nordfält, J. (2017). Enhancing Customer Engagement Through Consciousness. Journal of Retailing, 93 (1). 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2016.12.001.
Korenkova, M., Maros, M., Levicky, M., Fila, M. (2020). Consumer Perception of Modern and Traditional Forms of Advertising. Sustainability, 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239996.
Petit, T. A., Zakon, A. (1962). Advertising and Social Values. Journal of Marketing, 26 (4). 15–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224296202600404.
Ponsonby‐Mccabe, S. Boyle, E. (2006). Understanding brands as experiential spaces: Axiological implications for marketing strategists. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14. 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/10427710600662983.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Виктория Вьюнова, Евгений Кожемякин
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
