Malou van der Heeft, 163277 & Khuloud Khalif, 162392 Topic words: Open and closed advertising,

Topic words: Open and closed advertising, interpretation,

relevance theory, cognitive dissonance
Master Media Innovation

The difference in open versus closed

advertisement and its interpretation
In this study, we evaluate if openness in advertisement Previous Research:
messages is an appropriate tool to deliver a brand’s advertising Even though some researchers believe open advertisements
What ... message..“Ad openness” refers to the needed amount of are a successful tool, likewise there are several researchers Why
guidance towards a certain interpretation; a high level of ad that believe the opposite. The reasons that open advertisements
openness stands forlittle guidance towards the aimed are perceived as a successful tool are because they can be used
interpretation1. The aim of this research aims to find out if the interpretation of by various international brands for global advertisements; there is no need for
open or closed advertisements works best regarding the brand of Adidas. text anymore2. However, if the amount of guidance towards the interpretation is
low, consumers can find it difficult to give the advertisement interpretation. It is
Research Question: What does the difference in openness of an advertisement also argued that consumers do not want to spend a lot of effort and time to find
mean in regards to its interpretation? meaning to the advertisement3 .

Open advertisement versus Closed advertisement

The brand: What is the difference in
Adidas is a well-known sport brand openness?
which is universally recognized. The ▷ The absence of the product
reason behind these advertisements increases the amount of possible
is to promote the running shoes. interpretations
The slogan is added in the closed ▷ Readers need to ‘solve’ what is
advertisement. With Adidas shoes, the going on in the advertisement
consumer will be able to run extremely ▷ Absence of verbal anchoring
rapid; therefore the shoes cannot be ▷ Level of brand familiarity4
captured clearly on the picture.

▷ In depth-interviews The relevance theory by Sperber and Wilson With Verbal Anchoring, we can explain

Verbal anchoring
▷ Semi-structured with 4 main themes (1986) suggests that relevance is a balance how images are processed. Within this
Relevance theory

▷ First the open advertisement, then the between effect and effort4. If a person puts research, we focus specifically on image
Methodology

Qualitative
low effort in interpreting the message of the advertisement. This means that the open
the closed advertisement was showed advertisement and it has a high effect, the advertisement has no to low ‘anchors’ for
▷ Testing: Interpretation message will be of high relevance. With the a reference point. With these ‘anchors’
relevance theory, the audience will search and ‘reference’ points, we are able to
▷6 participants: 3 male, 3 female for a meaning and when the meaning fits make adjustments to what we estimate to
▷ Age between 20 and 35 years their expectation of relevance, will stop perceive. According to some researchers,
processing. Since humans are exposed to a a clue (like a slogan) will increase the
Participants ▷ Living in The Netherlands
high amount of advertisements each day, it interpretation of the advertisement5. In this
▷ All familiar with the brand of Adidas is likely that a consumer will put low effort case the slogan is the ‘anchor’. Therefore
in the advertisement and therefore needs to we predict that within this research, based
▷ The two printed advertisements be guided towards the interpretation. on the verbal anchoring theory, the closed
advertisement will be better understood
▷ Recorder
regarding its interpretation than the open
Material
▷ Interviewed in home environment advertisement.

“
The closed advertisement was better interpreted by the participants.
..Based on the relevance theory, we can explain that the participants Somebody is jogging, in colored shoes. It’s a picture that
shows how fast someone is going, you can see the movement in the poster.”
Results ....who did not feel the relevance of the advertisement had a negative
...interpretation whereas the participants who felt the relevance
of the advertisement also interpreted it as better and being more “The slogan ads humour and helps you to connect better, it directs you towards
positive. As for the Verbal Anchoring theory, the slogan was not enough the intended message.”
as an anchor for most of the participants to be able to be interpreted.
“The slogan ads humour and helps you to connect better, it directs you.’’

To conclude:

”
▷ Closed advertisement is prefered by most participants because it led to more ‘‘Now that I have seen the closed advertisement it makes sense, the slogan
guidance and was interpreted better. brings the context into the advertisement.
▷ There are differences between the genders and how the participants interpreted
......the advertisements.

“
▷ The closed advertisement turns out to be semi-open.
“The open advertisement is missing context and that is why I
do not understand what they are trying to communicate with me.”
Therefore, we recommend research with more participants to look
‘‘It is difficult to understand the open advertisement, I can not even see in the
...into the differences between the genders. We suggest further
picture if they are actually real Adidas shoes, and what kind of Adidas shoes.’’
What’s ...research to quantify if the main conclusions are the same for a
..broader audience. Limitations of the research are the scope and
next .depth that could be expended by using several research methods

”
“Even though the advertisement is clearly about running shoes from Adidas,
you cannot see the actual sport shoe in the image.
with more participants.

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