Methodological Issues in Cultural Semiotics of Advertising
Methodological Issues in Cultural Semiotics of Advertising

Summary/Abstract: One of the main outcomes of globalization is the emergence of global brands. Such brands are virtually recognizable in multiple cultures, although it is very difficult to predict if the meanings associated with a brand are to be quasi-identical in different cultural spaces of the world. Different advertising strategies, on the one hand, and culturally associated values on the other hand influence the way people decode brands, as specific advertising signs. This article discusses the possibility of quantitative and qualitative research in advertsphere research (the semiotic space outside which no decoding of advertising sign is possible), given the epistemological assumptions beneath the concept of advertsphere and suggests the main directions to follow in an attempt to study advertising signs’ meaning in different cultures. This kind of cross-cultural analysis is subject to several challenges, such as understanding the social dimensions of advertising signs, acknowledging the role played by the country of origin of different brands, dealing with local adaptation of a global concept etc, but above all is challenged by the choice of a method of inquiry. The main purpose of this article is to discuss this particular methodological challenge and to situate the cultural semiotic research in perspective for future inquiry.

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