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Paper prepared for presentation at the International Association for Mass Communication Research,

The American University in Cairo, Egypt, July, 23-29 2006

RECEPTION ANALYSIS OF INDIAN ADVERTISEMENTS

Dipti Kulkarni, Researcher, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi

dipti@cmsindia.org

ABSTRACT

The research attempts to theorize and empirically study meaning making in media

audiences. It borrows its theory from social semiotics, which suggests that, meaning is not

inscribed in the text instead readers bring forth their own social experiences to negotiate with the

text and make meaning. It draws its methodology from social sciences and uses in depth semi-

structured interviews to study how 15 students of Indian nationality in the age group of 22 - 25

interpret three television commercials of Bajaj, Hero Honda Ambition and Femina. The

responses to each advertisement highlighted different issues in the process of reception. The

multiple, diverse and at times oppositional interpretations to the same text suggest that

individualized readings are the norm, while dominant readings are rare, corroborating the theory

that reception is determined more by the social position and experiences of the readers (social

determinism) than by the text (textual determinism).

I. INTRODUCTION

The question of meaning and interpretation is the focus of this research. In trying to

locate meaning in mass communication activity the study identifies itself with the social semiotic

position. Thus, the perspective that meaning is not embedded in the text rather readers bring

forth their social background and experience to negotiate with the text to make meaning is the

point of departure.

This emphasis on audience in the process of communication is in contrast to previous

approaches. Of the three elements of communication namely sender, message and receiver the

process school lays emphasis on the sender and sees communication as a transmission of

message from sender to receiver. This simple metaphor, which compares the complex human

communication process to an electronic transmission system, has the advantage of simplicity at

the expense of ignoring the entire social context in which human communication is embedded.

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The structuralist semioticians shift their attention to the message. They consider meaning

to be inscribed in the text and thus scientifically study the text to search for 'deep structures'

underlying the 'surface features'.

Contemporary semioticians however criticize this purely textual approach, which

completely overlooks the social dimension of production and reception of texts. Social Semiotics

on the other hand attempts to study the process of meaning making and reception in the entire

context in which human communication occurs, taking into account particular practices,

institutional frameworks and the cultural, social, economic and political context.

Thus, for social semiotics the emphasis shifts from textual analysis to a more contextual

reception of texts.

It is significant that the theoretical advancement in audience studies reflects a similar

pattern. Initially, it was the Frankfurt school scholars who saw the sender as powerful while

audiences were seen as passive victims of media content incapable of any differential reading.

The behavioural school saw audiences as active choosers of media content. Cultural

studies and reception analysis go a step further in acknowledging the role of the audience. They

consider audiences to be active meaning makers of media content and study - often qualitatively

or ethnographically audiences in their natural settings to see how they interact with media and

put it to use.

Thus, this research borrowing from social semiotics and reception analysis empirically

observes how audience negotiate with media texts to make meaning and studies the following:

a. Audience Interpretation of ads

b. Linkages between social background of the respondent and his / her interpretation.

c. Nature of various texts to encourage / discourage multiple or polysemic interpretations.

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II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The roots of Reception Analysis can be traced to David Morley’s Nationwide study

which was the first to interrogate audiences for studying their interpretations.

Nationwide was a programme that made a common sense interpretation of the main news

items of the day. Morley used a content-cum-audience analysis method to study the objectives.

First the episode of Nationwide was analyzed for a 'preferred reading'. Video recordings of the

episode were then shown to 29 socially located groups comprising of managers, students, trade

unionists or apprentices.

The research based its theory on the encoding/decoding model put forth by Stuart Hall.

According to this model a preferred reading was encoded into the text: generally the one

preferred by the dominant or ruling class. Readers decoded the text by using one of the following

positions:

a. Dominant (hegemonic) reading: The reader accepts the code of the text and interprets it

in the preferred way.

b. Negotiated reading: The reader broadly accepts the code of the text but brings forth his /

her social experiences to negotiate with the text.

c. Oppositional (Counter hegemonic) reading: The reader understands the preferred reading

but refuses to read it in that way and uses his/her own reference frame to read the text.

The model brought forth two important points:

a. Polysemy: Texts have multiple meaning potentials.

b. Audience as active meaning makers.

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Later Morley rejected the idea of a preferred reading being encoded in the text and

moved to more ethnographic audience study in Family Television. However, reception analysis

cannot ignore the question of ideology and the possibility of a preferred reading being encoded

in the text especially while dealing with genre like news. This research in studying audience

interpretation of television commercials differs from the Nationwide in that it does not analyze

the text for a preferred reading. At the centre of this research are audiences, how they may bring

forth their social experiences while interacting with the texts. It deals with texts only from the

standpoint of audiences. Thus, polysemy is not an inherent characteristic of the text; a text is

polysemic if respondents’ interpretations of it have been diverse.

As this research does not study the text for a preferred reading the Encoding/Decoding

model which is based on the theory of a preferred reading could not be used. Therefore, in order

to analyze and study audience interpretations the following model was designed:

a. Different Reading: If only one person has chosen to read the text in a particular way,

then this interpretation was noted in this category.

b. Common Readings: If more than one person has chosen to read the text in a similar way

then this interpretation was noted under this category. Again there can be more than one

common reading, however, a text may have no common reading.

c. Most Common Reading: If, of all the common readings maximum people have

preferred to read the text in one way, this was noted under this category, and not in

category 2.

Following are the salient features of this model:

a. The interpretations are categorized at run time without any preconceived assumptions

about preferred readings.

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b. It is subjective, what one researcher might consider to be similar readings the other might

not, and the model does not attempt to free the researcher from his / her position.

c. The categories are very much subject to the text at hand and also to the respondents.

d. The categories help to understand the nature of the given text from the perspective of the

respondents. Thus a text is "very open" if there are many different readings and “closed”

if there is a most common reading.

III. METHODOLOGY

This section gives details of sampling, data collection and data analysis methods used and

also answers questions of validity and generalizability.

3.1 Sampling of Advertisements:

Reception studies initially focused on studying audience interpretation for the genre of

news, recently however many research studies have chosen other genres like soap operas, novels

and women's magazines. In a largely capitalist landscape, advertisements play a very prominent

role not only in their traditional function of informing people about the range of consumer goods

available but even in shaping social values and attitudes. Thus, it was considered important to

study how this all-pervasive genre is being received.

3.1.1 Purposive Sampling:

Television ads were selected from those that were then on air and from previously

recorded ads based on following conditions:

a. Rich Narrative: The ad should have a message or a story, ads that were simple and

plainly informative did not suit the purpose of this research. They had to be more

complex, and have a certain theme.

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b. Language: The language had to be either Hindi or English, as respondents were of

Indian Nationality coming from different states.

Accordingly, the three ads selected for purpose of study: Bajaj (Two Wheeler-bike), Hero

Honda Ambition (Two Wheeler-bike), Femina- Generation W (Women’s Magazine)

3.2 Network Sampling of Respondents:

The respondent sample was designed to accommodate people from different states, urban

and rural, religions, economic class and educational discipline. Primary contacts helped to get

desired respondents from the University of Pune and various other colleges in Pune.

3.2.1 Characteristics of Respondent Sample:

a. The sample is homogeneous at the level of Nationality (Indian), age (22-25) and number

of years of education (All are post-graduate students or pursuing 5 year professional

courses).

b. The sample is heterogeneous in terms of gender, family background, educational

discipline, religion, state, cultural background and experiences.

3.3 Interview as data collection method

The in-depth semi-structured interview had two parts. In the first part the respondents

were asked to speak about themselves. In the second part, the screening of each ad was followed

by an interview that probed into their interpretation of the ad. Each interview lasted for one to

one and a half hours. The interviews were conducted in English (7) and Marathi (8). Though the

categories are not so discrete most interviews conducted in Marathi represent people from

comparatively rural places of Maharashtra, while most interviews conducted in English represent

students from urban cities of India.

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3.4 Validity, Reliability and Generalizability

Qualitative researches with smaller samples and in-depth data collection methods like

interviews and case studies may provide greater internal validity than their quantitative

counterparts. On the other hand, quantitative researches because of more formalized methods of

data collection and analysis may have greater reliability. Larger, random samples in quantitative

researches also put them in a better position to generalize their findings to the population.

However, both approaches have different objectives; the objective of qualitative

researches is not generalizability, while quantitative researches do not aim to deal with individual

typical instances. Having said this in certain cases, both the paradigms may benefit by ”cross-

fertilization", combining tools, methods or concepts to maximize the value of the study.

In the case of this research, with its focus on meaning making a qualitative approach with

in-depth data collection methods was inevitable. The sample size was restricted to 15 because of

time considerations.

Given the circumstances, what has been attempted is to adopt certain measures that

enhance its utility.

a. Smaller Population: A very focused group was chosen: students in the age group of 22-

25. Thus, the study may be in a better position to talk of this smaller group.

b. Representative Sample: The sample was representative in terms of gender: females (7),

males (8) also urban (7) and rural (8) population. States represented by the sample were

Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil

Nadu and Kerala

c. Charts: Lengthy quotations, following analytical statements made by the researcher

provide in-depth insights but they do not provide an overview of the situation. They lack

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readability. While numbers support findings with more readability, they do not provide

insights into typical instances. Thus, what was attempted in this qualitative research was

to provide charts. These charts highlight the commonalties and diversity in responses.

They are more readable and provide a good overview. These charts are then followed by

in-depth analyses that describe typical instances.

d. Quotations and summaries: Apparently, quotations seem to eliminate the researcher:

The researcher makes an analysis and "quotes” from the data to validate the finding.

However, what part of the response is extracted, where one begins and ends the quote

may well change the meaning of what the respondent intended to say. Also responses are

not extremely unambiguous. The respondent may choose to say one thing first and may

later say quite a different. To overcome this, summaries are provided where necessary.

These summaries give an overview and provide a context in which to read the quotation.

IV. STEPS OF DATA ANALYSIS

The recorded interviews led to more than 100 pages of transcripts. Following measures

were adopted to analyze the data:

a. Respondent-wise: Each respondent's social background interview and interpretation of

all three ads was read and summarized. The respondents’ social background details were

then classified into two charts. The first chart contained basic demographic details along

with educational background, family background and media exposure. The second chart

was more a summary of the respondent's personality, whether he/ she is independent,

submissive, rebellious, very religious, atheist etc.

b. Advertisement-wise: In the next step it was studied how each ad was interpreted by all

15 respondents. Prominent issues that were discussed by respondents were noted; this

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helped to design the framework of the chart. For instance if the respondents spoke about

the character and theme of the ad. Then character and theme make the issues. Then

whether the character was seen as rebellious, coward, independent etc become the

options. Similarly, if the theme of the ad was considered to be modernization or Indian

traditions etc those became the options under the issue “theme of ad”. After designing

issues and options a respondent chart was made for each ad.

c. Model: On analyzing these charts, it could be seen that for some ads there was one

prominent way in which many respondents had chosen to read, some interpretations were

similar or some were extremely opposite. Thus using the model discussed above the

interpretations were named as most common reading, common readings or different

readings.

d. Interpretation: The framework of each ad, the respondent chart, the model, the

demographic details of respondents along with the personality summary all were used for

interpretation.

V. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

5.1 Analysis and Interpretation of Responses to Bajaj Ad

Bajaj is a very old two-wheeler company in India. Before liberalization of the market in

1991, it had few competitors and people had to wait for years for getting their Bajaj. Now, with

increasing competition, Bajaj is trying to cater to a diverse audience: their previous loyal

customers as well as the present generation youth. Accordingly, the commercial depicts people

of different ages, religions and gender driving different models of Bajaj. It also tries to create an

emotional appeal by dealing with the theme of Indian culture.

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Following are the prominent issues that were raised by the respondents. These issues and

the options following them have been used to code the respondents’ interpretations in the

respondent chart.

1. Context: There are two parallel themes in the ad, one of Bajaj products and its new

technology and the other of Indian tradition, modernization etc. Thus, three categories were

made depending on whether the respondents spoke only of the product and technological

context, the cultural context or both.

a. Product Context: The respondent spoke about the products of Bajaj, how they are

adopting new technology etc.

b. Cultural Context: The respondent spoke about Indian values, western values, changes in

Indian culture etc.

c. Both: The respondent spoke about both the product and the cultural context.

2. Appeal:

a. Rejected the appeal: Some rejected the appeal it tried to create and opposed

westernization and spoke of degrading Indian values.

b. Adaptation: To some the ad appealed because, "it showed that Bajaj is getting better

technology but adapting it for the Indian set up"

c. Remedy for remorse: For some, who like the western culture yet they feel guilty for

losing their Indian-ness the ad appealed to them because, "it showed how the two things

can go side by side"

d. Admire western culture: For some who admire the western culture "as the west is

definitely more advanced" to them the ad appealed because, "it showed how Bajaj can

help you to match up to their standards"

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3. Image of Bajaj:

a. Western

b. Indian

c. Changing towards western

d. Western yet Indian

4. Product: If the respondents mentioned that nothing about the features of the bikes were

shown, or if they rejected the association of the cultural theme with Bajaj products.

The interpretation of each respondent was coded based on the above options:

Respondent Chart: 1

R. No. Interpretation R. No. Interpretation

R 1 1b 2d 3b 4 R 9 1b 2c 3c

R 2 1b 2d 3b 4 R 10 1c 2c 3b 4

R 4 1c 2b 3d R 11 1c 2c 3b

R 5 1b 2b R 12 1c 2a 3b

R 6 1c 2b R 13 1a 1c

R 7 1b 2c 3b R 14 1b 2a

R 8 1a R 15 1c 2c 3b

For instance to decode interpretation of R1 given as 1b 2d 3b 4 means that the respondent

spoke only of the cultural context, the ad appealed because she admires the western culture, sees

Bajaj as an Indian product and spoke of the product features not being shown in the ad.

The chart shows that the ad was very open to interpretation and polysemic, because

almost every respondent has a different shade of interpretation. The chart also shows that there is

no most common reading but there are a few common readings: Respondent 1 and 2 have similar

interpretations also responses of R 10, R11 and R 15 are similar.

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R1: “…The thing is these days we are taking inside ourselves the western culture.

We are very happy with the discotheques and all…At times we are not able to do what

we like in western culture just because our parents will not allow us. But I couldn't relate

this thing to Bajaj. Ok Bajaj is an Indian thing and all these were also Indians but it’s all

about automobiles and where do these things relate I couldn’t make it…"

R 2: "Bajaj is there, it is the Indian bike with Indian traditions but at the same

time it stands up…which can project you as a modern person in front of the world, the

changed western world. Be rooted in your values, your beliefs your culture at the same

time you can match up to their standards…somewhere it makes you feel happy that you

are an Indian and you still can stand at par".

“just a feel good ad. Doesn’t bring out the benefits of the bike or any bike in

particular…they don’t talk about the benefits the customer is getting out of buying this

bike…”

Their interpretations clearly show how they admire the western culture. Also both of

them speak of the ad not highlighting the features of the bike this could be traced to their M.B.A

background. Both are engineers, coming from middle class backgrounds, with English medium

schooling.

Respondents for whom the ad provided a "remedy for remorse", they admire the western

culture but feel guilty for losing their Indian-ness is discussed next:

R 9: (translated) "They have shown that how much ever this generation is

changing, they still have their ethics in their mind. This change is creating this new day

which will be more better "

R 10: (translated summary) There is a lot of impact of western countries on our

culture. Everything is changing, dress code, lifestyles are changing but somewhere the

Indian-ness is still there. So by using Bajaj products, which are Indian, you will be able to

express your love for India at the same time these products are of international

standards.

In comparison to the above, following are interpretations which illustrate that the ad

appealed because it showed that "they are adapting new technology to suit our needs"

R 5: (translated summary) “They wanted to show that they are also keeping with the

changing times, simultaneously they wanted to show that though they are adopting new things

they are not forgetting their values, that we will move ahead taking our culture with us"

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Two respondents rejected the message of the ad saying, “…They might not have done

enough research about our degrading value system.”

R3 has a very critical interpretation of the ad:

"…The ad has been made with a very clear idea. That Bajaj is losing

out…because it’s old. There were times when people had to book a Bajaj scooter and

wait for 8 years for a stupid looking scooter…So now they are saying badal rahen hain

hum yahan, naya hai aaj…So we have changed, our quality has improved, so those

people who recognize us for quality, we are there for you, but we are also offering you

world class quality with Indian-ness. So, there is an important play on words, with your

emotions, sentiments. Very well made ad."

What is the underlying theme in all the scenes?

"How much ever you may change your Indian-ness does not go away. Which is good.

Their idea of Indian-ness is good…very premium. There is a premium on being Indian "

We see through the interpretations to this ad, that the ad text itself had multiple meaning

potentials, however rather than reading it in one preferred way, the readers interpreted the text

based on their own social experiences and more importantly on how they position themselves

with respect to the issue of modernity, westernization and Indian traditions.

5.2 Analysis and Interpretation of the responses to the Hero Honda Ambition Ad

The ad begins with a mother saying I want you to be born, then the doctor says to the

small boy I want you to be healthy, teacher: I want you to write neatly, he (the central character)

is shown growing up, then the boss says we want you to join from the 10th

, his mother says: I

want you to get married beta. Then his wife wants a kid, a bigger house, his child wants a TV,

finally he gets frustrated and says "I want to be me" and then he is shown at the shore on a bike

(Hero Honda Ambition) saying, “I'll do it my way”.

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Five respondents did not understand this ad at a denotative level itself. They said the ad

was fast. This could be because the ad was in English and all of these respondents had Marathi as

their medium of instruction in school, but still they are conversant with English. Of the ten

respondents who could get the dialogues and the ad at a denotative level, two accepted the

message of the ad, that all your life you are being pressurized, and you should do what you want

to and buying ambition was a symbol of his making his own decision. Two were neutral and just

described the ad. Five got the message but completely rejected it. One respondent had a critical

reading of the commercial.

Following are the points referred to by the respondents while discussing the message of

the ad:

A. How they saw the main character of the ad, before and after his decision to buy Ambition

Before buying Ambition After buying Ambition

1 Complies with others wishes at the expense of

self

Self at the rejection of others

2 Complies with others wishes for good of self Self along with others

3 Complies with others wishes for good of self Self at the rejection of others

4 Complies with others wishes at the expense of

self

Self along with others

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B. Whether they saw Hero Honda Ambition as his ambition or saw it as a symbol.

5. Hero Honda Ambition = ambition

6. Ambition as a symbol of his ambitions in life

7. Ambition as one of his ambitions

C. Product

8. Nothing about the product was mentioned

9. Rejection of association with product

10. Buying an Ambition as a symbol of his own individual choice.

Respondent Chart: 2

R. No. Options Remark

R 1 1 6 8 Accepted the message

R 2 1 8 Rejected the association

R 3 Rejected the association

R 4 2 5 8 Rejected the association

R 5 1 6 Neutral

R 6 1 9 Rejected the association

R 7 1 9 10 Rejected the association

R 8 2 10 Neutral

R 9 1 6 10 Accepted the message

R 10 1 6 8 Rejected the association

R 11 Different Reading

R 12 5 7 Different Reading

R 13 4 5 Different Reading

R 14 Different Reading

R 15 2 6 Different Reading

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R 1 and R9 have both accepted the message however the have done so differently. While

R1 uses the pronoun “you” which suggests that she has immediately accepted the message and

used it as a reference to reality, R9 uses the pronoun “he” which indicates that she does not use

the message as a direct reference to reality.

R 1: "Actually the ad is showing that since you were born, since you are in this

world everybody is expecting something out of you. And they are imposing that thing on

you. Somebody wants you to be healthy, somebody wants you to write clearly…”

R 9: "First when he is small somebody tells him I want you to be healthy, then I

want you to get married…After that he is pressurized from all sides, he does things

because somebody is telling him, then he gets frustrated and he says I want to be me. I

will do things my way"

R2 has accepted the message but rejected its association with the product.

R 2: "Well it shows something like I want to be me. From childhood, from the

time you are born itself there are others who try to put pressure on you. But ultimately

you want to be what you are. And I think what they are trying to show is that if you have

this bike you can be yourself…As far as I am concerned I am not able to connect 'being

yourself ' to buying a bike. That message of being yourself and buying the bike ambition

somehow it does not connect together. Doesn’t make sense."

R 11 and R 14 both use the theme of economic development to read the ad, and their

social background also showed their emphasis on economic development and improvement.

R11: (Summary) Hero Honda Ambition is very fast just like we have a fast life. And the

main aim of our life is improvement… After getting married also he wants the economic

development necessary for a family, he wants a bigger house. And this improvement is only

possible if you can do more work in less time and so he buys the bike. Obviously, instead of

walking if you have a bike your energy will be saved and you can use this energy in your work…

R 14: "In the ad they have shown a man who is very ordinary but who aspires to

become extraordinary. He wants all the luxuries in life that people generally want. And

Hero Honda Ambition is one such luxury that people want. Everybody wants a bank

balance, everybody wants a car"

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Their interpretations are very important and reflect the views of a whole section of

society for whom development is economic development.

Respondent 3 has read this ad too very critically and his interpretation has little in

common with any other respondents reading:

"…It’s a haphazard badly made ad. Yes there is an underlying theme, that, though

everybody is telling him through out his life what they want, but he is the one who has to

do everything. So now he is on this bike and he can do anything he wants do. So what's

the point? Does Ambition make you do that? How and why does Ambition signify

that? I have no idea. It does not seem to provide any answers. It plays on your mind a

little. This ad is for somebody who really wants to break free…What the ad makers have

failed to realize is that Indians as a class are not rebellious. They still have responsibilities

that they cannot shrug off. And even if they do want to break free they have to take care

of things"

The analysis of interpretations to this ad shows that even among those who have read the

text in a broadly similar manner, their interpretations were quite different. Some respondents,

who accepted the message used it to refer to reality, most either rejected the association of the

message to the product or rejected the message itself.

How the respondent defines and speaks of the character may reflect his or her own nature

or values, or the respondents may draw from pre-existing myths through which they understand

both themselves and the character.

Respondents used very different themes or frames of reference like that of economic

development and individual freedom to read the ‘same’ text.

5.3 Analysis and Interpretation of the responses to the Femina Ad

Femina is a women’s magazine, however for those who did not know this, the ad does

not provide any answers. The ad begun with the newly wed couple entering the home. Then

people were shown engaged in different activities, giving the house a very festive look. The

couple is then taken to their room and locked inside by friends / relatives. Once inside, they are

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both sitting on the bed, not knowing what to do, the clock is shown ticking, finally the girl gets

up, the music gets faster, she removes her and her husbands head gear and pushes him onto the

bed.

Along with accepting or rejecting the message, studying the involvement and reaction of

the viewers is equally important for reception studies. And the involvement of all the

respondents for this ad was definitely very high. Whether they found the ad "brilliant" "shocking

"or "derogatory " they all had something to say, they wanted to react.

Some prominent issues that were raised by the respondents were categorized as follows:

1. Whether they found the ad realistic or unrealistic. This is mainly related to the character

of the women. Does she, according to them reflect women in real life? Accordingly, there

are two categories:

1a. Realistic

1b. Unrealistic

2. What the ad shows is only a newly wed couple going to their bedroom and inside the

bedroom on the bed, but some have taken this as a point of reference and spoken of

related issues while some have restricted their responses to contents of the ad.

2a. Spoke of overall context

2b. Spoke only of the content of the ad.

3. Again while some respondents have spoken only about the ad, some have taken a cue

from the ad, and immediately related to reality and spoke of the ad and reality almost as

though they were one.

3a. Spoke only about the ad

3b. Spoke of the ad in reference to reality (Referential reading)

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Respondent Chart: 3

R. No. Interpretation R. No. Interpretation

R 1 1a 2a 3b R 2 1b 2b 3a

R 4 1a 2a 3b R 11 1b 2b 3a

R 14 1a 2a 3b R 13 1b 2b 3a

R 10 1a 3b R 12 1b 2b 3b

R 7 1a 2b 3b R 8 1b 2b

R 15 1a 2b 3b R 9 1b 2b

To read the chart:

1. On the left are all respondents who considered the ad to be realistic, and on the right are

those who considered it to be unrealistic.

2. It can be seen that there is no most common reading, but there are four common readings:

a. 1a 2a 3b as interpreted by respondents 1, 4 and 14 and respondent 10 interpretation

varies slightly from this one.

b. The other common reading is 1b 2b 3a as interpreted by respondents 2, 11, 13 and

respondent 12 interpretations varies slightly from this reading.

c. 1a 2b 3b as interpreted by R 7 and R 15

d. 1b 2b as interpreted by R 8 and R 9

It's significant that the first two interpretations are extremely opposite to each other:

1a 2a 3b vs. 1b 2b 3a while the first means that they thought the ad to be realistic, spoke

of the overall context and also used it as a reference to reality the second reading means that they

thought the ad to be unrealistic, spoke only about the message in the ad and did not use it as a

reference to reality.

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Following are responses of those who considered the ad to be real and used it as a

reference to reality:

R1: "The ad depicts a modern woman, shows that today the woman think that

they are independent and free, in the sense that they are no more shy they can do

whatever they want to…”

R 4: "Maybe they are trying to say that things are changing. Girls are supposed to

be shy who don’t make the move. So, they are just showing that this is for the generation

of girls now…”

Respondent 7 and 15 have also identified the character as reflecting woman today and

have used the ad as a reference to speak of reality, but their responses are different from those

above in the sense that they do not speak of the overall context and restrict their response to

discussing contents of the ad only:

R 7: "…Basically they have linked Femina with this changing image of woman.

For that matter, in this particular ad they show this lady making the first move which is so

very unconventional, it does not happen…”

Next, are responses of those who considered the ad to be unrealistic, restricted their

conversation to the contents of the ad and do not use the message to refer to reality:

R 9: "First of all, it is not that realistic. All the things they have shown in the

beginning are very nice after that when she takes initiative, that does not appeal, because

this does not happen in reality, very rarely"

This ad also raised a very prominent debate. Whether it was right of the woman to take

initiative, some felt that, that is her personal decision while some said that her behaviour is

unacceptable in society:

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R 11: "Even if it is between her and her husband…I didn’t like it. We have to

think how much the society will accept this. Even if it is an ad, it is unacceptable to

society…”

R 10: "…But now times have changed for women, it is not important whether

people accept it or not…”

The female respondents placed importance on her non-revolting character, Their

interpretation reflects their own values maybe of not being revolting, but still trying to do the

things they want to do.

R5: "She knows how to behave in which circumstances…outside the room there

was absolutely nothing wrong in her behaviour but even inside its not that she directly

goes and does everything, she waits… "

R6: "…She comes in the same way, traditional everything. But she develops the

courage…that’s her inner strength coming. So what Femina is trying to portray that not

that we become revolting as such, no. In a very polite manner they are trying to say that

let women come out of the cocoon… "

And in stark contrast some male respondents found her aggressive:

R12: "Aggressive, actually they should not make ads dealing with such subjects. They

wanted to show that she is a modern woman, that she takes initiative where men should

take initiative…"

The interpretation of Rrespondent 3 for this ad has also been different. His reading has

been oppositional for every ad. This may be attributed to his rational, independent and even

rebellious nature as reflected in his social background interview.

"Bad ad because that’s not what Femina is about. I have read Femina quite a few

times. Its not only about sex. Femina is about women. It is about the woman of substance.

The woman of substance doesn’t just want to be strong in bed. I don’t think. The woman

of substance also works. She is a good housewife also. That makes her role more

challenging…She's a mother at the same time… This ad is a culmination of woman being

just bold…"

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The responses of this ad clearly reflect the role played by the readers’ social background

and experiences in the interpretation of the text. Respondents’ from the rural background found

the ad unrealistic and even thought it to be socially unacceptable, while respondents from the

urban area accepted the message and considered it to be realistic.

Like the previous ad, the character of this ad also was defined differently, and how the

respondents saw the character may be traced to their nature, values and social position. Some

female respondents emphasized her non-revolting character while some male respondents found

her to be aggressive. Female respondents tended to speak of the woman by herself, while male

respondents spoke of the woman in relation to the man.

Another finding which is significant not only for this research but for reception studies in

general, is that if the message has appealed to the viewer he/she uses it as a reference to talk of

reality and does not differentiate between the message of the ad: media discourse and social

everyday discourse.

VI. CONCLUSION

The responses to each ad highlight different issues in the process of reception.

The varied interpretations for the Bajaj ad show its polysemic nature. The text itself had

multiple meaning potentials and what the readers selected or rejected depended on how they

positioned themselves with respect to the issue of modernity, westernization and Indian

traditions. This position in turn is determined by a complex interaction of several factors:

reading, education, and family background being some of the most prominent factors.

The analysis of responses to the Hero Honda Ambition ad on the other hand illustrate

how the readers may sometimes draw on existing myths rather than their own social background

to read the text. These myths may be created by media or other social discourses. This suggests

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the complexity of the process of reception. Both the creators and readers of the text draw on

other texts and discourses for their creation and reception.

In comparison to the previous two ads, the responses to the Femina ad were more

evidently a function of the reader’s social background and position.

Text, audience and context are inseparable entities of the process of reception. Thus,

reception analysis cannot be theorized only in terms of audiences, every reference to audiences

has to be made by specifying both the text and the context.

Returning to the encoding/decoding model discussed earlier Stuart Hall has assumed a

complex stand in the elucidation of the process of meaning making. His model suggests that

various agencies like investors, media institutions, creative staff all contribute to the making of

the text. This process of encoding therefore results in a text that has multiple meaning potentials.

However, the readers who are 'infused' with values and beliefs of the dominant culture, draw on

this knowledge of culture to decode the text. Also, the text itself borrows from the dominant

culture. And because both the readers and the text refer to the same culture or understanding,

there is more consensus in interpretations and audience readings tend to aggregate around the

dominant or preferred reading. At the same time, he also insists that decoding is not a unilateral

process and variations in reading are always possible.

However the multiple, diverse and at times oppositional interpretations the ads have

suggest that individualized readings are the norm, while dominant readings are rare.

The model also suggests that textual analysis may help to illuminate the ideology with

which it was created, precisely, the preferred reading. Suggesting a more structuralist approach,

as against this research which used audience responses to define the framework and options

provided by the text.

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Thus, on a continuum of textual determinism to social determinism, the encoding/

decoding model suggests that reception is closer to the former while findings of this research

suggest that it is closer to the later.

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