Verbal And Visual Signs On Airlines Advertisements: A Semiotic Study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Ida Sang
Hyang Widhi Wasa, the Almighty God, for the endless and precious grace, so that
I could finish this writing in time.
In this occasion, I also express my great thanks to Prof. Dr. I Nengah
Sudipa, M.A as my first supervisor and also Dr. I Wayan Resen,
M.A.,M.App.Ling as my second supervisor, for their patience in guiding me and
giving me valuable advices, supports, corrections, and suggestions in completing
this writing. My sincere appreciations are extended to I Gusti Ngurah Parthama,
S.S., M.HUM as the Head of English Department and Drs. I Gede Putu Sudana,
MA as my academic supervisor, all of the lecturers of the English Department for
their intentions and assistance and valuable knowledge throughout my academic
years of study, and all staff members in Faculty of Letters and Culture for their
kindly assistance.
I dedicate this study to my beloved family, my father dr.P Ngurah Lanang
Mahendra and my mother Ir. Ni Komang Tastrini Anggreni and my sister Ayu
Sukma Adelia ST, MSc also my best partner I Gede Angga Partha SE, for the
biggest supports and motivations, without their support this writing could not be
completed in time. I would like also to thank my friends, Shinta, Intan, Firda,
Adit, Ugek, Gek sel, and all of my friends in 2012 generation in English
Department Faculty in non regular program, KKN-PPPM XI Unud Ayunan
Village and economic faculty in regular program who cannot be mentioned one by
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
In the global era, advertisement exists everywhere because we cannot walk
down the street, go through our email, read a magazine or take a train without
encountering one. Whether we are alone, with our friends or even in a crowded
situation, advertisement may be always with us, even though only on the label of
something we are using. (Leech, 1974). The use of advertisement as a means of
communication is multi purposes as a news or as public place notice for gathering
and obtaining information about something‟s new (new arrival of product, product
launching or promoting sales and service), as a government site to launch the new
regulation, a warning, national information, politics, etc. As a communication for the
public, the companies usually use the verbal and visual communication for making
people interested in the product itself.
Advertisement as a key component of modern marketing particularly visual
marketing, focuses on the studying and analysing how images can be used to make
objects the centre of visual communication. The product and its visual
communication become inseparable, and their fusion is what reaches out to people,
engages them and defines their choices. For the visual communication the companies
use multimedia tools to make the market interseted.
2
The advertisement itself using interactive multimedia information in a digital
form is becoming important issue. Among all multimedia types (text, image, graphic,
audio, and video), video is the most challenging since all other media information can
be combined into a single data stream video. Many companies already understand the
effectiveness of video to reach consumers through advertising. Because visually
stimulating advertisement with strong messaging can play a major role in influencing
buying decisions, and many companies have allocated large portions of their
marketing budgets away from television and toward the digital. Video marketing
strategies now must include deployment on TV, the Internet and on smartphones and
tablets to ensure that potential customers see an add and make a purchase
(Widiastrini, 2013).
The main purpose of this research is to analyze the meaning of advertisement
that inform its readers based on semiotics as the major approach for the main subject
of this paper. Semiotics is the study of sign and symbols, and of their meaning and
use (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2007). The advertisement in videos of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines are two types seen from the semiotic
viewpoint that obviously consist of sign, symbol, and meaning. Semiotic therefore
can be difined as the general study of the signs (Halliday, (1986:3)). His main idea
about the definition of semiotics is a study of sign systems-in other words, the study
of meaning in most general sense, and Linguistics itself is a kind of semiotics.
Saussure (1974) states semiotics is the science of the life of sign in society.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2007) defines semiotics as the study of signs
3
and symbols and of their meaning and use. Semiotic is defined as “a science which
studies the life of signs at the heart of social life”. This study is very advantageous in
studying verbal and visual or non verbal signs. (de Saussure, as cited in Chandler,
1997). According to Dyer (1993:124), since the sign is the bedrock of
communication, it might be hard to explain in a bit more detail the nature and form of
sign. Sign known as a communication, because it is used to communicate and
delivered the messages and meaning of something. Semiotics and Persuasion in
Marketing Communication can be understood by looking at advertising campaigns as
compositions of signs, and understanding the underlying relationships with the
meanings they may convey is essential to do.
According to Haliday (1985:43), a text is language in operation and a product
of its environment and functions in that environment. (Dyer, 1993:86) states that the
verbal sign is the lyric in the form of text and word. Copy writer are well known for
playing the words and manipulating or distorting every meaning. They break the rules
of language for effect, use words out of contact and even make up new ones. Plain
direct language can attract attention and emphasis the picture. It means that the verbal
signs as the language are also supported by the visual or nonverbal signs
(Mirayanti,2007). The verbal aspects have something to deal with text and words. In
the video of advertisements, there must be meaning from the words or there is also
the verbal in the advertisement (Maulita,2013).
4
1.2 Problems of Study
Based on the background above, the problems can be formulated as follows:
1. What kinds of verbal and visual signs are used in the Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisments?
2. How are the meaning of
verbal and visual signs found in the Garuda
Indonesia and Singapore Airlines flight advertisements ?
1.3 Aims of Study
Based on the explanation above, the aims of study can be divided into two. In
general, the aim of this study is to apply the semiotic theory, by the father of
modern linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure (as citied in Chandler, 1997), that is a
science which studies the life of signs.
Specifically, the aims of this study can be formulated as follows :
1. To describe the kinds of verbal sign and visual signs in Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisements.
2. To analyze the meaning of verbal and visual sign in the Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisements.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
The scope of discussion in this study is limited to the analysis of signs and
meanings, especially about the use of verbal and visual signs in Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airline advertisements. They are analyzed by using semantic theory on the
study of signs, and by using the theory of the verbal and visual communication
5
elements. These theories describe the verbal and visual signs used in the Garuda
Indonesia, and Singapore Airlines advertisements.
1.5 Research Methods
Research method is a scientific procedure for collecting and classifying the data
as well as for the analysis and description of the data. This reasearch collected the
data directly from the source, and the method is the way or process and the
procedures to approach the problems and find the answers because the data can be
found, collected, and analyzed for the purpose.
1.5.1 Data Source
Data sources are taken from subject research. To support the study, the videos
that the airlines used for marketing and for making people interested in using the
service of the airlines in international flight. The data were produced by the official
account of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines
companies on
www.youtube.com .The data was choosen because in the videos there are visual
communication for their customers who watched the videos. This study also can
make the differences for the both airlines advertisements. Those airlines the origin is
from Southeast Asia and compete in many world achievements.
In (www.skytrak.com ) there are presented the data that shows the
competition between them in many achievements that they already get. In The
world‟s Best Airlines announced at 2014 World Airline Awards Singapore Airline
6
got the first position and Garuda Indonesia is ranked seventh. For the World‟s Best
Airline Cabin Staff in 2014 Garuda Indonesia had successfully got the first rank
followed by Singapore Airline in the third rank. Then, for the World‟s Best Economy
Class Airlines Garuda Indonesia in the second rank and Singapore Airline in sixth
rank. In World‟s Best Business Class Airlines, Singapore Airline got third rank and
for Garuda Indonesia it is in eighth rank. And the last achievement is in term of
Skytrak winner or the “nicest” flight attendant uniform. In that achievement,
Singapore Airline successfully got the first rank and followed by Garuda Indonesia in
the sixth rank.
In that world achievements, we can know that Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airline are really competent and very competitive to be the best airlines in
the world which is representative of Southeast Asia.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
The data were collected by observation and documentary methods. The
information was collected through note taking after reading intensively about the
theories of semiotics, verbal and visual communication that helped in collecting and
completing the data. Documentary method was used to get the data from the video of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements. Observation method in this
study was done by watching advertisements through the video of Garuda Indonesia
and Singapore Airlines to get the verbal and visual sign of communication from
those advertisements.
7
The data was also collected by library research and online research in which
the data was collected from www.youtube.com and then observed to obtain accurate
and completed data from online media.
1.5.3 Method and technique of analyzing data
A descriptive method is a method designed to determine if two or more
variables are associated with each other. Descriptive method is used to describe the
advertisements video from Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements
and gave a clear description through some theories and perspective. After the data got
indentify first and then classified into the language use in semantic, and visual
communication for videos itself. Descriptive method used for be more interesting and
full of details based on the theories are Dyer‟s theory about the principle of visual
communication elements and the theory of semiotic system by de Saussure (1990).
Dyre‟s theories also about the verbal and visual signs.
The procedure of analysis was conducted as follows : each advertisement
video is analyzed with descriptive method using Dyer‟s theory to observed the verbal
and visual communication elements used in Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines
advertidsements videos. Furthermore, the analysis of the expressed about the basic
concept of paralanguage. The data also analyzed and found the differences between
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements based on the theories.
8
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Literary Reviews
This chapter reviews some undergraduate papers underlying the study. To get
the deeper understanding in analyzing visual communication signs in Garuda
Indonesia 2014 and Singapore Airlines advertisements video,
it is necessary to
reconsider several studies that had been conducted previously correlated with this
topic of verbal and non-verbal sign. Moreover it is also needed to discover from
international article. It elaborates related theories concerning the visual and verbal
sign, written by previous students from English Department, Faculty of Letters,
Udayana University giving the benefits for supporting this study.
Widiastrini (2013) in her work “ The Analysis of Visual Communication
Elements “Burn It Down” Video Clips By Linkin Park” analyses the kind of visual
communication elements used in that video clip, and the song messages represented
into the „Burn It Down” Clips by Linkin Park. The aims of this study are to analyze
the use of visual communication, to know how the lyrics from the song represent the
video, and the last is to find out the power of visual communication used in the video
clip. She used qualitative method and used library and online methods for collecting
the data. This study used the theories of visual communication from Dyer and the
theories from Saussure . She finds out 17 elements of visual communication elements
9
and also 7 categories from elements of paralangue. This study really relevant with
this work because the theories are the same that are used semiotic and visual
communication concept. The weakness of this study is it doesn‟t explain more about
the meaning of the videos, but for the strength it can explain deeper about visual
communication and easy to understand.
Jaya (2010) in his paper “Visual Communication Elements Used in The
Michael Jackson‟s Video Clips” analyse the visual communication elements that used
in the Michael Jackson video clips. The aims of his study are to observe the use of
visual communication and to find out the song message related to representation of
visual communication elements in the video clips. He used documentary and
observation methods. For the theories this study used the theorie from Dyer‟and
Leech‟s. He finds out the song message is related to the representation of visual
communication elements, 17 elements from 5 categories of visual communication
elements and from the song analysis. The visual communication have important role
in conveying the song message, because it is easier to understand what the clip need
to convey from the observation of visual sign supported with the text. This study is
really relevant with this paper because the main theory is the same, that is theory
from Dyer‟s about the visual communication. The weakness of his study is the
explanation for the song message is hard to understand, but for the strength his study
has good topic.
Mirayanti (2007) in her work “Pharmacy Medicines Advertisements : A
Semiotic Analysis” analyses the verbal and visual signs in the advertisements, the
10
relation between verbal and visual sign, and also the paradigmatic and syntagmatic
structure. This study has the aims , they are to describe the verbal and visual sign
from the advertisement and the relationship also the last is to determine the
paradigmatic and syntagmatic structures from the advertisements. She used
descriptive method which she got the data from the magazine. She finds out the
verbal signs that appeared in advertisement are more complex and contain meaningful
texts that had the signified concept to give the reader information clearly about
product. For the visual sign also support the product‟s image to resemble the product
reality. From the relation between the concept and advertisement the study shows
three types of advertisement which are related and supported each other. The last
from the analysis of paradigmatic devided into three: there are the medium which is
printed advertisement, genre which is commercial, and theme which is about health.
For syntagmatic analysis, she finds the advertisement belong the spatial relationship.
This study is really related with this paper because she used verbal and visual sign
that really can support the data. This study has a weakness that is from the
explanation of the verbal that used paradigmatic and syntagmatic is difficult to
understand with the topic, but for the strength this study is really interesting study
with verbal communication from pharmacy advertisement.
According to Manuela Epure (2014) in title Semiotics and Persuasion in
Marketing Communication, by looking at advertising campaigns as compositions of
signs and understanding the underlying relationships with the meanings they may
convey, marketers gain better control over the communication process, and thus,
11
create the opportunity to communicate more effectively with the target population.
This, in turn, paves the way for developing powerful marketing tools in terms of
transmitting truly persuasive messages. In this article review, the current theoretic and
practical uses of semiotics are in advertising, particularly in relation to the concept of
persuasion. To this end, it is argued that semiotics allows for the practical distinction
of persuasion from manipulation in marketing communication. Because signs are as
volatile as they are powerful, understanding the semiotic structure of the
communication is crucial: some message will almost surely be transmitted in a
powerful way, whether it is the one that was intended or not. To demonstrate these
concepts in practical application, we construct a basic, comparative semiotics analysis
of three recent public service campaigns in Romania. The resulting analysis provides
a clear framework for understanding the various shortcomings commonly noted with
respect to these campaigns. More importantly, however, the semiotics investigation
suggests that these techniques may constitute a powerful social marketing and other
domains of marketing, not just consumer advertising. The weakness of this study is
too focused on the visual of the advertisements, so that make the verbal explanation
not too clear, but for the strength this study really interesting because they have
research that really colorful and make the readers hard to get bored early, also for the
visual communication explanation is really easy to understand.
12
1.2
Concepts
This part talks about advertisement, visual and verbal sign.
1.2.1
The Concept of Advertisement
The word “advertising” is a Latin word which means “to turn attention of
people to a specific thing.” It is a paid publicity. According to (Oxford Dictionary,
2007) the word „to advertise‟ means „to make generally or publicly known‟, describe
publicly with a view to increasing sales. Advertising is thus, a mass communication
tool, which is essentially in paid form by a firm or an individual and the ultimate
purpose of which is to give information, develop attitudes & induce action, which are
useful to the advertiser. Advertising may be taken as the most efficient means of
reaching people with product information. Advertising presents a mass persuasion
apart from disseminating information to the prospective buyers about the product and
the producer. While creating awareness and popularity, it seeks to persuade. It is a
more effective and extensive and less expensive way of creating contacts.
The advertising message can be communicated linguistically or visually, with
both co-occuring in certain contexts. Lund (1947) and Vestegaard (1985:49 as citied
in Owen (1998)) demonstrate taht the advetiser has five key tasks to fulfill to achieve
success, they are :to attract attention, to arouse interest, to simulate desire, to create
conviction, and to get action.
13
1.2.2 The Concept of Visual Sign
Visual communication is one form of non-verbal communication. In this case,
the communicator is producer while the communicant is the consumer. The activities
of visual communication can be in the forms of explanation, statement, news, posters,
songs, displays, banners, brochurs, etc. The point is in the visual communication,
communicators also use visualization. Visual communication is also one way of
delivering a message visually, that is, through something that can be seen, may
include images, illustration, text or other forms, as well as in principle, as long as the
message can be seen. Visual communication itself, in fact, is a process of delivering a
message, using the appeal form, composition, composition both in terms of the use of
color, or even the selection. (Dyer, 1993: 124)
Visual communication are tought the basic physic of light, anatomy and
phisiology of the eye, cognitive and perception theories, color theories, aesthetic,
natural reading patterns, design principles, semiotics, persuasion, camera/filming
actions and image-types, and so forth.
Visual sign in advertisements can be described as the picture inside such as
the logo or products. Based on theories of Dyer, there are six main principle
components of visual communication, such as the following:
a. Appearance
Appearance or human physical appearance refers to look of human
beings. There are infinite variations in human phenotypes, though society
reduces the variability to distinct categories. Physical appearances of human,
14
in particular those attributed which are regarded as important for physical
attractiveness are believed by antrophologist to significantly affect the
development of personality and social relations. Some differences in human
appearance are genetic, others are the result of age, lifestyle, or disease, and
many are the result of personal adornment. Some people have traditionally
linked some differences in personal appearance such as ethnicity. Different
cultures place different degrees of emphasis on physical appearance and its
importance to social status and other phenomena. Appearance can be related
to the following : age, gender, national, hair, body and size, looks.
b. Manner
Manner is a behavior of emotion at any one time. Manners are the
unenforced standads of conduct which demonsrate that a person is proper,
caring, non-grouchy, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify
or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is
no formal system for punishing transgressions, the main informal; punishment
being social disappoval.
c. Activity
Activity refers to kind of bodily movemnet or posture, including facial
expression, which transmits a message to the observer.
d. Props
Props refers to an object placed beneath or againts a sturcture to keep it
from falling or shaking; a support or one that serves as a means of support or
assistance.
15
e. Setting
Setting refers to the place or type of surrounding where something is
positioned or where an event take place.
f. Photographs or images
Image may be two-dimensional, such as photograph, screen display, as
well as a three-dimensional, such as a statue or hologram.They may be
captured by optical devices such as cameras, mirrors,lenses, telescopes,
microscopes, etc.
1.2.3 The Concept of Verbal Sign
Verbal sign is the sentences or language that appear in advertisement. The
advertisers are trying to place their product in shifting of meaning to give it an image.
To do that, they need to draw on associations we have with the words. (Dyer,
1993:124) states that word not only describe things, communicate feelings,
associations and attitudes, but they also bring ideas to our minds. Goodwin (1994)
states that the text is a explanation of verbal sign video. It is about the content, which
sometimes hard to understand because it is influenced by the language used in the
video.
According to Lyons (1978), verbal component is more central than visual one.
The meaning of linguistic expression is commonly described in terms of the
signification in which words and another expression are held to be signs that signify
other things. Commonly, The verbal signs all of advertisements use sentence to
16
describe the product. For example : the brand of the product, slogan or the address of
the company.
1.3
Theoretical famework
The theories that are used in this study include theory of semiotics by Eco
(1979), theories of Verbal and Visual Sign by Dyer (1993), and theory of meaning
by Leech (1974).
1.3.1 Theory of Semiotics
Umberto Eco‟s A Theory of Semiotics (1976) is a critique of the theory that the
meaning of signals or signs is determined by the objects (i.e. things or events) to
which they refer, and is a rejection of the notion that „iconic‟ signs must be likenesses
of their objects. Eco argues that the meaning of signals or signs is not necessarily
determined by whether they refer to actual objects, and he explains that the existence
of objects to which signals or signs may correspond is not a necessary condition for
their signification. Eco also criticizes the notion that a typology of signs may clarify
the nature of sign function, arguing instead that any typology of signs may fail to
explain how different kinds of signs may share the same modes of production. Eco
thus argues that the correct approach to developing a unified semiotic theory should
not be to propose a typology of signs but should be to provide a method of
investigating how sign-vehicles may function as signs and to provide a means of
understanding how sign-vehicles may be produced and interpreted. (Eco, 1976:158)
17
According to Eco, a general semiotic theory should include not only a theory
of how codes may establish rules for systems of signification but a theory of how
signs may be produced and interpreted. A theory of codes may clarify aspects of
„signification,‟ while a theory of sign-production may clarify aspects of
„communication.‟ Eco defines „signification‟ as the semiotic event whereby a sign
„stands for‟ something, and he defines „communication‟ as the transmission of
information from a source to a destination. Communication is made possible by the
existence of a code, or by a system of signification. Without a code or a system of
signification, there is no set of rules to determine how the expression of signs is to be
correlated with their content. The use of a code or a system of signification in order to
correlate the expression and content of signs may be necessary in order to establish
any form of communication.
Eco explains that semiotics may involve many different areas of research, such
as: zoosemiotics (including the study of animal communication), paralinguistics
(including the study of how voice control or vocal qualities may contribute to
communication), kinesics and proxemics (including the study of how physical
gestures or postures may contribute to communication), tactile communication
(including the study of how behavior such as a pat on the back or a slap on the
shoulder may function as a mode of communication), visual communication
(including the study of how photographs, drawings, maps, or diagrams may function
as modes of communication), medical semiotics (including the study of medical signs
and symptoms), text theory (including the study of literary texts), and the study of
18
rhetoric, the study of ancient alphabets and secret codes, the study of formalized
languages (including the study of mathematical, logical, or scientific languages), the
study of natural languages (including biological and environmental signs), the study
of olfactory signs, the study of codes of taste, the study of musical codes, the study of
systems of objects (including the study of architecture and of industrial design), the
study of cultural codes (including the study of group and family behavior), and the
study of mass communication (including the study of media such as television,
newspapers, magazines, and film). (Eco, 1976:191)
1.3.2 Theory of Meaning
Proposed by Leech (1974), theory of meaning is concerned with conceptual
meaning and connotative meaning. But actually, „meaning‟ in its widest sense can be
categorized into seven different ingredients, the other five types are the stylistic
meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, collocative meaning, and thematic
meaning.
1. Conceptual Meaning:
Conceptual meaning is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic
communication. It can be shown to be integral to the essential functioning of
language in a way those other types of meaning are not, which is not to say
that conceptual meaning is a way the most important element of an act of
linguistic communication. The aims of conceptual meaning to provide for any
given interpretation of a sentence, a configuration of abstract symbols which
19
is „semantic representation‟ and which shows exactly what someone needs to
know if he want to distinguish that meaning from all other possible sentence
meaning in language and to match that meaning with the right syntactic and
phonological expression.
2. Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning is communicative value an expression has by virtue of
what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content. Connotative
meaning is equally obvious that connotation will vary, to some extent, from
individual to individual within the same speech community. Connotative
meaning is open-ended in the same way as our knowledge and beliefs about
the universe are open ended.
3. Stylistic Meaning
The aspect of communication which have to do with the situation in which an
utterance takes place is the Stylistic Meaning. It is that which a piece of
language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. The stylistic
meaning dimensions and levels of usage within the same language.
4. Affective Meaning
Affective meaning as this short of meaning can be called, is often explicitly
conveyed through the conceptual or connotative content of the word used. The
language can also reflect the personal feeling of the speaker, including their
attitude to the listener, or their attitude to something that they‟re talking about,
if the linguistic situation a bit more extended.
20
5. Reflected Meaning
Reflected meaning is one of the less important types of meaning involve an
interconnection on the lexical level of language. It is the meaning which arises
in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one senses of word forms part
of our response to another sense. The case where reflected meaning intrudes
through the sheer strength of emotive suggestion is most strikingly illustrated
by words which have a taboo meaning.
6. Collocative Meaning
Consist of the association a word acquires on account of the meaning of
words which tend to occur in its environment. Pretty and handsome share
common ground in the meaning „good-looking‟, but may be distinguished by
the range of nouns with they are likely to co-occur- or collocate. But, not all
the differences in potential co-occurrence need to be explained as collocative
meaning: some may be due to stylistic differences, other to conceptual
differences.
7. Thematic Meaning
Thematic meaning is the communicated by the way in which speaker or writer
organizes the message, in term of ordering, focus and emphasis. It is often felt
for example, that an active sentences has a different meaning from its passive
equivalent, although in conceptual content they seem to be the same.
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Ida Sang
Hyang Widhi Wasa, the Almighty God, for the endless and precious grace, so that
I could finish this writing in time.
In this occasion, I also express my great thanks to Prof. Dr. I Nengah
Sudipa, M.A as my first supervisor and also Dr. I Wayan Resen,
M.A.,M.App.Ling as my second supervisor, for their patience in guiding me and
giving me valuable advices, supports, corrections, and suggestions in completing
this writing. My sincere appreciations are extended to I Gusti Ngurah Parthama,
S.S., M.HUM as the Head of English Department and Drs. I Gede Putu Sudana,
MA as my academic supervisor, all of the lecturers of the English Department for
their intentions and assistance and valuable knowledge throughout my academic
years of study, and all staff members in Faculty of Letters and Culture for their
kindly assistance.
I dedicate this study to my beloved family, my father dr.P Ngurah Lanang
Mahendra and my mother Ir. Ni Komang Tastrini Anggreni and my sister Ayu
Sukma Adelia ST, MSc also my best partner I Gede Angga Partha SE, for the
biggest supports and motivations, without their support this writing could not be
completed in time. I would like also to thank my friends, Shinta, Intan, Firda,
Adit, Ugek, Gek sel, and all of my friends in 2012 generation in English
Department Faculty in non regular program, KKN-PPPM XI Unud Ayunan
Village and economic faculty in regular program who cannot be mentioned one by
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
In the global era, advertisement exists everywhere because we cannot walk
down the street, go through our email, read a magazine or take a train without
encountering one. Whether we are alone, with our friends or even in a crowded
situation, advertisement may be always with us, even though only on the label of
something we are using. (Leech, 1974). The use of advertisement as a means of
communication is multi purposes as a news or as public place notice for gathering
and obtaining information about something‟s new (new arrival of product, product
launching or promoting sales and service), as a government site to launch the new
regulation, a warning, national information, politics, etc. As a communication for the
public, the companies usually use the verbal and visual communication for making
people interested in the product itself.
Advertisement as a key component of modern marketing particularly visual
marketing, focuses on the studying and analysing how images can be used to make
objects the centre of visual communication. The product and its visual
communication become inseparable, and their fusion is what reaches out to people,
engages them and defines their choices. For the visual communication the companies
use multimedia tools to make the market interseted.
2
The advertisement itself using interactive multimedia information in a digital
form is becoming important issue. Among all multimedia types (text, image, graphic,
audio, and video), video is the most challenging since all other media information can
be combined into a single data stream video. Many companies already understand the
effectiveness of video to reach consumers through advertising. Because visually
stimulating advertisement with strong messaging can play a major role in influencing
buying decisions, and many companies have allocated large portions of their
marketing budgets away from television and toward the digital. Video marketing
strategies now must include deployment on TV, the Internet and on smartphones and
tablets to ensure that potential customers see an add and make a purchase
(Widiastrini, 2013).
The main purpose of this research is to analyze the meaning of advertisement
that inform its readers based on semiotics as the major approach for the main subject
of this paper. Semiotics is the study of sign and symbols, and of their meaning and
use (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2007). The advertisement in videos of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines are two types seen from the semiotic
viewpoint that obviously consist of sign, symbol, and meaning. Semiotic therefore
can be difined as the general study of the signs (Halliday, (1986:3)). His main idea
about the definition of semiotics is a study of sign systems-in other words, the study
of meaning in most general sense, and Linguistics itself is a kind of semiotics.
Saussure (1974) states semiotics is the science of the life of sign in society.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2007) defines semiotics as the study of signs
3
and symbols and of their meaning and use. Semiotic is defined as “a science which
studies the life of signs at the heart of social life”. This study is very advantageous in
studying verbal and visual or non verbal signs. (de Saussure, as cited in Chandler,
1997). According to Dyer (1993:124), since the sign is the bedrock of
communication, it might be hard to explain in a bit more detail the nature and form of
sign. Sign known as a communication, because it is used to communicate and
delivered the messages and meaning of something. Semiotics and Persuasion in
Marketing Communication can be understood by looking at advertising campaigns as
compositions of signs, and understanding the underlying relationships with the
meanings they may convey is essential to do.
According to Haliday (1985:43), a text is language in operation and a product
of its environment and functions in that environment. (Dyer, 1993:86) states that the
verbal sign is the lyric in the form of text and word. Copy writer are well known for
playing the words and manipulating or distorting every meaning. They break the rules
of language for effect, use words out of contact and even make up new ones. Plain
direct language can attract attention and emphasis the picture. It means that the verbal
signs as the language are also supported by the visual or nonverbal signs
(Mirayanti,2007). The verbal aspects have something to deal with text and words. In
the video of advertisements, there must be meaning from the words or there is also
the verbal in the advertisement (Maulita,2013).
4
1.2 Problems of Study
Based on the background above, the problems can be formulated as follows:
1. What kinds of verbal and visual signs are used in the Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisments?
2. How are the meaning of
verbal and visual signs found in the Garuda
Indonesia and Singapore Airlines flight advertisements ?
1.3 Aims of Study
Based on the explanation above, the aims of study can be divided into two. In
general, the aim of this study is to apply the semiotic theory, by the father of
modern linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure (as citied in Chandler, 1997), that is a
science which studies the life of signs.
Specifically, the aims of this study can be formulated as follows :
1. To describe the kinds of verbal sign and visual signs in Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisements.
2. To analyze the meaning of verbal and visual sign in the Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airlines flight advertisements.
1.4 Scope of Discussion
The scope of discussion in this study is limited to the analysis of signs and
meanings, especially about the use of verbal and visual signs in Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airline advertisements. They are analyzed by using semantic theory on the
study of signs, and by using the theory of the verbal and visual communication
5
elements. These theories describe the verbal and visual signs used in the Garuda
Indonesia, and Singapore Airlines advertisements.
1.5 Research Methods
Research method is a scientific procedure for collecting and classifying the data
as well as for the analysis and description of the data. This reasearch collected the
data directly from the source, and the method is the way or process and the
procedures to approach the problems and find the answers because the data can be
found, collected, and analyzed for the purpose.
1.5.1 Data Source
Data sources are taken from subject research. To support the study, the videos
that the airlines used for marketing and for making people interested in using the
service of the airlines in international flight. The data were produced by the official
account of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines
companies on
www.youtube.com .The data was choosen because in the videos there are visual
communication for their customers who watched the videos. This study also can
make the differences for the both airlines advertisements. Those airlines the origin is
from Southeast Asia and compete in many world achievements.
In (www.skytrak.com ) there are presented the data that shows the
competition between them in many achievements that they already get. In The
world‟s Best Airlines announced at 2014 World Airline Awards Singapore Airline
6
got the first position and Garuda Indonesia is ranked seventh. For the World‟s Best
Airline Cabin Staff in 2014 Garuda Indonesia had successfully got the first rank
followed by Singapore Airline in the third rank. Then, for the World‟s Best Economy
Class Airlines Garuda Indonesia in the second rank and Singapore Airline in sixth
rank. In World‟s Best Business Class Airlines, Singapore Airline got third rank and
for Garuda Indonesia it is in eighth rank. And the last achievement is in term of
Skytrak winner or the “nicest” flight attendant uniform. In that achievement,
Singapore Airline successfully got the first rank and followed by Garuda Indonesia in
the sixth rank.
In that world achievements, we can know that Garuda Indonesia and
Singapore Airline are really competent and very competitive to be the best airlines in
the world which is representative of Southeast Asia.
1.5.2 Method and Technique of Collecting Data
The data were collected by observation and documentary methods. The
information was collected through note taking after reading intensively about the
theories of semiotics, verbal and visual communication that helped in collecting and
completing the data. Documentary method was used to get the data from the video of
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements. Observation method in this
study was done by watching advertisements through the video of Garuda Indonesia
and Singapore Airlines to get the verbal and visual sign of communication from
those advertisements.
7
The data was also collected by library research and online research in which
the data was collected from www.youtube.com and then observed to obtain accurate
and completed data from online media.
1.5.3 Method and technique of analyzing data
A descriptive method is a method designed to determine if two or more
variables are associated with each other. Descriptive method is used to describe the
advertisements video from Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements
and gave a clear description through some theories and perspective. After the data got
indentify first and then classified into the language use in semantic, and visual
communication for videos itself. Descriptive method used for be more interesting and
full of details based on the theories are Dyer‟s theory about the principle of visual
communication elements and the theory of semiotic system by de Saussure (1990).
Dyre‟s theories also about the verbal and visual signs.
The procedure of analysis was conducted as follows : each advertisement
video is analyzed with descriptive method using Dyer‟s theory to observed the verbal
and visual communication elements used in Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines
advertidsements videos. Furthermore, the analysis of the expressed about the basic
concept of paralanguage. The data also analyzed and found the differences between
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines advertisements based on the theories.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE, CONCEPTS, AND THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Literary Reviews
This chapter reviews some undergraduate papers underlying the study. To get
the deeper understanding in analyzing visual communication signs in Garuda
Indonesia 2014 and Singapore Airlines advertisements video,
it is necessary to
reconsider several studies that had been conducted previously correlated with this
topic of verbal and non-verbal sign. Moreover it is also needed to discover from
international article. It elaborates related theories concerning the visual and verbal
sign, written by previous students from English Department, Faculty of Letters,
Udayana University giving the benefits for supporting this study.
Widiastrini (2013) in her work “ The Analysis of Visual Communication
Elements “Burn It Down” Video Clips By Linkin Park” analyses the kind of visual
communication elements used in that video clip, and the song messages represented
into the „Burn It Down” Clips by Linkin Park. The aims of this study are to analyze
the use of visual communication, to know how the lyrics from the song represent the
video, and the last is to find out the power of visual communication used in the video
clip. She used qualitative method and used library and online methods for collecting
the data. This study used the theories of visual communication from Dyer and the
theories from Saussure . She finds out 17 elements of visual communication elements
9
and also 7 categories from elements of paralangue. This study really relevant with
this work because the theories are the same that are used semiotic and visual
communication concept. The weakness of this study is it doesn‟t explain more about
the meaning of the videos, but for the strength it can explain deeper about visual
communication and easy to understand.
Jaya (2010) in his paper “Visual Communication Elements Used in The
Michael Jackson‟s Video Clips” analyse the visual communication elements that used
in the Michael Jackson video clips. The aims of his study are to observe the use of
visual communication and to find out the song message related to representation of
visual communication elements in the video clips. He used documentary and
observation methods. For the theories this study used the theorie from Dyer‟and
Leech‟s. He finds out the song message is related to the representation of visual
communication elements, 17 elements from 5 categories of visual communication
elements and from the song analysis. The visual communication have important role
in conveying the song message, because it is easier to understand what the clip need
to convey from the observation of visual sign supported with the text. This study is
really relevant with this paper because the main theory is the same, that is theory
from Dyer‟s about the visual communication. The weakness of his study is the
explanation for the song message is hard to understand, but for the strength his study
has good topic.
Mirayanti (2007) in her work “Pharmacy Medicines Advertisements : A
Semiotic Analysis” analyses the verbal and visual signs in the advertisements, the
10
relation between verbal and visual sign, and also the paradigmatic and syntagmatic
structure. This study has the aims , they are to describe the verbal and visual sign
from the advertisement and the relationship also the last is to determine the
paradigmatic and syntagmatic structures from the advertisements. She used
descriptive method which she got the data from the magazine. She finds out the
verbal signs that appeared in advertisement are more complex and contain meaningful
texts that had the signified concept to give the reader information clearly about
product. For the visual sign also support the product‟s image to resemble the product
reality. From the relation between the concept and advertisement the study shows
three types of advertisement which are related and supported each other. The last
from the analysis of paradigmatic devided into three: there are the medium which is
printed advertisement, genre which is commercial, and theme which is about health.
For syntagmatic analysis, she finds the advertisement belong the spatial relationship.
This study is really related with this paper because she used verbal and visual sign
that really can support the data. This study has a weakness that is from the
explanation of the verbal that used paradigmatic and syntagmatic is difficult to
understand with the topic, but for the strength this study is really interesting study
with verbal communication from pharmacy advertisement.
According to Manuela Epure (2014) in title Semiotics and Persuasion in
Marketing Communication, by looking at advertising campaigns as compositions of
signs and understanding the underlying relationships with the meanings they may
convey, marketers gain better control over the communication process, and thus,
11
create the opportunity to communicate more effectively with the target population.
This, in turn, paves the way for developing powerful marketing tools in terms of
transmitting truly persuasive messages. In this article review, the current theoretic and
practical uses of semiotics are in advertising, particularly in relation to the concept of
persuasion. To this end, it is argued that semiotics allows for the practical distinction
of persuasion from manipulation in marketing communication. Because signs are as
volatile as they are powerful, understanding the semiotic structure of the
communication is crucial: some message will almost surely be transmitted in a
powerful way, whether it is the one that was intended or not. To demonstrate these
concepts in practical application, we construct a basic, comparative semiotics analysis
of three recent public service campaigns in Romania. The resulting analysis provides
a clear framework for understanding the various shortcomings commonly noted with
respect to these campaigns. More importantly, however, the semiotics investigation
suggests that these techniques may constitute a powerful social marketing and other
domains of marketing, not just consumer advertising. The weakness of this study is
too focused on the visual of the advertisements, so that make the verbal explanation
not too clear, but for the strength this study really interesting because they have
research that really colorful and make the readers hard to get bored early, also for the
visual communication explanation is really easy to understand.
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1.2
Concepts
This part talks about advertisement, visual and verbal sign.
1.2.1
The Concept of Advertisement
The word “advertising” is a Latin word which means “to turn attention of
people to a specific thing.” It is a paid publicity. According to (Oxford Dictionary,
2007) the word „to advertise‟ means „to make generally or publicly known‟, describe
publicly with a view to increasing sales. Advertising is thus, a mass communication
tool, which is essentially in paid form by a firm or an individual and the ultimate
purpose of which is to give information, develop attitudes & induce action, which are
useful to the advertiser. Advertising may be taken as the most efficient means of
reaching people with product information. Advertising presents a mass persuasion
apart from disseminating information to the prospective buyers about the product and
the producer. While creating awareness and popularity, it seeks to persuade. It is a
more effective and extensive and less expensive way of creating contacts.
The advertising message can be communicated linguistically or visually, with
both co-occuring in certain contexts. Lund (1947) and Vestegaard (1985:49 as citied
in Owen (1998)) demonstrate taht the advetiser has five key tasks to fulfill to achieve
success, they are :to attract attention, to arouse interest, to simulate desire, to create
conviction, and to get action.
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1.2.2 The Concept of Visual Sign
Visual communication is one form of non-verbal communication. In this case,
the communicator is producer while the communicant is the consumer. The activities
of visual communication can be in the forms of explanation, statement, news, posters,
songs, displays, banners, brochurs, etc. The point is in the visual communication,
communicators also use visualization. Visual communication is also one way of
delivering a message visually, that is, through something that can be seen, may
include images, illustration, text or other forms, as well as in principle, as long as the
message can be seen. Visual communication itself, in fact, is a process of delivering a
message, using the appeal form, composition, composition both in terms of the use of
color, or even the selection. (Dyer, 1993: 124)
Visual communication are tought the basic physic of light, anatomy and
phisiology of the eye, cognitive and perception theories, color theories, aesthetic,
natural reading patterns, design principles, semiotics, persuasion, camera/filming
actions and image-types, and so forth.
Visual sign in advertisements can be described as the picture inside such as
the logo or products. Based on theories of Dyer, there are six main principle
components of visual communication, such as the following:
a. Appearance
Appearance or human physical appearance refers to look of human
beings. There are infinite variations in human phenotypes, though society
reduces the variability to distinct categories. Physical appearances of human,
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in particular those attributed which are regarded as important for physical
attractiveness are believed by antrophologist to significantly affect the
development of personality and social relations. Some differences in human
appearance are genetic, others are the result of age, lifestyle, or disease, and
many are the result of personal adornment. Some people have traditionally
linked some differences in personal appearance such as ethnicity. Different
cultures place different degrees of emphasis on physical appearance and its
importance to social status and other phenomena. Appearance can be related
to the following : age, gender, national, hair, body and size, looks.
b. Manner
Manner is a behavior of emotion at any one time. Manners are the
unenforced standads of conduct which demonsrate that a person is proper,
caring, non-grouchy, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify
or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is
no formal system for punishing transgressions, the main informal; punishment
being social disappoval.
c. Activity
Activity refers to kind of bodily movemnet or posture, including facial
expression, which transmits a message to the observer.
d. Props
Props refers to an object placed beneath or againts a sturcture to keep it
from falling or shaking; a support or one that serves as a means of support or
assistance.
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e. Setting
Setting refers to the place or type of surrounding where something is
positioned or where an event take place.
f. Photographs or images
Image may be two-dimensional, such as photograph, screen display, as
well as a three-dimensional, such as a statue or hologram.They may be
captured by optical devices such as cameras, mirrors,lenses, telescopes,
microscopes, etc.
1.2.3 The Concept of Verbal Sign
Verbal sign is the sentences or language that appear in advertisement. The
advertisers are trying to place their product in shifting of meaning to give it an image.
To do that, they need to draw on associations we have with the words. (Dyer,
1993:124) states that word not only describe things, communicate feelings,
associations and attitudes, but they also bring ideas to our minds. Goodwin (1994)
states that the text is a explanation of verbal sign video. It is about the content, which
sometimes hard to understand because it is influenced by the language used in the
video.
According to Lyons (1978), verbal component is more central than visual one.
The meaning of linguistic expression is commonly described in terms of the
signification in which words and another expression are held to be signs that signify
other things. Commonly, The verbal signs all of advertisements use sentence to
16
describe the product. For example : the brand of the product, slogan or the address of
the company.
1.3
Theoretical famework
The theories that are used in this study include theory of semiotics by Eco
(1979), theories of Verbal and Visual Sign by Dyer (1993), and theory of meaning
by Leech (1974).
1.3.1 Theory of Semiotics
Umberto Eco‟s A Theory of Semiotics (1976) is a critique of the theory that the
meaning of signals or signs is determined by the objects (i.e. things or events) to
which they refer, and is a rejection of the notion that „iconic‟ signs must be likenesses
of their objects. Eco argues that the meaning of signals or signs is not necessarily
determined by whether they refer to actual objects, and he explains that the existence
of objects to which signals or signs may correspond is not a necessary condition for
their signification. Eco also criticizes the notion that a typology of signs may clarify
the nature of sign function, arguing instead that any typology of signs may fail to
explain how different kinds of signs may share the same modes of production. Eco
thus argues that the correct approach to developing a unified semiotic theory should
not be to propose a typology of signs but should be to provide a method of
investigating how sign-vehicles may function as signs and to provide a means of
understanding how sign-vehicles may be produced and interpreted. (Eco, 1976:158)
17
According to Eco, a general semiotic theory should include not only a theory
of how codes may establish rules for systems of signification but a theory of how
signs may be produced and interpreted. A theory of codes may clarify aspects of
„signification,‟ while a theory of sign-production may clarify aspects of
„communication.‟ Eco defines „signification‟ as the semiotic event whereby a sign
„stands for‟ something, and he defines „communication‟ as the transmission of
information from a source to a destination. Communication is made possible by the
existence of a code, or by a system of signification. Without a code or a system of
signification, there is no set of rules to determine how the expression of signs is to be
correlated with their content. The use of a code or a system of signification in order to
correlate the expression and content of signs may be necessary in order to establish
any form of communication.
Eco explains that semiotics may involve many different areas of research, such
as: zoosemiotics (including the study of animal communication), paralinguistics
(including the study of how voice control or vocal qualities may contribute to
communication), kinesics and proxemics (including the study of how physical
gestures or postures may contribute to communication), tactile communication
(including the study of how behavior such as a pat on the back or a slap on the
shoulder may function as a mode of communication), visual communication
(including the study of how photographs, drawings, maps, or diagrams may function
as modes of communication), medical semiotics (including the study of medical signs
and symptoms), text theory (including the study of literary texts), and the study of
18
rhetoric, the study of ancient alphabets and secret codes, the study of formalized
languages (including the study of mathematical, logical, or scientific languages), the
study of natural languages (including biological and environmental signs), the study
of olfactory signs, the study of codes of taste, the study of musical codes, the study of
systems of objects (including the study of architecture and of industrial design), the
study of cultural codes (including the study of group and family behavior), and the
study of mass communication (including the study of media such as television,
newspapers, magazines, and film). (Eco, 1976:191)
1.3.2 Theory of Meaning
Proposed by Leech (1974), theory of meaning is concerned with conceptual
meaning and connotative meaning. But actually, „meaning‟ in its widest sense can be
categorized into seven different ingredients, the other five types are the stylistic
meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, collocative meaning, and thematic
meaning.
1. Conceptual Meaning:
Conceptual meaning is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic
communication. It can be shown to be integral to the essential functioning of
language in a way those other types of meaning are not, which is not to say
that conceptual meaning is a way the most important element of an act of
linguistic communication. The aims of conceptual meaning to provide for any
given interpretation of a sentence, a configuration of abstract symbols which
19
is „semantic representation‟ and which shows exactly what someone needs to
know if he want to distinguish that meaning from all other possible sentence
meaning in language and to match that meaning with the right syntactic and
phonological expression.
2. Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning is communicative value an expression has by virtue of
what it refers to, over and above its purely conceptual content. Connotative
meaning is equally obvious that connotation will vary, to some extent, from
individual to individual within the same speech community. Connotative
meaning is open-ended in the same way as our knowledge and beliefs about
the universe are open ended.
3. Stylistic Meaning
The aspect of communication which have to do with the situation in which an
utterance takes place is the Stylistic Meaning. It is that which a piece of
language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. The stylistic
meaning dimensions and levels of usage within the same language.
4. Affective Meaning
Affective meaning as this short of meaning can be called, is often explicitly
conveyed through the conceptual or connotative content of the word used. The
language can also reflect the personal feeling of the speaker, including their
attitude to the listener, or their attitude to something that they‟re talking about,
if the linguistic situation a bit more extended.
20
5. Reflected Meaning
Reflected meaning is one of the less important types of meaning involve an
interconnection on the lexical level of language. It is the meaning which arises
in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one senses of word forms part
of our response to another sense. The case where reflected meaning intrudes
through the sheer strength of emotive suggestion is most strikingly illustrated
by words which have a taboo meaning.
6. Collocative Meaning
Consist of the association a word acquires on account of the meaning of
words which tend to occur in its environment. Pretty and handsome share
common ground in the meaning „good-looking‟, but may be distinguished by
the range of nouns with they are likely to co-occur- or collocate. But, not all
the differences in potential co-occurrence need to be explained as collocative
meaning: some may be due to stylistic differences, other to conceptual
differences.
7. Thematic Meaning
Thematic meaning is the communicated by the way in which speaker or writer
organizes the message, in term of ordering, focus and emphasis. It is often felt
for example, that an active sentences has a different meaning from its passive
equivalent, although in conceptual content they seem to be the same.