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11 – 20 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 7 July 2004

Phillip Vannini

Despite the attention that Charles Sanders Peirce and Herbert Blumer dedicated to semiosis, symbolic interactionism still clearly lacks a theory of the sign. Attempts to…

Abstract

Despite the attention that Charles Sanders Peirce and Herbert Blumer dedicated to semiosis, symbolic interactionism still clearly lacks a theory of the sign. Attempts to appropriate Saussurean semiology and deconstruction have been made, but these have often resulted in, respectively, denying the importance of interaction and interpretation, or in implying the demise of meaning. In this article I propose an interpretive analytics of the sign by building upon Peircean semiotics and social semiotics. I examine the sign as a tripartite process of relations among object, representamen, and interpretant and analyze processes of production, distribution, and consumption of signs, and how these processes are shaped by power dynamics. I discuss how socio-semiotic codes are constituted through specific ideological discursive practices, and how these discursive practices are contingent on exo-semiotic conditions. Finally, I reflect on the importance of this approach for the continued growth of symbolic interactionism.

Details

Studies in Symbolic Interaction
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-261-0

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 April 2023

Michael Shaw, Priyantha Bandara and Sardana Islam Khan

This study is an attempt to apply the techniques of semiotics in conjunction with quantitative analysis to decode and interpret an advertisement which promotes the South…

Abstract

Purpose

This study is an attempt to apply the techniques of semiotics in conjunction with quantitative analysis to decode and interpret an advertisement which promotes the South Australian Barossa Valley as a tourist destination.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was submitted to a Southeast Asian student and postgraduate sample. Regression analysis and qualitative analysis were carried out, which suggested that the advertisement was engaging the majority of the audience.

Findings

Most respondents expressed a desire to visit the location and used language which was evocative and connective. Those who did not or who were turned off by the advertisement's content expressed themselves in language which terminated further engagement.

Research limitations/implications

The sample was a non-target group, but this is an advantage because it provides a base level of unconditioned response.

Practical implications

A better understanding of semiotics may reinforce other areas of marketing endeavour such as social marketing approaches which are gaining more importance in the still developing COVID-19 economy. This methodology can be extended to other marketing communication contexts.

Social implications

Once campaigns have been aimed at target audiences, there may be potential to orientate another campaign at non-target audiences using the same advertisement. In terms of global marketing, this is extension rather than adaptation.

Originality/value

This study provides an example of how marketing could use semiotics in conjunction with quantitative methods to determine an audience's response and the intention to purchase a product or service.

Details

South Asian Journal of Marketing, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2719-2377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2023

Betsy Van der Veer Martens

This paper reviews research developments in semiosis (sign activity) as theorized by Peirce, Eco and Sebeok, focusing specifically on the current study of “semiotic threshold…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper reviews research developments in semiosis (sign activity) as theorized by Peirce, Eco and Sebeok, focusing specifically on the current study of “semiotic threshold zones,” which range from the origins of life through various nonhuman life forms to artificial life forms, including those symbolic thresholds most familiar to library and information science (LIS) researchers. The intent is to illustrate potential opportunities for LIS research beyond its present boundaries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a framework that describes six semiotic threshold zones (presemiotic, protosemiotic, phytosemiotic, zoosemiotic, symbolic and polysemiotic) and notable work being done by researchers in each.

Findings

While semiotic researchers are still defining the continuum of semiotic thresholds, this focus on thresholds can provide a unifying framework for significance as human and nonhuman interpretations of a wide variety of signs accompanied by a better understanding of their relationships becomes more urgent in a rapidly changing global environment.

Originality/value

Though a variety of semiotic-related topics have appeared in the LIS literature, semiotic thresholds and their potential relationships to LIS research have not been previously discussed there. LIS has traditionally tasked itself with the recording, dissemination and preservation of knowledge, and in a world that faces unprecedented environmental and global challenges for all species, the importance of these thresholds may well be considered as part of our professional obligations in potentially documenting and archiving the critical differences in semiosis that extend beyond purely human knowledge.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 79 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 21 June 2013

Francisco Conejo

1853

Abstract

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2009

Haslinda Yusoff and Glen Lehman

The purpose of this paper is to understand the motives behind corporate environmental reporting in Malaysia and Australia from an alternative perspective, i.e. through semiotics.

2371

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the motives behind corporate environmental reporting in Malaysia and Australia from an alternative perspective, i.e. through semiotics.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews are made on the annual reports of the top 50 public companies in both countries, and the uses of business languages in those reports are investigated. The research concentrates on the significations of environmental messages made through paradigmatic and syntagmatic tests.

Findings

Corporate environmental disclosures made by the public companies in Malaysia and Australia signify similar form of motives. The tones, orientations, and patterns of environmental disclosures indicate that environmental information is a strategic mechanism used towards enhancing good corporate reputation.

Research limitations/implications

Environmental reporting plays a significant role in promoting corporate “green” image in conjunction with the aims for better social integration.

Practical implications

Semiotics offers a useful basis that enables a greater understanding of why companies prepare and disclose environmental information. Such an understanding holds the potential to provide ideas and guide policy‐makers, and other stakeholders (and users) of corporate environmental information.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to comparatively investigate the corporate motives and intention of environmental reporting practices via the application of semiotics on a two‐country data, specifically Malaysia and Australia.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

Virginia Valentine

Shows how semiotics can be used to see the relationship between children and their development, on the one hand, and the culture that structures how they think and feel, on the…

1810

Abstract

Shows how semiotics can be used to see the relationship between children and their development, on the one hand, and the culture that structures how they think and feel, on the other. Develops a “brand mirror” for today’s children to express the self image they see encoded in various semiotic “languages”. Illustrates this by the example of Nike sportswear, whose messages encode an image of empowerment through sports, and especially the success of Black sportspeople despite adversity; as children are relatively powerless they can identify with this, and the brand has helped in the promotion of Black culture. Moves on to the second example of Peperami, whose successful marketing was semiotically built on two meaning systems of “meatness” and “snackness”.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2012

Kaushik Sridhar

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis that examines the semiotics of triple bottom line (TBL) and how it has been developed since its inception in the early…

2347

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis that examines the semiotics of triple bottom line (TBL) and how it has been developed since its inception in the early 1990s.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted over a period of nine months, during which semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 40 organizations around the world that were considered to be organizations having best practices in non‐financial reporting. The key interviewees were managers and heads of the sustainability departments within the organization.

Findings

This study has attempted using semiotics and coding to show parallel themes within how organizations perceive TBL. The codes of language, compliance, integration and limitations provide symbolic attempts by which sustainability managers create and communicate the perception of “corporate sustainability” through TBL reporting in order to satisfy external pressures and stakeholders. A semiotic analysis of TBL has shown that these four codes or concepts do in fact have a common interpretive scheme.

Research limitations/implications

The non‐financial reporting process or TBL reporting process tend to be conducted and developed by a sustainability team within an organization, rather than just by an individual. The interviews conducted in this research paper are with the head of the sustainability departments at each organization and hence this is a potential limitation in terms of understanding the semiotic powers of TBL.

Originality/value

While the codes explained in this paper do not show the entire culture and views on non‐financial reporting, they do capture a major aspect of it through the eyes of TBL and provide examples of how semiotics can be used to study and map the systems of meaning employed by members of a certain occupational setting. Having a semiotic view provides many conclusions about the study of an organizational culture or framework.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen and Marie-Nathalie Jauffret

The impact of colour is acknowledged within the marketing field. However, research on colour communication is limited, with most prior studies focusing on pre-defined meanings or…

10805

Abstract

Purpose

The impact of colour is acknowledged within the marketing field. However, research on colour communication is limited, with most prior studies focusing on pre-defined meanings or colour associations. The purpose of this paper is to reveal insights into colour meaning and propose an alternative view to understanding colour communication.

Design/methodology/approach

The study takes a conceptual approach and proposes Peircean semiotics to understand colour communication. The proposed framework is applied to analyse a set of colour meanings detected by prior colour research.

Findings

The study elucidates the underlying mechanism of how colour is read and interpreted in various marketing activities, and how meaning is conveyed. This study addresses this mechanism by identifying colour semantics and colour as a symbolic, iconic and indexical sign.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the scholarly knowledge of colour in marketing. It enriches the understanding of how consumers interpret representations of single visual signs expressed in contexts such as products, brands and brand packaging to make informed product decisions.

Practical implications

By understanding consumer interpretation as a stage in the communication process, marketers can develop more informed marketing activities to communicate the intended meanings. This may well strengthen the brand identity and contribute to the perceived brand value.

Originality/value

By elaborating on how colours convey meanings and the mechanism that explains such meanings, this study demonstrates that colour meaning is far more than mere association. The study contributes to the current knowledge of colour by facilitating a deeper understanding of how consumers interpret representations of single visual cues expressed in various contexts.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1996

SØREN BRIER

This article is a contribution to the development of a comprehensive interdisciplinary theory of LIS in the hope of giving a more precise evaluation of its current problems. The…

426

Abstract

This article is a contribution to the development of a comprehensive interdisciplinary theory of LIS in the hope of giving a more precise evaluation of its current problems. The article describes an interdisciplinary framework for lis, especially information retrieval (IR), in a way that goes beyond the cognitivist ‘information processing paradigm’. The main problem of this paradigm is that its concept of information and language does not deal in a systematic way with how social and cultural dynamics set the contexts that determine the meaning of those signs and words that are the basic tools for the organisation and retrieving of documents in LIS. The paradigm does not distinguish clearly enough between how the computer manipulates signs and how librarians work with meaning in practice when they design and run document mediating systems. The ‘cognitive viewpoint’ of Ingwersen and Belkin makes clear that information is not objective, but rather only potential, until it is interpreted by an individual mind with its own internal mental world view and purposes. It facilitates further study of the social pragmatic conditions for the interpretation of concepts. This approach is not yet fully developed. The domain analytic paradigm of Hjørland and Albrechtsen is a conceptual realisation of an important aspect of this area. In the present paper we make a further development of a non‐reductionistic and interdisciplinary view of information and human social communication by texts in the light of second‐order cybernetics, where information is seen as ‘a difference which makes a difference’ for a living autopoietic (self‐organised, self‐creating) system. Other key ideas are from the semiotics of Peirce and also Warner. This is the understanding of signs as a triadic relation between an object, a representation and an interpretant. Information is the interpretation of signs by living, feeling, self‐organising, biological, psychological and social systems. Signification is created and con‐trolled in a cybernetic way within social systems and is communicated through what Luhmann calls generalised media, such as science and art. The modern socio‐linguistic concept ‘discourse communities’ and Wittgenstein's ‘language game’ concept give a further pragmatic description of the self‐organising system's dynamic that determines the meaning of words in a social context. As Blair and Liebenau and Backhouse point out in their work it is these semantic fields of signification that are the true pragmatic tools of knowledge organ‐isation and document retrieval. Methodologically they are the first systems to be analysed when designing document mediating systems as they set the context for the meaning of concepts. Several practical and analytical methods from linguistics and the sociology of knowledge can be used in combination with standard methodology to reveal the significant language games behind document mediation.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 52 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Book part
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Robert Smith

There is a proven linkage amongst the theories, practice, and literatures of entrepreneurship, management, and leadership. Accordingly, this chapter explores these linkages in…

Abstract

There is a proven linkage amongst the theories, practice, and literatures of entrepreneurship, management, and leadership. Accordingly, this chapter explores these linkages in policing and criminal contexts. Traditionally, the police have adopted a combination of heroic, bureaucratic, and autocratic approaches to leadership although individual police leaders do utilise a wide variety of appropriate leadership styles including charismatic and Laissez–Faire leadership. Great Man theory also influences police leadership styles and actions. Other novel appropriate leadership styles such as ‘humble’ and ‘agile’ leadership are also considered because of their potential fit with entrepreneurial policing philosophy and practice. Police leadership is immersed in the Military model of policing discussed in Chapter 2 and this includes its semiotics and symbolism. There is an inherent and ongoing tension between two very different competing leadership styles namely the ‘Commander Model’ versus the ‘Executive Model’. Both are relevant in different circumstances.

Details

Entrepreneurship in Policing and Criminal Contexts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-056-6

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 2000