Contemporary Communication - Making Sense of Text Image and Meaning - Essay Example

Contemporary Communication: Making Sense of Text Image and Meaning Name Institution Tutor Contemporary communication: making sense of text, image, and meaning The current disturbing question is whether advertisements can be ideologically problematic. Many question arise in the current advertisements. One may tend to ask as to why people would buy to the belief at odd with their own self-interest. Alternatively, would this mean there would be a narrow range of belief, ideas, and values on corporate media? How can one account for action? An issue is said to be ideologically problematic when the ways in which the habitual practices and artifacts has an effect on particular knowledge and position for the regular users- a good example to this outfit is the audience that make up to both print and electronic media. Is the regular exposure to media, the 24 hour cable internet and other source of information influential on the position that the users on a particular knowledge or is it through thoughtful critical and analytical tact of the user of the media that give them the placement of that position they hold on the knowledge? That current and most disturbing issue has borne contention. This, to that effect, bring as to the big question as to whether the advertisement are always ideologically problematic i.e. is the exposure to advertisement that is said and repackaged time and again have influence to the knowledge and position one hold to an over advertised product ? This paper will try to demystify that misery through analytical and critical approach as follow. First and foremost through constructive critiquing consumer materialism as proper ideological form will be the first step in coming up with communication theory that will bring light rather than heat in unravelling this rather hard question if the communication posted in the advert have effect in what the consumer of the information is influenced in a wrong or proper way. It will be wise and proper to be categorical that all human being are encapsulated, ingrained and embedded in the in the vast area of world constructed with the non-human- that one is not debatable. These papers resurrect the all of these issues. It is now evidence that consumer materialism come in newer and novel form of consumer advertising, planned obsolescence also termed as problematic of the fall and empty gesture, dialogic concept of the productive- consumption as means of transcending the signified desire of other at the consumer materialisms ideological core(MCFALL, 2004, p. 87). Any advert whether on the print or electronic media will contain several aspect. These may include non-other than the gesture in passing the information, language use to communicate to the viewers, body language accompanied with the advert may be a couple of lovers in touch. All these have communication to the consumer of that information. Some of the information relayed to the consumer is self-explanatory while others such as gesture will need analytical skill to come up with intention of the information. It seems that some of the information that the consumer of the advert resort to may be misguided or misinterpreted far away from what the owner of the advert had intended. The interpretation of the gesture in a wrong way may end up causing the consumer to have wrong knowledge and in most cases, they are left unattended hence with holding a wrong influence because of the advert (MCFALL, 2004, p. 87). This could be the reason as to why there has been an increasing call to standardization of adverts. It has received an immense attention in academic literature and policy maker round tables. This has been on forefront for quite a while to do away with the misguiding gesture that for long has been not conforming to the intended purpose of the advert producers. The proposed standardization comes with the standard gesture that means a particular thing in any product. These show how advertisement can be ideologically problematic. To this, standardization will help uproot the this problem and it will no longer be the role of consumer to interpret what the advert producers intended to inform the consumer since it will be preempted through the standardization. From this one can deduce the assertion that the argument presented by this paper (MCFALL, 2004, p. 77). Closely connected to the aforementioned standardization of advertisement, is a dialogical creativity best put is production and creative consumption. The aim of this is to stimulate debate and research development by providing contrasting perspective on contemporary creativity and emerging role in consumer of the advertisement information. To enable them in interpreting triggering traditional boundaries of creativity by widening the spectrum of its domain to be wide and broad so that the consumer of the advertisement do not follow the information given blindly but through a thoughtful and thorough interrogation (KÖVECSES, 2010, p. 96). Through this the consumer are expected to be empowered and the information that they will be having and the stand about given product that may have been hyped by the advertisement will be informed. This move of empowering the consumer to have an informed decision about the information they are fed with through advertisement confirm to the argument that the advertisements can be ideologically problematic and many a consumer usually have a wrong information regarding information given and may be wrongly influenced. By extension, its evidence shows that consumer manipulation of fashion product by means of creative exploitation of fake information. In other words, interpretation, symbolic elaboration, and innovation are not only part of production but acquire even greater emphasis during consumption especially during advertisement and contribute to affirmation of the common habit. Due to this effect, the boundary between production and consumption is ever becoming thinner and thinner as the consumer interpretation of the information given to them is misinterpreted and a newer product is created in their mistaken interpretation. Through this the manufacturer are enjoying the new and novel; product created in the mind of consumer while the existing product in the hands is very different. Thus why the advertisement is seem that is joining and merging production and consumption of products thus leading to the most debated question of the time that advertisement can be ideologically problematic (HARRINGTON, & BIELBY, 2000). Dialogical creativity represents a complementary lens in the understanding of the market changes and dynamics around the production and consumption of the products in socially complex and multifaceted environment. Through this, one is able to polarize attention over the moment of production and leave the creative operas (advertisement creators) orphans of the most manipulated parent i.e. the consumers. Through this is simple to bring those who come with the advertisement into light that add through information what they have not produce into their product of the manufacturing firms. This decoration of the product through advertisement that was never done by the manufacturer is what constitute the ideological problematic of the advertisements. It is as if the advertisement by this creative makers move the consumer from the zone that it is not theirs of consumption to a much newer arena of production of newer products in their mind. This how ideologically problematic that advertisement can be to the consumer of the creatively created advertisement (SPENCE, & VAN HEEKEREN, 2005, p. 42). Elaboration on these line of thought, dialogical dimension of creativity calls for action the consumer who at least contribute to the translation of the artistic content in a trifecta domain i.e. through analytical interpretation, through individual identity construction and negotiation and through sharing and tribalism . Coming to interpretation, as said by Spence, “what has been forgotten is that circumstances change cases, contexts change text. The received views of the aesthetic suggest that the aesthetic effect is internal to the text and universal property of its form… We want to explore how far grounded aesthetic are apart not in thing , but process which make consumption pleasurable and vital” consumer are actually part of process of cultural production, as far as they provide original meaning and participate to metabolizing and transferring those meaning (SPENCE, & VAN HEEKEREN, 2005, p. 47). Second to the interpretation is through individual identity construction and negotiation. Consumer also takes part in the process of selection and appropriation of creative products, which are pivotal levers in constructing and socializing individual Identity. According to Carlo, D (2011) being human-human is in ness-means to be creative in the sense of remaking the world for our self as we make and find our place and identity. This is to say that the consumer also take part in identify construction through enhanced by the advertisement. If the advertisement are not ideal may negate this second most crucial part of the consumers in interpretation of the materials and products. The advertisement need not to be manipulative, as they will tend to obscure the inner individual identity construction and negotiation of the product. Through this the advertisement will cease from being manipulative and ideologically problematic (CIARLO, 2011, p. 105). Finally, on the trifecta, the sharing and tribalism is very important to this effect. If the individual identity construction represent a process that, far from excluding dynamic of socialization, still is mainly focused on individual self (ego-centered process), consumer of creative products can also be engaged in the elaboration of the contents they wish to share with anonymous other or members of retro-directed processes. This is where the advertisements deny the consumer the chance of sharing and tribalism. Advertisement being ideologically problematic as the assertion of this paper, they manipulate the consumer through construction of new product in the mind and thus block the consumer from progressing to the individual identity of the product. This make them to hold a wrong position and stick to the placement that is not real due to the indoctrination with the knowledge that is far from being real( CIARLO, 2011, p.117). As if that is not enough, the unintended consequences of the advertisement due to their creative action, some adverts experts usual adopt a waiving attitude. In the name of shared renovated awareness of role and potential of public space such as print and electronic media, they accept to loss the control over their creative acts and consumption of the products in order to increase interest in the consumption of their products. This mindset of not interested in campaigning for the products to the bigger multitude once the name has been made through the prior advertisement will cause the lust of the regular consumer of the product fond of knowing what new in the market. These mere absences (consciously waivered presence) create fondness and in that effect create tension. This is the silent advertisement that is purposely intended to manipulate the consumer of the products that is why it can be said that advertisement can be ideologically problematic. From the onset, it has been clear that the advertisement can be ideologically problematic as shown in this paper. Several pointers that are very illustrative can affirm to this assertion. The point of standardization of the advertisement is very thoughtful idea that has an intention of consumer of information contained in the advertisement does not influence their stand on that product neither should their knowledge be influenced by the very advertisement. Standardization of advert has resolved this gap to bridge. Consumers are also encouraged in constructive analyzing of the consumer materialism that will help in having a more informed knowledge that is generated from within not by wave or strength of the advert or how influential it may be. This has been encouraged to prevent advertisement consumption from being part of production so that those that are charge with advertisement publicize the advert to an extent of covering its defects. Also in this paper, the dialogical creativity has been captured and how it brings out the theme of the paper in nitty-gritty. REFFERENCE MCFALL, E. R. (2004). Advertising: a cultural economy. London [u.a.], Sage Publications. CIARLO, D. (2011). Advertising empire: race and visual culture in imperial Germany. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press. SPENCE, E. H., & VAN HEEKEREN, B. (2005). Advertising ethics. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson/Prentice Hall. KÖVECSES, Z. (2010). Metaphor a practical introduction. New York, Oxford University Press. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=535440. HARRINGTON, C. L., & BIELBY, D. D. (2000). Popular culture: production and consumption. Malden, Mass, Blackwell Publishers. Read More