Identifying cultural codes of students in order to develop advert messages

Abstract

Today it is necessary to improve effectiveness of advert messages used in advertising campaign of entrance exams at the Russian Plekhanov University of Economics. The problem can be resolved by designing such messages in compliance with authenticity of discourse of target audience respondents. ZMET-analysis – the method of metaphor extraction was used as the method of research. For this purpose a social survey was conducted, where a random set of well-known visual images for Russian mentality was shown to recipients, who were asked to choose from the list of psycho-emotional conditions provided in the questionnaire an unlimited number of personal associations. As a result of the social survey (the sample made up 603 people) mathematic and statistic analysis was carried out and a probability model of visual symbols impact on customer decision was built. Later a focus-group was organized (12 volunteers, 3rd year students) and a dictionary of cultural codes was developed. This dictionary was used in the enrollment campaign of 2018. To check the earlier research in-depth interview was arranged (3 participants, 3rd year students), on the basis of which the dictionary of cultural codes was revised and preliminary advert messages for entrance exams of 2019–2020 at the Russian Plekhanov University of Economics were developed.

Keywords

• archetypes
• latent symbols
• customer decisions
• method of metaphor extraction
• sense meanings
• cultural codes
• behavioral economy
• visual images