Multimodality and persuasion in an audiovisual advertising piece

Abstract

Multimodality is the integration of two or more semiotic systems in the construction of textual meaning.  With the popularization of digital media, like the internet, multimodal texts are increasingly present in the lives of readers from varied social contexts, being used as instruments of persuasion to promote the consumption of goods, services or ideologies. This article aims to analyze the strategies used by audiovisual advertising, naturally multimodal, to induce viewers to consumption. For that, we present a glance at the advertisement “What makes you happy?”, produced by the Brazilian supermarket chain Pão de Açúcar, published both on TV and on the internet. As theoretical support, we use the Theory of Multimodality (KRESS and VAN LEEUWEN, 2001, KRESS, 2010) and the Grammar of Visual Design (KRESS and VAN LEEUWEN, 1996), which establish categories of analysis for visual multimodal texts. The results of the analysis show that the advertisement uses a mix of elements taken from video clips and other multimodal resources to construct meanings that lead readers to consume the ideologies and behaviors conveyed by the advertising piece, as the idea that happiness can be found at one of the stores of the supermarket chain.