Visual Narrative And The Media

Question: Why is narrative important when shaping a visual image to the audience? 

Answer:

The visual narrative displays a social life of experiences which comprised the bond of people and who share similar understandings, their worlds and themselves (Bach, 2001). Stories give a strong effect on various researches (Bach, 2001). Images which contained narrative are suitable and appropriate for the beginners of art viewers (Goldberg, 2005). In her research on aesthetic development, Abigail Housen, cognitive psychologist, showed that kids and adult find for stories in art even when the person who produces the painting and drawing did not mean to create a narrative stories of it. Artworks which contain narrative may help young viewers to interpret the art in various ways and it makes it become more fascinating (Goldberg, 2005).

The benefit of narrative ads is it may help customers to be able to create a thinking by using narrative (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Escalas, 2004b). Narrative ads will involve the customers to think in narrative ways. “Narrative ads which also been labeled as drama ads, communicative information about the features of a product or service through a story like format” (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Deighton, Komer & McQueen, 1989; Wells, 1989). Narrative in an ads consists of actors with purposes, an event which happened in a particular order and a pace which consist of physical, relation and spiritual elements (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Padgett & Allen, 1997, p.53).

The process of narrative aiding consumers to construct meaning for an advertisement and help to enhance in the analysis of the advertised brand. By adding narrative in the production of an advertisement, consumers may try to connect themselves with the world created from the ad and may create the meaning of the ad for themselves (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Bruner, 1986; Gerrig, 1993). When narrative is applied in processing a new information, consumers will attempt to find the similarity between the new information with the stories they had experienced before and stories which had stored in their memory (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Schank, 1990; Schank & Abelson, 1995).

Schank (1990) stated that in order to understand the story, we need to have the ability to find the relation between the story that had been told with the one that we are familiar with. In other words, when applying narrative in the production of an advertisement, the audience may have an idea on how to attach the promoted brand to their personal experiences. This may help to improve the relation between the brand and the audience themselves (Wentzel, Tomczak & Herrmann, 2010 as cited from Escalas, 2004b).

References:

- Goldberg, B. (2005). Art Education. Art of Narrative: Interpreting Visual Stories, 58(2), pp. 25-32. Accessed on November 5, 2012 from University Brunei Darussalam Ebrary Books Website.

- Bach, H. (2001). Photography. The place of photograph in visual narrative research, 29(3), pp. 7. Accessed on November 5, 2012 from University Brunei Darussalam Ebrary Books Website.

- Wentzel, D., Tomczak, T. & Herrmann, A. (May 2010). Psychology & Marketing. The Moderating Effect Of Cognitive Resources on the evaluation of narrative Ads, 27(5), pp. 510-530. Accessed on November 5, 2012 from University Brunei Darussalam Ebrary Books Website.