Semiotic Landscape Analysis of Gender Representations of the Storefront Advertisements in Ayala Mall

 Introduction 

    Language surrounds us all in textual form as exhibited on shop windows, commercial signs, posters, official notices, traffic signs, etc. (Gorter, 2006). “Linguistic landscape” consist of any written sign found outside private homes, from road signs to names of street shops and schools (Shohamy and Barni, 2010). It analyzes and interprets the relationships between the sign, the sign-makers, and the sign-readers. Verbal images or linguistic text and items are subjects of analysis and investigation. These linguistic forms are displayed and posted on numerous shop doors, restaurant windows, and street signs found in public spaces. A semiotic landscape analysis, whereby a community or environment’s signage is photographed for linguistic and visual analysis, is a useful means of discovering power relationships within that community’s language use (Kerry, 2017). As we go around to different places, we consciously or unconsciously examine various buildings,shops, stores and advertisements with readable texts, symbols, images.

    As you pass by to these shops, you can see different forms of advertisements and attractive storefront designs which catches your attention. Advertising is a very powerful form of communication in modern society. It offers the most sustained and most concentrated set of images anywhere in the media system (Ojiakor-Umenze, 2019).

    The symbols and images presented in the shop advertisements inside the mall are very visible and evident in their storefront design. The storefront is the first and last opportunity a business can convert that store passer into a customer. If the storefronts are poorly designed, differ from one another or offer little in the way of a ‘preview’, then that customer is given no reason to come inside (Khalili, 2017).

    In Cebu City, Ayala Mall is one of the most visited places when people go shopping.Inside the mall, you can see various establishments such as restaurants, stores, and shops. Images of men and women are commonly presented in the storefront designs of these shops. Advertising has a privileged place in the discourse on gender in consumer societies due to its prominence in our daily lives (Ojiakor-Umenze, 2019) . The power of advertising to change, mould and shape public opinion has had a major impact on the lives of men and negatively on women (www.womensissues.about.com/cs/body image). Thus, these ideas paved way to determine the connection between the human images in advertisement and gender.

    This observation led to the investigation on how gender is represented in various shop signs. Through semiotic landscape analysis of the storefront designs of the shops, this study aims to explore the concept of representation of how men and women are presented in storefront advertisements, their placements and the message they convey to the people. It also looks into the implications of these images as representation of gender and the ways these images of men and women in storefronts contribute to the idea of masculinity and femininity.

Framework

    Linguistic Landscape is the study of written languages in public spaces. Linguistic landscape study as characterized by Shohamy and Gorter (2019) refers to the “attention to language in the environment, words, and images displayed and exposed in public spaces”. The fronstore designs used in this study are the most visible images people see inside the mall.

    Sara Mills’ work on Feminist Stylistic Analysis was also used in this study to determine how the semiotic images of the stores shows feminism and other genders. Through these frameworks, this study explores how gender is represented in the stores.

Methodology

    In this study, I have collected fourteen (14)  images of frontstore designs taken from different stores inside the Ayala Mall in Cebu City. I shops that I have purposely chosen are those shops that presents images of men or woman in the entrance or in front of their stores. The pictures are taken from Uniqlo, Tudor, Guess, Fossil, Skechers, Nine West, Aldo, Geox, Sunglass Haven, Petrol, Bench, Watsons, Yoyoso and Regatta. Ayala Mall was chosen as the research environment since it is very accessible in the city. Descriptive qualitative method was utilized to explain the gender representations in the frontsore advertisement of the stores. (add the framework being used in analyzing the data)

Data Analysis

    After surveying the landscape of Ayala mall and the various entrances of multiple stores, I have collected 14 samples that show predominant genders as the face or endorsers of the respective products. Models, most especially famous icons, are frequently used in being the image of a specific product, brand, or store. These models fit the standard of what they are advertising, some to the point where they are permanently known with what they are endorsing, and are therefore put in storefronts and entrances to aesthetically captivate the consumer. Upon surveying the different entrances, predominant genders are shown in each store that shows various implications.

 

Image 1. Uniqlo clothing apparel

    Two pictures are shown in Uniqlo, a male model wearing a button up shirt and two female models wearing plain shirts. In this display, the other picture has two women in it, showing that Uniqlo, even though is a gender neutral store, have a more broad selection and products for women. It is also shown in the picture that the two women are casually spending time with each other, denoting that women often spend time with their peers and social circle.

 

Image 2. Tudor

    Tudor is a store famous for their watches of high quality and value. In the figure it is shown that a man with a bearded face and a gruff exterior is the model. This predominant figure shows that Tudor is a male dominant brand and/or product. The male model is exuding masculinity in wearing the watch therefore implying that Tudor watches are aesthetically pleasing and are captivating when it is worn by men.

 

Image 3. Guess

    The figure shows of a poster of a woman in a floral dress and a flower in her ear in a tropical setting. The poster is wide, almost taking up the space of the displays, captivating the consumers. The image shows that it's target consumers are women, since majority of the fashion choices and styles in guess are made for women. The woman in the picture is shown to be associated with floral imprints, implying that women are visually appealing and enhances there femininity when wearing these sorts of clothes. The woman is also shown to be tanned, enhancing as well the tropical aesthetic of the poster.

 

Image 4. Fossil

    Watches are well known as well with the brand Fossil, until they ventured to new products for personal use such as handbags, small bags, and wallets. In the figure, it shows a young woman wearing a small sling bag, smiling. This associates the idea and implications that women are who more often use bags of any sort than men in everywhere they go.

Image 5. Skechers shoe store

    Skechers is a gender neutral shoe store, advertising it's high quality shoes made for various activities. In the figure, it shows the poster of a male model. Although the male model is not wearing the product, it asserts the dominance and idea that men have more attraction towards shoes than women. The male poster is more visible than the female poster in the side of the entrance.

 

Image 6. Nine West

    Nine west is a boutique that is as well known for its handbags and shoes. In the figure, it shows a tall poster of a female model using both the bag and shoes. Females are often associated with classy and chic bags of small sizes and designs, and shoes with heels, especially heels since they enhance the femininity of a woman. The female model poses in an elegant and stylish manner, accentuating the products being used.

 

Image 7. Aldo

    Aldo is a well known boutique as well known for its bags and shoes, while it is gender neutral majority of its products are catered for women. In the store front two posters are shown, one of a male and the other female. As it is shown in the figure above, the female poster is much larger compared to the male one. This is to emphasize the target consumer of the store, which is female, even if the name of the store is derived from the male business owner, Aldo Bensadoun.

 

Image 8. Geox

    Geox is a store that consists of various apparel, but is commonly known for its shoes. In the figure, two posters are presented one being male and the other female. There is no difference in the size of the posters and both models exude different styles with regards to their gender. The male poses in a manner which highlights the coolness of its masculinity, while the female is shown to stand highlighting her femininity through her physical features.

 

Image 9. Sunglass Haven

    Sunglass Haven is a store that contain various brands of sunglasses of different categories. The store's main poster shows of two male race car drivers posing back to back with sunglasses on. The sunglasses increases the masculine appeal of the models, as well as their uniforms. This is to sell the attraction of wearing sunglasses, predominantly for male consumers. The two male models show a simple suave visual as to lessen their appeal, allowing the consumers to focus more on the sunglasses.

 

Image 10. Petrol

    Petrol is a clothing store that is gender neutral. The figure above shows the female model in dark lipstick and a dark red shirt with the brand's name on it. This is to highlight the aesthetic of the store, which serves casual yet grunge looking outfits. The woman in the poster is shown to have a minimally gothic theme, foreshadowing what the store is selling and captivating its target consumers, both male and female.

 

Image 11. Bench

    Bench is a retail brand of clothing established in the Philippines. It is famous for its clothing apparel both targeted to male and female consumers all over the country. Bench over the years have only contracted nationally famous artists, but over the recent years they have now used other famous artists outside of the Philippines, especially Korean idols and stars. The figure above shows a wide poster of a famous Korean actor, wearing a button up shirt with half floral imprints. This is to implicate that the masculinity presented does not decrease if a man wears floral prints on clothes.

 

Image 12. Watsons

    Watsons is a shop containing various beauty products for the body, face, and hair, as well as medicinal needs. The shop emphasizes more on the dermatological side of production hence why in the figure shown is a woman. Two women are shown in the inside of the store, this is to implicate that women are more meticulous and diligent when it comes to body care. Women are more commonly known to use beauty products more than men, which is why majority of beauty products are associated with women enhancing their femininity.

 

Image 13. Yoyoso

 

    Yoyoso is a store founded by Ma Huan and has branched along different parts of the world including the Philippines. In the figure above, Yoyoso Philippines, uses the image of a nationally famous artist who is half Korean. This is to present the idea of masculinity as not just for apparels but for home necessities and other products that the store offers as well. In this photo, the artist is shown doing a finger heart, a gesture wherein the fingers are formed into a heart to show a cute look, which most men are not commonly seen for doing, but it does not decrease the masculinity of the male artist. They are seen as more attractive.

 

Image 14. Regatta

    Regatta presents the aesthetic of a summer beach getaway, which is why their clothes are always related to beach themed colors and styles. In the figure shown, a man is presented wearing polo shirt and shorts, along with a bucket hat. This is to captivate the consumers into making the apparel attractive by having the masculinity of the man enhance its products. The man poses with a cool composure emphasizing the idea that men are mostly "cool" when wearing beach-themed outfits.

 

Conclusion

    Various brands, both local and international, are mostly and commonly associated with models of any gender that enhance their products through the use of aesthetic and visual appeal therefore captivating their target consumer to buy the product. Branded products are associated with one side of a gender, regardless if it is a gender-neutral store, wherein one store shows predominance of a gender and caters to the customers of that gender. Gender is presented in different forms and styles when advertising these products, ingraining a stereotypical view of gender.

    This study has presented gender in the various entrances and storefronts of famous brands, both nationally and internationally, by researching the representation and implications of gender through the use of semiotics. Evidence has been gained as to the views of male and female representations in advertising a product of a certain brand that is used as a marketing strategy. Majority of these brands still showcases the association between male and female elements that amplifies their respective genders, therefore depicting gender norms or standards fit for their gender that have been brought throughout the years.

 

 

Bibliography

Backhaus, P. (2007). Linguistic Landscapes - A Comparative Study of Urban

Multilingualism in Tokyo. Multilingual Matters.

Cenoz, J. & Gorter, D. (2008). The Linguistic Landscape as an Additional Source of Input in Second Language Acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (Vol. 46, Issue 3).

Cenoz, J. & Gorter, D. (2006). Linguistic Landscape and Minority Languages.  International Journal of Multilingualism.

Landry, R. & Bourhis R.Y. (1997). Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic

Vitality: An Empirical Study, Journal of Language and Social Psychology 16 (1): 23-49.

Shohamy, E., Ben-Rafael, E. & Barni, M., eds. (2010). Linguistic Landscape in the City, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Weatherall, A. (2013). Language, Gender and Feminism: Theory, Methodology and Practice. Sara Mills and Louise Mullany (2011) London: Routledge, 206pp.DOI: 10.1558/genl.v8i1.124