Scott, L.M. Images in Advertising: The Need for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric. The Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 252-273.

Scott aims to advocate for a theory of visual rhetoric in reorienting how people study advertising images. She argues against the assumption that pictures reflect reality, toward the idea that visuals make up a symbolic system based in social and cultural conventions. Scott conducts a literature review of existing scholarship on rhetorical theories as they pertain to advertisements, and looks at different advertisements in her discussion.

Advertising images, since they are rhetorical, must have certain capabilities: they must be capable of working toward through their invention, arrangement, and delivery. Scott argues that visual elements make up a symbolic system. An ad for a refillable lipstick from Coty showcases straightforward images of the product itself; textual information appears in bullet-point fashion. The images of the product are “relevant” to the advertising of the product; realistic photographs seemingly “copy” the product. Both contribute to the ad’s assumed objectivity. An ad for Clinique depicted the product emerged in a glass of ice soda water. This ad initially comes across as nonsensical and ineffective. However, people might understand that the product “is as refreshing as a tall glass of soda with a twist” if they were to restate the ad in verbal terms (254). This forces people to think abstractly, metaphorically about this ad. An ad for Max Factor, like the Coty ad, attempts to sell lipstick. This ad features two photos – one with rows of lipstick, the other with a closeup of a model’s lipstick-covered lips. However, the approach taken here significantly alters the perception of the product. The tiered rows of lipstick tubes resemble arrangements people see in the everyday, like a church choir; the closeup of the lips highlights the contrast between the skin and the lips, as well as the meticulousness of how the lipstick is applied. The ad relies on people to understand the context-sensitive manipulation of culturally-learned symbols. Ultimately, “the designs of the ads themselves anticipate a viewer who knows certain pictorial conventions and who shares visual experiences with the makers” (256).

Many paradigms regarding advertisements’ effects on consumer response can be tied back to copy theory, or the idea that pictures resemble reality. Copy theory refers to the idea that pictures resemble reality. When it comes to experimental studies, paradigms of how advertisements affect consumers’ responses can be grouped (admittedly broadly) into two categories: classical conditioning/affective response and information processing. In classical conditioning/affective response, images have a simple value (positive/negative, yes/no); images are iconic, pointing to happenings in the empirical world; and people do not invoke interpretive activity. This categorization suggests that people should react to images in the same way, which denies people’s various backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. Information processing suggests that visuals can have a cognitive impact on people. In regard to large-scale descriptive studies of advertisements, paradigms include mechanical elements studies and content analysis. Mechanical elements studies examine the absence and presence of color, illustration, photography, and typography. Content analysis looks at the content in images; this disregards how images might be presented. Ultimately, Scott argues against the theory of copy theory, suggesting that it relies on the notion of a meditation-free perception of the visual. Additionally, seeing is very much a learned behavior.

In addressing invention, arrangement, and delivery, Scott points to several different ads at the end of her work. A lotion ad, in which different lotions “run” down a vertical structure, exemplifies invention; invention also paves the way for a Pandora’s box metaphor in a Djer-Kiss ad. In regard to arrangement, the typeface in a Honda ad changes the meanings of two uses of the word “this.” Delivery makes all the difference in the careful organization of sheets in an ad for Martex and a Wamsutta ad where all people see is the sheet.

My project for this course explores how a particular smiley works toward persuasion, even when its appearance might not suggest as much. While the smiley is not an advertisement, the concepts of visual rhetoric addressed by Scott will be relevant to my research. Additionally, Scott addresses the concept of the objective image, which we see in R. Belk (1977) and G. Kress and T. van Leeuwen (2006).