Narrative Analysis Of TV Commercials

Abstract

TV commercials as multifarious media texts use various contrivances of which narrative and fundamental elements of short stories can be mentioned. These texts also make use of cultural codes in order to alter audiences' opinion and to function as influential apparatus of persuasion. So, in order to read and interpret such texts one would need to call theories and insights from diverse disciplines such as Narratology, advertising, TV and Communication studies. Based on theoretical dissimilarities, this research started with differentiating two sorts of TV commercials: those based on narrative structures and others without being developed on a narrative base. In doing so I conducted a survey among aired TV commercials during a season (Winter 2008) and due to the results I selected TV commercials developed on a narrative base to study. In terms of narrative structure there can be distinguished four main categories. Also, I divided these ads into four categories based on the ways in which these ads represented their main actors. The basic criterion in this classification was the relationship the ads established between main actors, goods, and type of preferred consumption. Using semiotics and critical discourse analysis methodology, I studied the chosen samples in dept. As the findings of my research show and you can see in this article polarization in story persons/ personalities is based on their "consumption" or "their knowledge about the advertised good or service". The ads due to their textual nature are open to different interpretations.

Keywords

• Critical Discourse Analysis
• Narrative
• Narrative Analysis
• Semiotics
• TV Commercial