Socio-Semiotic Analysis of Billboard Advertisement Through Multimodality Theory

Abstract

Billboard advertisement is one of the simplest methods for local businesses, global corporations, and telecommunications offices to connect with the wider population. The aim of this study was to examine the advertisements displayed on billboards within the semiotic environment of Pakistan. The semiotic and linguistic choices made in the advertisements were investigated using Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) social semiotic methodology to achieve the research's objective. This study incorporated a qualitative approach using general principles to draw the multimodal elements included in the advertisement, such as utterance, image, sound, colour, gesture, and space, with the goal of capturing the producer's whole meaning and message. The theoretical foundation for this investigation was established through the socio-semiotic technique outlined by Gunther Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006). The researcher employed a convenience sampling method and collected data by photographing billboard advertisements. Researcher has analyzed the semiotic and linguistic modes in the billboard ads by using multimodality theory. The study's findings revealed that specific types of semiotic and linguistic signs were formed using several multimodal modes such as visual, verbal, spatial and gestural. This study concludes that a sign in an advertisement has a system that is formed by a combination of language and semiotic choices.

Keywords: Multimodal, socio-semiotics analysis, billboard advertisements, linguistics signs.