social advertising against binge drinking in...

Mariya Dolapchieva

Social advertising against binge drinking in Australia

A multimodal approach for analysing how a social campaign is trying to raise awareness to the issue and

motivate change in behaviour

Supervisor : Carmen Daniela Maier

5/1/2012

BA in Marketing and Management Communication, Aarhus school of business, 2012

BA Thesis in Marketing and Management Communication Mariya Dolapchieva, 2012

Abstract

There is no doubt that modern Western society faces some challenges in its strive to improve health

issues and limit hazardous practices as smoking, drinking, illegal use of other drugs, overeating etc.

However, it is not a secret that these problems have been waiting for a solution for quite a long time

and they are still issued as topics requiring a great effort by both authorities on the one hand and

every single individual on the other. Having said that and acknowledging my personal interest in

social marketing campaigns, I have chosen to present and analyse an Australian anti binge drinking

campaign named ´What are you doing to yourself?´ and issued by the New South Wales

Government. The focus of the analysis is on the realization of the communicative attempt whose

intention is to raise awareness of the negative consequences of binge drinking among young people.

Therefore, my problem statement consists of the following questions:

How is the New South Wales Government of Australia trying to raise awareness of the negative

consequences of binge drinking among young people in its `What are you doing to yourself? `

campaign? What visual and textual strategies have been applied in the campaign posters and guide

for communicating to and involving the Australian youth?

In order to conduct an in depth analysis the visual and textual strategies embedded in the campaign

are examined by applying an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, including social semiotics and

persuasion theories. Additionally, the social marketing health belief model has also been

implemented in attempt to provide a greater understanding of the marketing context in which the

campaign has been released.

The analysis is based on the hermeneutics method in a search for correct interpretation of the

campaign message and embraces a multimodal analysis, based on Halliday´s ideational,

interpersonal and textual metafunction. Initially, the analysis examines the six print ads of the

campaign, based on Kress and van Leeuwen´s notion of the same metafunctions. Afterwards, the

focus turns to the campaign´s guide and its text is interpreted and compared to the visual material in

a search for connection between textual and visual representation. Thereafter, attention is paid to the

persuasive strategies in the analysed material, examined according to Halmari and Virtanen, Gass

and Seiter and Stӧckl´s theoretical frameworks on persuasion. Finally, the results of the campaign

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analysis are interpreted according to the social marketing health belief model, which takes into

consideration some social issues as key factors for the success or failure of the campaign.

Summarizing the findings of the campaign it can be deducted that the focus of the message is on the

viewer itself, approached as `you` in both the visual and textual material and represented

simultaneously as offer and active participant. This illustration of contrasting participants and roles,

of two contradicting worlds, finds place in both the visuals and the guide, constructing logical

connection between them. Moreover, the lack of exclamation mark at the end of the interrogative

sentences in the guide shows an attempt for covered imposing of the author´s power on the reader.

Visually this is executed by the lack of direct gaze at the viewer of the images. The campaign

evokes emotional feelings as pity, compassion and helplessness, striving to engage further with the

viewer. However, the fact that alcohol products are still widely advertised by the alcohol industry

can be considered as a big obstacle for the successful communication of the campaign.

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Table of content:

1. Introduction………………………………………….……………………………………………….5

1.1. Purpose and problem statement…………………………………………………....5

1.1.1. Purpose……………………………………………………………………………………5

1.1.2. Problem statement……………………………………………………………….......6

1.2. Delimitations………………………………………………………………………………...6

1.3. Structure of the BA thesis………………………………………………………………7

2. Background information………………………………………………………………………...7

3. Theory…………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

3.1. Traditional semiotics, social semiotics and multimodality………………9

3.2. Persuasion in multimodal texts……………………………………………………14

3.3. Social marketing theories…………………………………………………………….16

4. Method…………………………………………………………………………………………………17

4.1. Strengths and weaknesses of theoretical framework…………………...18

5. Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………….19

5.1. Print ads……………………………………………………………………………………..19

5.1.1. Ideational metafunction………………………………………………………….19

5.1.2. Interpersonal metafunction…………………………………………………….20

5.1.3. Textual metafunction………………………………………………………………22

5.2. Guide…………………………………………………………………………………………..22

5.2.1. Ideational metafunction…………………………………………………………..23

5.2.2. Interpersonal metafunction……………………………………………………..25

5.2.3. Textual metafunction………………………………………………………………26

5.3. Persuasive strategies……………………………………………………………………27

5.4. Marketing strategies…………………………………………………………………….28

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6. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………….30

7. References…………………………………………………………………………………………32

8. Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………...34

Characters 53729

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1. Introduction

In the intensively developing world nowadays, authority instances and business companies often

strive to reach their target audience through deliberately structured communicative attempts. One

widely applied way of such communication is a campaign. Considered mainly as a tool for

successive marketing communication in the business world, a campaign is also used as an approach

for dealing with social issues and problems aiming to change or reinforce target group behaviour

(Kotler & Lee, 2008). Such a campaign is executed and analysed in the context of social marketing

because of the aspects it focuses on, namely to achieve change in behaviour and social practices.

Moreover, taking into account the fact that convincing people to change their already existing

behaviour with a new one hardly relies on a well-executed persuasive communicative effort, a

turning point for the success of the campaign becomes its message. For that reason, this paper turns

focus to the way in which one Australian social campaign against binge drinking has constructed

and executed its message, with focus on textual, visual, persuasive and marketing strategies applied

in it. The social campaign was named `What are you doing to yourself?` and was launched by the

State Government of the most populated area in Australia.

1.1 Purpose and problem statement

1.1.1. Purpose

Taking into consideration certain characteristics of the Australian young population, the

Government needed to adapt its highly informational and educational message into gripping, easy to

understand and apply appeal. As a result, an official anti-binge drinking campaign named `What are

you doing to yourself?´ including six print ads, interactional web site and a guide was launched in

the state of New South Wales, the most populous state in the country, encompassing the whole of

the Australian capital territory. Responsible for the initiative was the State Government itself

(abbreviated as NSW Government). Main goal of the campaign was to raise awareness about the

negative consequences of binge-drinking and the problems young people were facing while and

after excessive drinking. Hence, the purpose was to make the Australian youth take action. How

exactly the NSW Government tried to address and communicate to the Australian youngsters by

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visual print ads and textual messages is going to be explored in the main body of the paper. In an

attempt to examine to what extent the promoted images and textual representations were

communicating this issue, the focus of this thesis pays considerable attention to different aspects in

the multimodal representation, discussing what visual and textual strategies have been applied and

how they have been adapted to the target group.

1.1.2 Problem statement

How is the New South Wales Government of Australia trying to raise awareness of the

negative consequences of binge drinking among young people in its `What are you doing to

yourself? ` campaign? What visual and textual strategies have been applied in the campaign

posters and guide for communicating to and involving the Australian youth?

In order to answer these questions I employ an interdisciplinary theoretical framework including

traditional and social semiotics theory, multimodality, discourses, social marketing and persuasion

theories.

1.2. Delimitations

The paper focuses on the six print ads of the campaign and the guide. However, the interactive web

site that was also part of the campaign is not included in this analysis. Characterised as highly

interactive, it needs to be distinguished from the rather traditional printed ads and guide, which

impose one-direction communication from sender to receiver and do not allow such interplay

between authorities and young people. Moreover, with its focus on the specific campaign, the thesis

does not include similar anti- drinking campaigns which have been released in Australia prior and

after this specific one that are only mentioned as background information for the scope of the

research. My choices have been motivated by the fact that I intend to perform a detailed analysis of

both text and images.

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1.3 Structure of the BA Thesis

The thesis is divided into six main chapters. It starts with an Introduction, which presents the

purpose, the problem statement and the delimitations of the chosen in the thesis method.

Background information for the campaign and the context in which it was released are main topic of

chapter two. The paper continues with chapter three, Theory, accounting for the main theoretical

framework of social semiotics, persuasion and social marketing and explains in details theories and

a model lately applied in the analytical part. Method, chapter four, presents in more structured way

the method in which the campaign is analysed, embracing the described in chapter three theories

from different fields. Furthermore, it inspects the strengths and weaknesses of the preferred

theoretical framework. Chapter five is named Analysis and includes an in depth analysis of the

campaign where the ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions are applied for analysing

the campaign material. In the last chapter, Conclusions, the paper strives to summarize the findings

of the analysis and make conclusions about the effectiveness of the campaign.

2. Background information

Looking at statistical information from previous years, Australia needed to admit threating changes

in binge drinking practices:

1) the population was starting to drink at an earlier age with 90 percent stating that they have tried

their first drink at the age of 14 (NHMRC,2007, p.33).

2) Teenagers and young people aged 20-29 were more likely to consume alcohol at levels

associated with short-term harm and long-term risk (AIHW, 2008, p.23).

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3) NSW´s minister for Health stated that “According to NSW Health, the biggest increase in

alcohol-related Emergency Department admissions since 2000, is among 18-24 year-olds – up to

130 per cent – while female admissions within that group rose an alarming 200 per cent”1.

The Australian Government replayed to these social tendencies with its official position to address

the high levels of binge drinking among young people by a national binge drinking campaign `Don

´t turn a night out into a nightmare`, launched on 21 November, 2008 and ran until 30 June 20102.

Moreover, the Government defined binge drinking as a community large problem and encouraged

state communities to join the process: `Binge drinking among young people is a community wide

problem that demands a community wide response, including an emphasis on young people taking

greater personal responsibility for their behaviour` (Ibid.). In this context and while the national

campaign ` Don´t turn a night out into a nightmare `was still running, the NSW State Government

decided to join the process as well.

The official campaign ´What are you doing to yourself?´ was launched in early January 2010. It

included six print ads, a guide named `Your guide to dealing with alcohol´ and an interactive site for

youngsters. The guide and the ads were distributed in different areas of Sidney- the Rocks, Kings

Cross and Surry Hills, all of them rich with clubs, cafes and restaurants. Considered some of the

most visited parts of Sidney these areas were also associated with high levels of alcohol related non-

domestic violence3.

The campaign was targeting at young people between 16 and 29 years old, aiming to reach the

audience during alcohol consumption. It was advertised through posters on concourses at selected

train stations and bus shelters, free on the street, through sponsorship of the Surry Hills festival,

community press advertising and washroom/in-venue advertising. `What are you doing to yourself `

ran from early January to the end of April, 2010 in a period including some of the biggest social

events for young people – return to university after summer break, music festivals, summer festival

and parties, including the gay and lesbian festival the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (Ibid.).

The homosexual discourse can be found in one of the campaign ads, addressing alcohol related

harm on guy relationships.

1 http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/2009/20090119_00.html2 http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au/internet/drinkingnightmare/publishing.nsf/Content/about-the-campaign3 http://advertising.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/what-are-you-doing-yourself

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http://advertising.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/what-are-you-doing-yourself

http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au/internet/drinkingnightmare/publishing.nsf/Content/about-the-campaign

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/2009/20090119_00.html


Some of the main points in the campaign were to increase awareness to road accidents, alcohol

related violence, unsafe sex and personal consequences. According to NSW (Ibid.) `What are you

doing to yourself`?` was executed with the idea of communicating intoxication and other serious

binge drinking outcomes as personal experiencing for the consumer of alcohol rather than negative

outcomes for others- friends, boy/girlfriend etc. How exactly this appeal was implemented in the

campaign ads and supplementing guide through visual and textual representations is examined in

details in the analysis part of the paper, right after the description of the theoretical framework.

3. Theory

The theoretical part of the research accounts for different theories in the field of semiotics and

persuasion and one social marketing model discussed and applied in attempt to provide basic

understanding of their scientific framework nowadays. Furthermore, the purpose of this part is to

provide critical understanding of the theories that have influenced social semiotics to develop from

a rooted in the frame of linguistic discipline into a separate complex multimodal approach.

Acknowledging the strong impact of persuasive techniques embedded in texts and visuals requires

some persuasive theories to be analysed as well. Moreover, one social marketing model provides a

tool for better understanding of the campaign.

3.1. Traditional semiotics, social semiotics and multimodality

The notion of what nowadays have been referred to as semiotics derived from Ferdinand de

Saussure´s (1857-19139) ideas of `semiology` and initially described one branch of linguistics.

Saussure´s ideas were strongly influenced by its philosophical understanding of the world, known in

the literature as `structuralism`, which also formed his interpretation of the overall organization of

sign systems in a search for `deep structures` of phenomena (Chandler, 2012, p.7). With his broad

knowledge in the field of linguistics, he turned focus on linguistic signs, explaining that oral and

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written texts were based on individual choices rather than social context of the communication

process (Fairclough, 1989, p.20).

In the late 1960s and the following two decades the interest to semiotics increased. Roland Barthes

(1915-1980), influenced at that time of the cultural approach and studies, developed further

Saussure´s ideas of a sign. He agreed on Saussure´s definition of signifier, but depicted the relation

between signifier and signified as much more complex structure, in which meaning of signified was

not embedded in the sign itself, but rather evoked as an idea for the interpreter. Therefore, a sign

was not necessarily having the same meaning for everyone, but was offering different

interpretations depending on the viewer. Moreover, Barthes elaborated on a broader than Saussure´s

definition of semiotics (still referred as semiology in Saussure and Barthes´ works) declaring that

`semiology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images,

gestures, musical signs, objects, and the complex associations of all of these, which form the

content of ritual, convention or public entertainment […]´ (Chandler, 2012, p.8).

Another branch of semiotics, namely social semiotics, is represented by the work of Halliday. He

constructed a theory for analysing texts with focus on the need for look into the context in which a

text was produced. The notion of context included both social and cultural element, where the

combination of these two had an impact on the words and structures chosen by the author. What he

considered a crucial factor in the analysis or interpretation of written messages was that a text was

represented by choices ` selected from the total set of options that constitute what can be meant`

(Stillar, 1998, p.15), hence considering a direct relation between situation and choose of linguistic

strategies. While context of culture was analysed in details by Halliday and referred to in his work

as a genre, the context of situation, embracing the techniques used by the creator of the text, was

analysed according to three register variables- tenor, field and mode. Furthermore, Halliday´s

register variables were referred to and realized through specific language metafunctions- the

ideational, the interpersonal and the textual one. These three metafunctions are applied as basic tool

in the analysis and therefore require a more profound explanation.

The ideational function concerns those language resources which construct the main topic of a

text, described by Halliday as `types of processes, events and actions, classes of objects, people and

institution, and the like` (Stillar, 1998, p.22). The ideational function is constructed by four sub

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functions accounting for: 1) Process types and participant roles; 2) Circumstantial roles; 3)

Time frame and perspective and 4) Concept taxonomies.

Process type and participant roles is expressed through action, mental and relational processes,

àccompanied by different classes of participants`(Stillar, 1998, p.22) involved in the events.

Action processes `contain a central participant- ´the agent´- who performs the action´ (Stillar,

1998, p.23) to a goal, or another participant in the position of acted upon. Depending on the act and

the goal this process can be performed as àffective, motion, transfer, resultative, or designative`

(Ibid.). The mental processes have two participants- a processor, the active doer of the mental act,

and a phenomenon, the object of the act. The mental event is realized through five subclasses of

verbs- perceptive, reactive, cognitive, verbal and creative, while the relational processes are

demonstrated by identificational, attributional, classificational, possession, location, existential or

ambient linking verbs (Ibid.).

The processes of circumstantial roles structure perspective on events and relations pointing to

`time, place, manner, and so on` (Stillar, 1998, p.26). Time and perspective account for the linking

of circumstantial elements to grammatical tense with a purpose to construct a time frame of `before-

now, now, or after-now` (Stillar, 1998, p.27), defining the process as ongoing or completed.

Concept taxonomies process `concerns the clustering and arrangement of lexical items´(Stillar,

1998, p.27) and contributes to the text´s cohesion and ideational content referring to repetition,

synonymy, meronymy etc.

The interpersonal resources, according to Halliday, refer to òur participation, as speakers, in the

speech situation; the role we take on ourselves and impose on others` (Stillar, 1998, p.32). With

focus on the role of interaction, interpersonal resources can be positional (used to construct speaker

´s orientation to reality) and relational (accounting for relations between writer and reader), where

speech function, modality of text, attitudinal lexis and sentence adjuncts provide deeper

understanding of these interpersonal relations (Stillar, 1998, p.33). The speech function refers to

the dialogue role assigned to the participants, identified by `four categories of speech function:

statement, question, command, and exclamation` (Stilar, 1998, p.34). Modality depicts `writer´s

attitude toward the ideational content […] of the text` (Stillar, 1998, p.35) and accounts for

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possibility, permission, obligation etc. expressed by modal verbs and modal adverbials. Attitudinal

lexis points to writer´s attitude expressed in the text by adjectives and adverbs (Ibid.).

`The resources of the textual function are used to structure the flow of information, link different

parts of the text with one another, and relate the text with its context` (Stillar, 1998, p.45).

Moreover, the notion of theme and cohesion has central point in the textual metafunction,

according to which a text is analysed for its thematic progression through unmarked, marked and

multiple themes. The theme describes `what the sentence is concerned with` (Stillar, 1998, p.46) in

terms of ordering and position of its elements. A theme becomes marked when òther sentence

elements can occur in first position´ (Stillar, 1998, p.47).

Halliday´s three metafunctions were initially meant to be only applied to text in its oral and written

form, but later the notion of this model for analysis was further extended to other modes than

language (Kress, 2001, Stӧckl, 2004, Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006). In their book `Reading

images. The grammar of visual design` (2006) Kress and van Leeuwen bring into play Halliday´s

metafunctions in a search for meaning in visuals.

In the visual analysis of the ideational metafunction, however, the two authors prefer to apply the

term `participants` for those included in the act of participating ìn something` (Kress & van

Leeuwen, 2006, p. 47). Furthermore, they define the ideational metafunction as àn array of

choices, of different ways in which objects, and their relations to other objects and to processes,

can be represented` (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.42). The ideational metafunction is divided

into two processes- narrative and conceptual one. The narrative process represents actions and

events, in which participants àre connected by a vector, they are represented as doing something to

or for each other` (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.59). The action in the narrative process is

distinguished on a basis of this vector, e.g a line or an arm. A transactional action is defined when

the vector connects two participants (unitransactional process) or two interactors (bitransactional

action process); interactors are the participants, playing the actor and goal function at the same

time (Kress & van Leeuwen ,2006). If the vector, formed by the Actor does not point at any other

participant, then the action process is non- transactional. A reaction is constructed by an eyeline

vector, which can connect two participants accounting for a transactional process or emanates from

a participant without pointing at another one, creating a non- transactional reaction process

(Kress & Leeuwen, 2006).

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The conceptual process of the ideational metafunction constructs `participants in term of their

class, structure or meaning` (Kress & Leeuwen , 2006, p.59). A conceptual process is not identified

in the analysed material and will not be discussed further.

Another type of relations, namely those between participants and the viewer are analysed by the

interpersonal function (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and expressed through the gaze. A direct

gaze counts for a demand picture as the participant establishes eye vector contact with the viewer

in a demand for something; on the other side, absence of a gaze at the viewer refers to lack of

contact between them and constructs an offer picture (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

Social distance in a picture is `a second dimension to the interactive meanings of images, related to

the `size of frame`, to the choice between close-up , medium shot and long shot` (Kress & van

Leeuwen, 2006, p.124). The third dimension of the interpersonal function, the attitude, refers to the

participant- viewer relation through subjectivity or objectivity. As far as only the subjective

attitude is relevant for this paper, it will be the one explained. Subjectivity, which presumes that the

point of view has been imposed and selected to the viewer, comprises a horizontal and vertical

angle. While the horizontal angle refers to a `relation between the frontal plane of the image-

producer and the frontal plane of the represented participants´ (Kress & van Leeuwen , 2006,

p.134), the vertical one shows the represented participants `from the point of view of power` (Kress

& van Leuwen, 2006, p.140).

Modality markers, which also constitute the interpersonal function, are range of signs used to

express `meanings of truth and falsehood, fact and fiction, certainty and doubt, credibility and

unreliability` (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.154), expressed by colour saturation, colour

differentiation, colour modulation, depth and brightness (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 160-163).

The last metafunction presented by Kress and van Leeuwen is the textual one, which examines the

composition of an image and accounts for information value, salience and framing (Kress and van

Leeuwen, 2006, p.177). Information value characterizes a picture as centred or polarized,

depending on if there is an element in the centre or not. Moreover, the information value illustrates

different ´zones of the image: left and right, top and bottom, centre and margin` (Kress & van

Leeuwen, 2006, p.177) and attaches a meaning to the composition of the elements depicting them as

given, new, ideal and real (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.179- 193). Elements, situated on the left

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side in an image are described as given, `something the viewer already knows` (Kress and van

Leeuwen, 2006, p.181), those on the right side are perceived as new, `something which is not yet

known, or perhaps not yet agreed upon by the viewer, hence as something to which the viewer must

pay special attention` (Kress & van leeuwen, 2006, p.181); those at the top are conceived as ideal,

while those in the lower section provide factual information. `The upper section tends to make some

kind of emotive appeal and to show us `what might be`; the lower section tends to be more

informative and practical, showing us `what is` (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, p.186). In addition,

the degree to which an element attracts the viewer´s attention to itself through its size, colour,

sharpness etc., accounts for salience of this same element (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, p.177),

whereas framing is used to connect or disconnect elements.

In their analysis of visually expressed meanings, Kress and van Leeuwen (1998) focus on the

interplay between visual and textual and claim that certain choices of representation influence the

meaning of the image. These choices they describe as modes and argue that every text, oral or

written, is realized through semiotic modes. For instance, in an image its view angle, composition,

perspective, colours etc. will be described as modes for visual representation.

However, the semiotic modes can interrelate in different ways, where in some cases the textual and

visual may ´complement and extend each other, or even clash and contradict´ (Kress and van

Leeuwen, 1998, p. 187). It is therefore important to analyse how in the printed ads the text relates to

the visuals and how these visuals further link to the guide. Before proceeding to this part, however,

another important strategy implemented in the campaign material needs to be considered- the

persuasive strategies implemented in the message.

3.2. Persuasion in multimodal texts

In this chapter, the focus turns on the persuasiveness of a message as another powerful tool

embedded in the communicative process and applied with the scope of directing the viewer/reader

to reach certain idea and opinion on the topic in question. Therefore, in attempt to examine some of

the theories in the field of persuasion, two groups of authors are discussed and their definitions of

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the term are provided. Furthermore, Stӧckl´s (1997) distinguishing of seven persuasive functions in

a text is included as important for the analysis, because it provides a more detailed way to evaluate

and discuss a text.

The work of Virtanen and Halmari (2004) and Gass & Seiter´s book ´Persuasion, social influence

and compliance gaining´ (2007) are applied as theoretical basis for investigating the interactive

process of persuasion with focus on its linguistic and visual manifestation.

According to Virtanen and Halmari (2004, p.3) persuasion is `all linguistic behaviour that attempts

to either change the thinking or behaviour of an audience, or to strengthen its beliefs, should the

audience already agree`. This definition is close to the one given by Gass and Seiter (2007, p. 33 )

who approach persuasion as an active process, involving `one or more persons who are engaged in

the activity of creating, reinforcing, modifying, or extinguishing beliefs, attitudes, intentions,

motivations and/or behaviours within the constraints of a given communication context`. For them

persuasion can involve attempts to extinguish or eliminate beliefs and attitudes creating new or

reinforcing old ones.

The persuader, with the intention to cause an effect, can prefer to enforce its message through two

different persuasive strategies- implicit or explicit one (Virtanen & Halmari, 2004, Gass & Seiter,

2007). The difference between these two is seen in the fact that while explicit persuasion is easy to

be detected by the receiver of the message, the implicit persuasion is `less transparent` (Virtanen

and Halmari, 2004, p.21). Even though Virtanen and Halmari (2004) admit that the preferred

linguistic choices vary according to the genre, they conclude that `the best kind of persuasion is

often implicit persuasion` (Virtanen & Halmari, 2004, p.229).

In contrast, Gass and Seiter (2007, p.188) relying on different studies both for and against

explicitness of messages, conclude that `when trying to decide whether to draw conclusions for an

audience (explicit persuasion- auth.) it is most important to know what type of person is in the

audience´. Hence, they find both persuasive techniques applicable, emphasizing two factors- how

important and personally relevant the message is and the receiver´s previous knowledge about the

topic.

The same authors also point to the emotional nature of a message as an external inducement aiming

to provoke different emotions and to increase the individual´s drive to undertake an action. They

refer to it as motivational appeals (Gass & Seiter, 2007, p.271) e.g fear appeal, guilt appeal and

pity appeal are few of the persuasive choices that can be found in a text. By contrast, Stӧckl (1997,

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in Garzone, Poncini & Catenaccio, 2007, p.36) concentrates on seven persuasive functions that

can be identified in a text- attention, comprehend, yield, memorise, imagine, distract and

please, of which only attention and comprehend are referred to as important for the analysis.

Attention points to the attractiveness of a message as perceived by the reader, whereas the

comprehend function relates to the level of easiness of the communicative attempt to be understood.

The understanding of implicit and explicit persuasion, motivational appeals and the seven

persuasive functions described above are all examined later in the analysis with the purpose to

distinguish the persuasive choices implemented in the visual and textual communicative practise of

the campaign.

3.3. Social marketing theories

Since every campaign is considered a result of specific marketing strategy, the analysis of the

chosen social campaign needs to provide an understanding of the issue from a social marketing

point of view. However, as far as the focus in the thesis is on the visual and textual representation,

the chosen marketing model is considered rather as an additional tool, which provides a deeper

understanding of the material analysed in a wider marketing context.

In a contrast to commercial marketing, social marketing focuses on behaviour and its purpose is to

achieve particular social or public good (Kotler & Lee, 2008). Hence, the purpose is to

communicate a message, which will result in change in unhealthy behaviour practices.

The Health belief model chosen for the purpose of the analysis is described in Donovan and

Henley´s book on social marketing (2003). It is adapted from Sheeran and Abraham (1996) and is

considered the first behavioural model in health education which focuses on factors, ´presumed to

influence behaviour change in response to a potential health treat´ (Donovan & Henley, 2003,

p.92). Those factors include demographic and psychological characteristics of target audience,

but also pay considerable attention to: 1) the individual´s perceived susceptibility to the disease; 2)

perceived severity of the disease; 3) perception that the recommended behaviour will

successfully prevent the threat; 4) costs and barriers for adopting the recommended behaviour

and 5) internal and external cues for action (Donovan & Henley, 2003, p.92)

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Donovan and Henley´s Health belief model (2003)

In other words, the model argues that individuals will be willing to change unhealthy behaviour if

they perceive themselves as susceptible to the problem, realize its seriousness, account for

affordability and effectiveness of benefits and there is an event, which prompts people into action

(Donovan & Henley, 2003). This model is chosen to demonstrate how the specific issue of binge

drinking has been addressed to young people, accounting for the above mentioned factors and

demonstrating possible advantages and drawbacks of the campaign.

4. Method

The method used as basic point in the research of the campaign is the hermeneutics approach of

looking at the world as a construct of meaning. To better understand the milestone of the

hermeneutics methodology, it becomes necessary to refer to one of the co- founders of modern

hermeneutics- Schleiermacher, whose main concern is how to gain insight into the understanding

of other people´s expression in search for the real meaning of a text (Sheratt, 2005). Hence,

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according to the hermeneutical idea, in attempt to understand the meaning, an individual needs to

interpret how the author has constructed it. Therefore, the communicative intentions of NSW

Government can be only revealed through interpretation of the social context in which the campaign

was released and in depth analysis of the campaign itself. For that purpose, the campaign has been

analysed by theories from the field of social semiotics, persuasion and social marketing in a search

for deeper understanding of the topic in question.

First and foremost, the campaign images are analysed upon Kress and van Leeuwen´s three

metafunctions- ideational, interpersonal and textual. In order to do this, the six images are

emphasized and discussed in their entity as one visual communicative attempt, where some

similarities and differences between them are taken into consideration as well. This is made in an

attempt to discover if they all try to convey the same message according to the aim of the campaign

and to turn focus on specific for each of them representations.

Secondly, Halliday´s model of examining texts with focus on the same metafunctions is applied to

the textual content of the guide. Thereafter, the analysis continues with few persuasive theories by

Halmari and Virtanen, Gas and Seiter and Stӧckl. The persuasive strategies are applied for both the

print ads and the guide and they actually reflects on the findings from the visual and textual

analysis, supplementing them with persuasive elements of communication as implicit and explicit

persuasion, emotional appeals and Stӧckl´s seven persuasive functions. The social marketing´s

health belief model is examined at the end of the analytical part and tries to embrace the findings

of the analysis with some social factors, influencing the communication between the sender and the

receiver of the campaign.

4.1. Strengths and weaknesses of theoretical framework

The modern understanding of social semiotics with its focus on multimodal representation is chosen

as main theoretical framework for the analysis as it provides theory specifically related to analysing

and interpreting complex communicative attempts. It should be recognized, however, that every

interpretation of a message, either visual or textual, is a subjective process, even when it strives to

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decode precisely the sender´s intentions. Moreover, Kress and van Leeuwen do not employ a

concept framework for analysing persuasion, which explains why persuasion theories have been

examined and applied supplementary.

5. Analysis

The analytical part of this paper examines first the visual part of the campaign-the print ads

discussed according to the ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunction. Furthermore, it

continues with discussion of the textual part- the Guide accompanying the six images. At the end of

this chapter few persuasive theories and one marketing model are employed with the aim to further

integrate and complement the visual and textual analysis.

5.1. Print ads

Since this part of the analysis considers the six images of the campaign, the visual material is named

according to the main storyline in the ads and in the same order as they can be found on the official

campaign page. The first picture, showing a girl undressing herself is called Bed; the second one,

representing a girl -boy couple is described as Boyfriend; the third picture with a driving woman is

named Driving, while the next one highlights a Gay couple. Image number five refers to a violent

accident and it is therefore named Violence, whereas the last picture, introducing a boy talking to a

security guard is referred to as the Bouncer ad.

5.1.1 Ideational metafunction

An interesting strategy of introducing the main participants has been applied in the majority of the

printed ads- one person has been constructed simultaneously in the role of an actor and goal of the

unitransactional process. The similarities in hair, clothes, sex and size induce this idea of

double/mirror image. Furthermore, the unitransactional narrative process illustrates the

inebriated actor as the one responsible for the on-going processes depicted in the image, the one in

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control of the events. This is very clearly illustrated in Bed, where the sober girl (the goal) is put in

a position of offer to the drunken girl (actor) and looks at her terrified.

However, in Boyfriend, Gay couple, Violence and Bouncer a third participant also plays the role of

a goal. In Boyfriend a goal becomes the girl sitting on the bar, in Gay couple it is the boy, who is

hugged and touched, in Violence it is the beaten young man and in Bouncer that role is given to the

guard. Hence, the acts of the drunken individual are visualized as bearing consequences not only to

him/herself, but also to others.

The sober version of the main participant is always illustrated by a transactional reaction process

and therefore emphasized as a reacter looking at a phenomenon (the intoxicated participant).

Hence, the eye line vector connecting the sober participant to the drunken one constructs the idea

of reaction to the above described transactional act of the doer. Only in Driving, a transactional

reaction does not take place, but there is a reacter in a non-transactional narrative process. This is

done because the sober participant is unable to keep her eyes open and see what is going on, being

forced to drive blinded. Similar idea of helplessness is very clearly illustrated in Bed, where the

sober girl (the goal and reacter) is seen as an offer of the drunken one (actor and phenomenon)

and looks at her terrified and helpless. The effect is further emphasized by another reacter (the man

in the background) looking at the sober girl, who now also takes the role of a phenomenon.

In Bed and Bouncer additional reaction transactional processes illustrate how the inebriated

person is seen by others around (Bouncer) and approached to (Bed), where in both cases the

transactional participants, the viewers of the episode- the four witnesses in Bouncer and the man

in Bed are used to dramatize the perceived helplessness of the sober youngster.

Moreover, in the narrative structure of the ideational metafunction inspecting secondary

participants presumes additional circumstantial information. In Boyfriend and Gay couple the

locative circumstances illustrate a traditional atmosphere in a bar and disco, together with the other

circumstances of tools e.g. bartender and a bar full with bottles, or dancing people, enjoying the

disco lights. These secondary participants construct a typical drinking friendly context, where

young people practise excessive drinking.

5.1.2 Interpersonal metafunction

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The interpersonal function, which turns focus on interactions between represented participants and

the viewer, demonstrates the importance of different choices in achieving the desired

communicative message. The absence of direct gaze of the participants towards the viewer designs

a cluster of offer pictures, in which participants remain not aware of the viewer. This way of

representation illustrates them as objects, which are looked at and therefore addressing the viewer

indirectly. This fact has a great importance if we consider that the message of the campaign would

probably be unacceptable to many young people who hardly listen to advices from others, including

authorities. The distance with the viewer is further emphasized by the long shot of the pictures.

Furthermore, the images are represented subjectively, and the majority of them apply a high

angled viewer point- this is the case in Bed, Driving, Gay couple and Bouncer. The preferred way

of representation emphasizes how small and insignificant participants are. The power to act is given

to the viewer who is faced with the embarrassing situations in which drunken people often find

themselves. However, the opposite perspective in which the viewer takes the low angle of

representation also finds place in Boyfriend and Violence. In these two images depicting the

subjects as imposing and powerful, there is a clear contradiction with the idea of helplessness and

pity illustrated in the other ones. Still, it can be argued that Boyfriend and Violence, both including

important for the drunken person participants, are presented by a low angle in attempt to challenge

the viewer´s perception of the participants´ awesomeness.

Turning focus to some other visual modality markers, few of them can be touched upon as having

impact on the way the pictures are constructed. First of all, the images are presented through

moderately saturated colours producing high modality image representation. Apart from Driving,

all the images are constructed with relatively detailed background and deep perspective

composition. The background of the visuals differentiates many elements and details, but at the

same time it is communicated with different nuances of the dark colour spectrum, especially

applying bluish and fuzzy black colours, leading the viewer to the idea that these scenes happen at

night time. The colour saturation, differentiation, modulation and brightness in the ads

categorise high modality markers creating a realistic image of the event. Meanwhile, one element

attracts viewer´s attention with its garish red colours- the name of the campaign situated on the top

of the pictures further examined in the textual metafunction.

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5.1.3 Textual metafunction

The textual metafunction turns focus on the composition of an image, which is triptych in all ads,

with elements placed either to left or right and above or below the centre of the composition. The

young girls and boys, main participants in the images, are always situated bellow the centre of the

composition, representing the real, factual statement of the things in accordance to Kress and van

Leeuwen´s ideas. By contrast, on the top left or right zone (in five of the six images it is the top

right side) there is to be found the main message of the visual, colourfully executed and formed as

a label of an alcoholic drink. This new element `screams` for the viewer´s attention as something

problematic that needs to be paid attention to. With its inserted text, the label also tries to make an

emotive appeal to the choices young people do, revealing an idea of possible future.

As print advertising almost always relies on language- image combination and inter- modal links,

the focus in these visuals is turned into the viewer´s perception and one question searching for an

answer- `Binge drinking. What are you doing to yourself?. Visually separated from the other

elements in the picture through a frameline, vivid colours, shape and big, capital letters, the label

differentiates as framed through a disconnection to the rest of the elements. With a message written

on an alcohol label resembling element the communicated text is expected to attract young people´s

attention, but on the other side this very same resemblance to a beer label and position on the top of

the image may insert undesirable association to the real alcohol drink. To summarise this point it

can be said that the label element guides the viewer to the topic of the campaign, namely alcohol

consumption, but can also be interpreted differently by viewers.

Another fact that attracts attention in the images is the degree to which the main figures, the two

versions of the main participant, are the most eye-catching element in the pictures. The most salient

element is either the drunken or the sober person, who is placed in the foreground as the largest

element in focus. Greatest amount of light covers the main participants in sharp contrast to the dark

night surroundings, emphasizing their importance in the composition.

5.2. The guide

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In social campaigns, including the one analysed, the message to the viewer may be too long or

complex to be communicated only through visual representations whose first goal is to attract the

attention of the receiver. In such cases the images are considered rather as an advertisement and key

to the real source of the message. Having already analysed the images of the campaign, the focus

now turns into the guide and the text included in it as a co-occurring multimodal element.

`Your guide to dealing with alcohol` was available in two versions- printed one and on-line version

and was aimed to touch upon the same problem of binge drinking, but released through textual

modes of representation. Its genre can be easily defined as it is already stated in the headline- this

book is a guide for something- `Your guide to dealing with alcohol`. There is a sender – NSW

Government, whose aim is to decrease binge drinking among young Australians and provide them

with useful information on how to act if already intoxicated. The receiver of the online guide´s

message was those who had seen the print ads and had searched for additional information on the

topic, people interested in health issues and NSW Government health rubrics, and parents of

youngsters who drink. Meanwhile, the printed version was deliberately aimed to address teens,

students and probably working individuals, all in the group age 16-29 years old. The guide in its

printed version was distributed through the commune and institutions collaborating with the official

authorities in and around Sidney.

5.2.1 Ideational metafunction

Paying attention to the verbs in the text it becomes clear that few of those related to alcohol

practices are repeated again and again in different parts of the guide. For instance `drink` is one of

the most often used words through the whole body of the text, clearly emphasising its main topic -

the act of drinking and related to this activity situations. The action process types function in the

guide also demonstrates narrative parts of the text with a doer- referred to with the personal

pronominal `YOU` (you, the reader of this guide) and `your` actions. Furthermore, this form of

addressing not only empowers the reader to feel his/her importance as an active participant, but also

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invites the receiver to a more confident dialogue, almost perceived as `face-to-face` communication

between sender and receiver.

However, some effective action processes, e.g. the subheading on p.2 óne or two drinks can make

you feel relaxed and confident` or the text box on p.4 `when you drink you: lose ability to handle

complex problems…` and the sentence in red on page 6 `Mixing alcohol with other depressant

drugs (e.g. cannabis, methadone, heroin or minor tranquillisers) can cause your body´s reactions to

slow down and increase the likelihood of coma or death` reveals another hidden powerful agent in

the message- the alcohol. The reader is seen as the active participant, but simultaneously another

agent strives to take the control of the situation, fighting against the power of the actor. This

interplay of actors in the text aims to encourage the receiver to actively participate in the decision

making process and regain control over the situation.

In the narrative structure of the guide, some circumstantial adverbials for place and time depict

the typical drinking activity; ìn pubs or clubs`(p.2), ìn a public place`(p.3), òn Saturday night`

(p.4). These circumstantial adverbials portrait a certain background, presumed as risky for young

Australians and their drinking habits. Furthermore, with its idea to guide the reader to undertake

certain behaviour, the text is based upon narrative informative sentences and many clearly

communicated short instructions. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main frame of the guide is

the present and future time. Few short sentences illustrate the usage of past tenses and they can be

found in the quotes of these youngsters, having decided to share their drinking experience with the

reader (p.2, p.4 and p.7). The perspective of the message is ongoing, still active and therefore more

engaging for the reader, who is invited to participate in the story. This can also be found on the third

page where the text is divided in columns regarding what to do before, during and after drinking

and still, the language is imperative and executed by present tense in all text boxes. These clear,

short instructions predispose an overt taxonomy type of approaching the reader and an attempt to

keep attention and directly approach the topic. Meanwhile, the embedded in the guide language

relations reveal that the reader takes the role of `you, as part of many young people`. This also

accounts for the meronymy taxonomies in the text, illustrating the reader as a submember of all

young people in the society `Many young people choose not to drink. They know you don´t have to

drink to have a good night out, …(p.2), and moreover as part of the reader´s friend group

belonging- `… and put yourself or your mates in danger` (p.6). This responsibility, engagement and

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care to friends is further emphasised on p. 7 `By being there for your mates you can help make the

night a good one for everyone`. The purpose of this approach is not only to take into consideration

the fact that young people are very dependent on their friends, but also to focus on their individual

contribution to the wellbeing of the group.

5.2.2 Interpersonal metafunction

As it was already stated above, the guide basically relies on a variety of imperative and declarative

sentences, whereas interrogative structures are used as headings and subheadings, searching for

answer in the text bellow them. Therefore, the interrogative sentences often emphasized by

differentiation, including different colours, typography style and capitalized letters attract the

attention of the reader.

Moreover, the sentence structures assign specific speech roles to the sender and receiver of the

communicative message. While the writer is the one asking questions and providing answers, or

even directly guiding the reader by giving commands and instructions, the reader is presumed the

role of a listener and executer of the guidelines. Nevertheless, it is interesting to point out how the

imperative sentences in the guide do not follow the grammatical rule for exclamation mark but only

end with a full stop (p.3- all the instructions in the text boxes, p.7- `Never force yourself onto

anyone.` etc.). The NSW´s authority, expressed through overt taxonomies and persuasive

imperative sentences is combined with the less demanding impact of full stops as ending points of

the imperatives. The language preferences sketched by words typical for young people- e.g.

`maggotted`(p.2), `shitfaced`(p.4), and the exclamation `shit` on p.6. also assume that NSW is

aware of young Australians dictionary and is trying to approach them in their preferred, street

language way of communication.

The sender´s orientation to reality is assumed based on the modality markers in the text. Modal

verbs as `can`, `could`, ` will` and ´ may` can be found through the whole text of the guide (from p.

2 to p. 8) where they assign an obligation masked by advisable way of acting for the youngsters. At

the same time, the strongest imperative modal verb ´must´ is not applied, providing a relative sense

of respect to the reader and covering the power of the author as indirectly imposed. Modal

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adverbials are not implied in the text, presumably because their absence provides a stronger

emphasis on the relation between the action of drinking and its unavailable consequences.

The attitudinal lexis of the text also shows the way in which the author approaches the reader´s

behaviour when being intoxicated. Qualitative adjectives as `better` in `much better time` (p.2) or

´good` in `a good night out` (p.2) are related to the choice of rejecting drinking practices as they

apply to a sober or alcohol controlled attitude of the youngster. Similarly, other negatively

associated qualitative adverbials show how the world of the reader will look like if he/she decides

to drink excessively- `slumped on the floor` , `miserable`, `boring` (all in p.2), `shitfaced`(p.4), etc.

The text creates two words for the reader to choose from, opposing the first word of a

`miserable`(p.2) and `boring`(p.2) person to the controlled universe of the sober person. Moreover,

in attempt to influence the reader, the author refers to the widely diffused among youngsters idea

that drinking is a predisposition for having a good time `Many young people choose not to drink.

They know you don´t have to drink to have a good night out, even though it may seem like that´s

what everyone does`(p.2). The writer tries to disprove one of the most important arguments for

drinking- to have a good time, to have fun. Linking verbs are used to depict what a person will turn

into if he/she drinks over the limit- `looking like an idiot in front of the girl you´re trying to impress

´(p.2), `you are more likely to make bad decisions` (p.4) etc. There is also an appeal expressed by

the sender `know your limits and you´ll have a much better time´ (p.2) inviting the reader not to

conform blindly to the guide, but to scrutinise the message, to think and act responsibly.

5.2.3 Textual metafunction

The structure of some clauses in the text presents the focus points expressed by the writer. In the

heading of the text, `Your guide to dealing with alcohol` (p.1), the marked element `your` could be

skipped without really changing the meaning of the sentence. However, the possessive personal

pronoun points to a more personal approach, inviting to take the guide with you or to continue

reading it as it is for you, it is `yours`. Page 3 accounts for an atypical heading structure, where

two headings, namely `If you drink alcohol` and `Tips for having a good time` come one after

another, assuming that drinking alcohol is somehow an antidote of the act of having a good time,

again relying on the idea of relation between alcohol use and fun.

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The typical Ìf` structure of a subordinate sentence can be found in almost every page of the guide:

`But if you drink too much…`(p.1), Ìf you are under 18…`(p.1), Ìf you drink alcohol`(p.2), etc.

representing the use of alcohol as an optional act, rather as an expected attitude. Similar marked

theme is used to address the legal issues connected to underage people drinking - Ìf you are under

18 it is illegal to drink…`(p. 2), or bans practises relating alcohol to driving `Never drive if you ´ve

been drinking.` (p.3). All these marked themes break the normal structure of the sentence in strive

to emphasize the element and make a bigger impact on the reader and what he/she should take into

consideration.

5.3. Persuasive strategies

In persuasion terms the absence of directly addressed viewer through the gaze of the image

participant is described as cover/ indirect persuasion. In contrast to the visual, however, the

viewer becomes personally addressed through the written message on the images `What are you

doing to yourself?` and a text, including a personal reference in all the six ads. `Your choice to get

drunk. Your choice to go home with him. Your regret tomorrow`(Bed ); `Your night with your

mates. Your sixth drink. Your temper. Your criminal record` (Violence) etc. that all turn focus to the

personal responsibility of the act of drinking and its possible consequences. Similar approach of

direct addressing is applied in the guide as well. What becomes referred indirectly is actually the

simple essence of the campaign message `do not drink` or `do not drink more than 5 drinks` (which

is the definition of binge drinking). According to Halmari and Virtanen (2004) this strategy of

indirect communication makes the viewer become more willing to respond to the message of the

campaign and therefore drink responsively.

Furthermore, the persuasive element of the message can be found in the emotional appeals

described by Gass and Seiter (2007). Regret appeal is presented in almost all images, revealing

scenarios in which a boyfriend becomes an èx-boyfriend`, a night with friends becomes à criminal

record ` or a wrong decision to drive after drinking becomes à crash`. The world `regret` itself, is

mentioned in Bed, illustrating a girl, who will realise what she has done when it is already late

`Your regret tomorrow.` says the text on top. Apart from the regret appeal communicated by all the

pictures, other appeals can also be found. With an actor put in an offer position, silently witnessing

what alcohol can make people do, many of the pictures indeed provoke the viewer´s empathy, pity

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and compassion. Furthermore, the images play on the greatest for young people fear- the lack of

coolness of someone´s attitude. Hence, a fear appeal is used to change the widely accepted by

youngsters view of drunk people having fun to another perspective in which the intoxicated person

becomes uncontrolled, boring performers of an unaccepted attitude. Hence, excessive alcohol

drinking is presented as a way to loose coolness and become an outsider in the eyes of the friends.

Accounting for the persuasive functions as described by Stӧckl ( in Garzone, Poncini & Catenaccio,

2007, p.36) the focus now turns on elements for persuasion as attention and comprehend which

can be discovered in both the textual and visual material. In the ads attention is constructed by an

interesting double image representation of participants and positioning of the campaign message in

an alcohol label, which with its colours and shape attracts the attention. Furthermore, the campaign

relies on the idea that the main participants- young boys and girls will be more appealing to the

target group, inviting the viewer to identify with them. In the guide the attention function is

achieved by interplay of screaming colours as red and yellow, mix of typographic type styles and

pictures of partying people and empty alcohol bottles. The short and clear sentences, written in a

simple language that young people can recognise are constructed in the ads and the guide with the

intention to make the message easy to comprehend. That is important as an easy to comprehend

message assures a bigger chance for elaborating on it and implementation into a new behaviour- a

key factor for the success of the campaign.

5.4. Marketing strategies

In this part of the analysis the campaign is examined according to its positioning in the marketing

context. Applying the Health belief model (Donovan & Henley, 2003) described in chapter three,

the first two factors that need to be taken into consideration are the demographic and

psychological variables of the target group. Demographically the ads were launched in some of

Australia´s most visited areas, assuring high visibility of the campaign. Furthermore, by

representing both genders as main participants, the message aimed to address a larger group of

youngsters. Turning focus to the psychological characteristics accounting for young people´s

values, attitudes and interests, some viewers may choose to react based upon the fun experience

expected from alcohol to provide them. Therefore, this group of people is expected to sceptically

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ignore the campaign message. Meanwhile, those youngsters who focus on the consequences of

excessive drinking and their impact on personal interests and attitudes are expected to pay attention

to the campaign.

The susceptibility factor evaluates the recognition of excessive drinking as existing problem.

Hence, viewers who practise binge drinking or know others who do it will be motivated to proceed

through the model going to the next step called perceived severity. Perceived severity will only

apply to those who see binge drinking consequences as a serious threat for themselves or others. In

attempt to reinforce this impact the visuals play upon the loss of a mate or girl-/boyfriend

(Boyfriend, Gay couple, Violence) and self-destructive behaviour (Bed, Driving, Bouncer).

Moreover, legal consequences of binge drinking are represented in Violence and the guide- `If you

are under 18 and drink alcohol in a public place without your parent or guardian you are breaking

the rule` (p.3) and ` When a person secretly puts alcohol or other stuff into another person´s drink-

it´s not only dangerous, it´s illegal` (p.7). The risk of speeding and road accidents is constructed in

Driving and touched upon in the red text box on p.3 of the guide. The issue of unsafe sex is

highlighted in Bed and on p. 7 mentioning the consequences of forcing yourself onto another

person. All this elements are used to convince the viewer in the seriousness of the problem and

prompt desire for action.

On the other hand, according to the cost- benefit appraisal factor, avoiding binge drinking must

be perceived as effective to reduce all the above described risks and as a bringing rewards act.

However, that could be hardly achieved if youngsters look at binge drinking as a way of

socialization and premise for having fun. This issue is also taken into consideration in the guide,

which says ` Many young people choose not to drink. They know you don´t have to drink to have a

good night out….` (p.2) trying to argument against this viewpoint. Additional benefits of choosing

not to binge drink may be the lack of headache on the next morning, saving money and what the

campaign is trying to communicate- saving face and coolness. Cues to action, the last factor before

taking final decision to change, argues that internal cues e.g. bad experience with binge drinking or

external factors e.g. an advertising campaign against excessive drinking practices will reinforce the

decision not to drink or to make it wisely. However, an important reason for failure of the campaign

could be the market context in which alcohol companies are allowed to advertise and sell their

products in the same area targeted by the binge drinking campaign.

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6. Conclusions

The interdisciplinary approach implemented in the thesis has provided a broader perspective of the

topic in question, allowing an in depth analysis and understanding of the campaign based on

theories from different fields. Thus, in a search for answer to the main question defined in the

problem statement, the analysis of the campaign has shown the following findings:

First of all, in its attempt to raise awareness among young Australians and according to the idea

that visuals appear to be more memorable than statistical information because of their greater

persuasive power (Hoffe, 2008, p.89) NSW has chosen to complement the official campaign guide

with visual representation of the message. The vivid quality of the six images that represent typical

hazardous situations related to excessive alcohol consumption invites the viewer to take part in the

presented scene and identify with one of the participants. This process of identification is

additionally reinforced by bringing the viewer into a state of emotion.

Secondly, accounting for the visual and textual strategies that have been applied by NSW, it can be

concluded that the viewer becomes the focus of the campaign, approached as `you` in both the

visual and textual material. To the reader of the guide is given a power to choose between two

imaginary worlds- those of the sober and the other of the intoxicated person. Meanwhile, the author

guides and imposes its opinion by deliberately selected negative adjectives when describing the first

option (to become drunk) and positive adjectives when illustrating the choice to drink responsively.

However, an interesting fact is the lack of exclamation marks at the end of the imperative sentences,

which presumes the idea of giving advices and guiding rather than strongly imposing the power of

the author.

The very same idea of two contradicting worlds is visually illustrated by the double/twin

presentation of the participant, simultaneously depicted both as an actor and a goal, active and

passive partaker. The role of the offer is always given to the sober participant, put in a position of

viewer of an unpleasant situation, whose main actor is him-/herself. Hence, once again the viewer is

faced with the necessity to make a choice of identification and act according to the taken position.

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Third, by the applied persuasive strategies the visual material appears to be emotionally engaging as

it strives to evoke pity, helplessness and discomfort, appeals communicated mainly through indirect

persuasion (e.g. the lack of direct gaze at the viewer in the visuals).

Fourth, in terms of marketing strategies the task of the campaign can be perceived as hard to

achieve in context where viewers are often exposed to two opposite marketing messages- for and

against drinking. In such a fight for dominance, the most persuasive message will be the one that

gains more followers. Therefore, a big drawback of the campaign is that it addresses an issue of

drug misuse (excessive drinking), in a society which tolerates alcohol consumption and even link

social gathering events with alcohol practices.

Last considerable disadvantage of the campaign is that young people often consider risky

behaviour as adventurous and desired attitude, which can provoke wrong interpretation of images as

Driving and Bouncer, where rules are deliberately broken. Thus, the above mentioned drawbacks

together with the need for more legal support and restrictions for binge drinkers limit the campaigns

´ chance for success.

Last but not least, it is not a secret that the problem of binge drinking, even though examined here

in the Australian context, is expanding globally, becoming a challenge for many countries and an

issue that requires adequate actions as soon as possible. Thus, one question arises – is this result of

misunderstanding of the essence of the problem and lack of applicable methods for dealing with it,

is it due to inadequate implementation of such methods and strategies, or is it based on conflict of

interests between multimillion dollars alcohol industry and health experts? Whatever the answer is,

more independent researches in the field become crucial factor for overcoming this social problem.

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References:

Donovan. R. & Henley, N. (2003). Models of attitude and behaviour change. Social marketing

principles & practise. Chapter 5, 91-120.

Fairclough, N. (1989). Discourse as social practise, language and power. Chapter 2. Longman.

Garzone G., Poncini, G. & Catenaccio, P. (2007). Multimodality in corporate communication. Web

genres and discursive identity. Milano: Franco Angeli, 31-54

Gass, Robert H. & Seiter, John S. (2007), Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining.

Third Edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Halmari, H. & Virtanen, T.(2004). Persuasion across genres. A linguistic approach. Philadelphia, PA,

USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company, p.229- 244.

Joffe, H. (2008). The power of visual material: Persuasion, emotion and identification. Sage

publications.

Kotler, P., & Lee, N.R. (2008). Social marketing. Influencing behaviour for good. California: Sage

Publications, Third edition.

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (1998). Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout.

Chapter 7, 186-219.

Kress, G. (2001). Multimodal teaching and learning: The rhetorics of the science classroom. New

York: Continuum.

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images. The grammar of visual design. London and

New York: Routledge, Taylor& Francis Group.

Sherratt, Y. (2005). The tradition of hermeneutics. Cambridge University Press.

Stillar, G., F. (1998). Analyzing everyday texts. Discourse, rhetoric, and social perspectives. Rhetoric

& Society, volume 3,14-57.

Links:

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AIHW (2008)- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2007 National Drug Strategy

Household Survey, Drug Statistics Series No.20, Cat.No.PHE 98, AIHW, Canberra.

http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=6442459877

Chandler, D. Semiotics for beginners, online book, retrieved 03-03-2012

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html

NHMRC (2007)- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) 2007, Australian alcohol

guidelines for low-risk drinking: draft for public consultation, October, p.33,

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alcoholinfo.nsw.gov.au%2F__data

%2Fpage%2F1449%2Fdraft_australian_alcohol_guidelines1_1.pdf

Campaign material:

`Don´t turn a night out into a nightmare`, About the campaign:

http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au/internet/drinkingnightmare/publishing.nsf/Content/

about-the-campaign

´What are you doing to yourself?´, official page: http://advertising.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/what-

are-you-doing-yourself

The campaign guide `Your guide to dealing with alcohol`: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http

%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatareyoudoingtoyourself.com%2Fyourguidetodealingwithalcohol.pdf

Appendix:

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https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatareyoudoingtoyourself.com%2Fyourguidetodealingwithalcohol.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatareyoudoingtoyourself.com%2Fyourguidetodealingwithalcohol.pdf





https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alcoholinfo.nsw.gov.au%2F__data%2Fpage%2F1449%2Fdraft_australian_alcohol_guidelines1_1.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alcoholinfo.nsw.gov.au%2F__data%2Fpage%2F1449%2Fdraft_australian_alcohol_guidelines1_1.pdf

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html

http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=6442459877


1.What are you doing to yourself? Visuals:

1) Bed;

2) Boyfriend;

3) Driving;

4) Gay couple;

5) Violence;

6) Bouncer;

2.Your guide to dealing with alcohol

BED

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BOYFRIEND

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DRIVING

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GAY BOYFRIEND

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VIOLENCE

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BOUNCER

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Page 1

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Page 2

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Page 3

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Page 4

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Page 5

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Page 6

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Page 7

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Page 8

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Page 9

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