Page 2 - Selling Fantasies

Abstract

Purpose – This research explains how semiotics, which is part of the human sciences'

"linguistic turn," is a valuable tool for identifying hidden meanings in Social
Media Marketing (advertising). Semiotics is concerned with symbols in the form
of images and text, as well as their underlying meaning. As a result, social media
marketing extensively uses symbols to influence product awareness and cultural
meaning. This is why semiotics is a very effective and efficient method for
analyzing social media marketing (marketing of products and ideas). This
research examines examples of social media marketing/advertisements and
discusses how potential customers from various cultural backgrounds view the
product and how the promotion of some ideas on social media influences people's
lifestyle, habits and behavior.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a literature review,
Netnography and an advertising review with visual examples (pictures) as its
research methodology. The chosen social media platforms for this study are
Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Key words – advertising, semiotics, symbols, consumer behavior, critical theory,
cultural differences.

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