Is Beauty in the Eye of Beholder or in the Hand of Advertisers? : Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Magazine Beauty Products’ Advertisements through Grammar of Visual Designs

Abstract

Taking into consideration commercial advertisements as an indispensable part of the modern era that bears multifold meanings, this paper interprets visual elements of the advertisements adapted from "SHE" magazine from the perspective of the grammar of visual design proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996). By analyzing interactive meaning presented in the advertisement, this article illustrates how visual signs serve as a strong fascination to the viewers, particularly female adolescents, and effectively justifies the consumption patterns. It also elucidates how marketers practice psychological manipulation on the viewers with lower self?perceptions of physical attractiveness or self?esteem, causing dissatisfaction. The results showed that such visual semiotic resources as color, eye gaze, point of view, modality, and social distance strengthen the advertisement's semiotic quality. Overall, the study emphasizes the vitality of visual elements in the advertisement as of paramount importance where self-enhancement of the viewers and increase sales for marketers are influential motives.