IJMR Lecture: Semiotics – Two Models of Meaning Creation?

Semiotics is becoming an increasingly influential force in marketing, and one of the most common approaches featured in recent IJMR articles. Within semiotics there are different ways of understanding how meaning is created – a culturally driven model and a consumer driven model.

The former argues that meanings are encapsulated in pre-formed cultural codes. The latter argues that meaning is created by consumers and that this is how our meanings – both cultural and otherwise – are derived from our perceptual experience.

In this session Malcolm Evans and Chris Barnham will outline how these two semiotic models work, how they differ from each other, and how they also overlap in certain respects. The evening will also involve a practical interactive session where the audience will have the opportunity to evaluate different brand communications in the context of these two models.