Analysis of the Art Infusion Effect with a Different Type of Art – Illustrative Art

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Berlin School of Economics and Law Department of Business and Economics

Bachelor Thesis

International Business Administration Exchange

Analysis of the Art Infusion Effect with a Different Type of Art Illustrative Art

First Examiner: Prof. Dr. Carsten Baumgarth Second Examiner: Dr. Samuel Kristal

Submitted by Mirjam Freese

Latest Date of Submission 1st of March 2020

Word count: 14,347

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Abstract

Background: Art infusion has been tested in the context of visual art. This paper focuses on the exploration of art infusion with a form of applied art, namely illustration, to find out whether and how this effect is existing in this art practice, therefore referred as illustrative art.

Method: Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with close resemblance to a focused interview. The interviews included a presentation of seven examples of advertising campaigns featuring illustrations to identify the vie ers impressions of the illustrations and their impact on the viewer. The illustrations included illustrations with different styles and functions as the researcher classified them. The interviews were analysed with the help a coding guideline, similar a qualitative content analysis. Three main categories raised from the content analysis and consequently, a combination of these resulted in the analysis of the art infusion effect.

Findings: Perception of art varied among the participants, whereas traditional-style illustrations were perceived more directly as artwork than modern-style illustrations.

Association with the illustration ranged from positive to negative, whereas many associations remained unclear. Impressions of the ad were assigned more clearly, as positive or negative.

Discussion: The research findings indicate that an art infusion effect for illustrative art may exist. However, the effect may depend strongly on the viewer. The art infusion effect manifested itself in a perception of the illustration as art and a positive impression of the ad, whereby a negative association with the illustration did not prevent the supposed effect.

Interestingly, the findings indicate that responses differed among the participants rather than between the illustrations, which might be due to individual differences in the perceptions as art among the participants.

Keywords: Art Infusion, Illustration, Visual Art, Advertising

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1 Introduction

Art and marketing are as much of a contradiction as they currently become a symbiosis. The interplay of these two somewhat contrary disciplines is visible in numerous advertising campaigns featuring various artworks, as well as in a multitude of collaborations occurring between brands and artists. Art is unique. Moreover, for some time now, art has been instrumentalised in a marketing context so brands could differentiate themselves from other competitors and influence consumer perceptions to the better. The realisation that unique characteristics of art can bring value to a product when incorporated in product design, packaging or advertisement, as Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) and numerous other studies (Moon and Kwak, 2010; Kim et al., 2012; Huettl and Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015;

Mantovani and Tazima, 2016; Peluso et al., 2017; Pino et al., 2017; Naletelich and Paswan, 2018; Estes et al., 2018) have already shown, is not new.

Simultaneously, the illustration discipline is increasingly becoming a consistent observation in recent marketing campaigns. The PAGE magazine dedicated a dossier in September 2016 to illustrative branding, highlighting a positive influence of illustration and recommending brand experts and marketers to incorporate illustrations in their strategies (PAGE Redaktion, 2016). Brands such as McDonald s, Nike, Spreequell and others seem to have already done it. They featured illustrations in their packaging or their advertising. Beyond this, custom illustrations like for brand such as Casper become a recognisable part of their branding strategy. Illustration seems to be a frequent observation in oda s is al comm nica ion, which is reflected in Figure 1, showing different illustrations in an advertising context.

Figure 1: Collage of Illustration in Packaging and Advertising

Source: Own presentation adopted from TBWA Paris agency (2014), Khomane, D. (2009), Iivonen,J.

(2017), Limon, J. (2010), Nike (2018), Spreequell (2019), Emmett, B. (2015), Yan, J. (2015), CJWHO (2013), Unilever (2013). Nike (2018a), Gavin C. (2018), GoodNites (2014)

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Introduction

Indeed, the disciple might differ from fine art as it is mainly considered as a form of applied arts, and therefore it is debatable whether they are perceived purely as a form of art.

However, the Society of Illustrators, among them many illustration practitioners, are fighting for the discipline to be acknowledged as a distinctive form of art (Society of Illustrators, n.d.). Moreover, what happens when companies are using illustrations in advertising? When illustrations are perceived as art, do they consequently have a similar art infusion effect?

To find out one must look at the scientific framework for an influence of art which comes from the hypothesis about art infusion . I describes the assumption through which the existence of art can influence perceptions and evaluations of products favourably when art is present in advertising, product design or packaging. The framework was initially described by Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) and tested by other researchers. However, the phenomenon has mainly been analysed in the context of visual art. Research indicated that visual art affects perceptions of luxury due to the connotation of high culture (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b quoted according to Hofman, 2002). Therefore, much attention has been on forms of collaborations between art and luxury brands. While studies focused merely on a traditional type of art, namely paintings (Hagtvedt and Patrick 2008a;b; Moon and Kwak, 2010; Huettl and Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015), it has left a gap for other types of art. This present paper aims to fill an essential part of this gap and contribute to research in the area of art infusion by expanding it to a different type of art illustrative art. Instead of focusing merely on paintings from well-known artists like Van Gogh and Monet, this thesis considers a range of different images by various artists, which fulfil the criteria of an illustration. This thesis considers illustration as a variously distinctive discipline of visual communication to convey a specific context to an audience.

While art infusion theory is based on the content-independent spillover effect of luxury, it is subject of this thesis to find if those exist for illustration as well, or whether other effects might occur. Without contributing to the philosophical debate of what art is and what not this paper adopts a consumer-centric definition of art such as art is that which is categorized by the viewers as such (Bourdieu and Darbel, 1997; Dewey, 1989, similar to Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008a;b). This present thesis aimed to determine how participants perceive illustrations in advertisements. Empirical insights are generated through a qualitative study in which the participants were exposed to different illustrations in advertisements and were asked to evaluate each.

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1.1 Objective and Purpose

Research on art infusion is limited mainly to visual arts (Hagtvedt and Patrick 2008a;b;

Moon and Kwak, 2010; Huettl and Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015). Furthermore, the scientific research on illustration, let alone in the context of advertising, itself is exceptionally minimal and limited to the research done by Mayer (1989) about scientific illustrations and Kaciuba (1998) about textbook illustration. Therefore, this thesis aims to fill an essential part of the gap not only regarding art infusion but also illustration in an advertising context. Even though it might be debatable whether illustrations are generally perceived as art, this thesis aims to discover if illustrations have the potential to affect consumer perceptions and evaluations of products similar to visual artwork based on a consumer-centric approach that consumers can decide whether they perceive illustration as artwork or not.

The research objectives are the following:

To extend the research in the areas of art infusion and illustration Empirically test if there is art infusion in the context of illustrative art

To identify how an illustration is perceived, when illustration is perceived as art and how illustrations in advertisements are perceived

Consequently, this bachelor thesis aims to critically analyse if an effect appears for illustrations, similar to the art infusion effect of visual art images. Therefore, the following research questions are aimed to be answered through the empirical study.

RQ1: Do illustrations used in advertisements have an impact on the viewer? If so, what effect do they have?

RQ2: Are illustrations perceived as art? If so, is there a similar art infusion effect?

1.2 Structure of the Thesis

The thesis is structured as follows. First, after the introduction, the theoretical framework on art infusion, illustration and the perception of art will be described in chapter two.

Chapter three presents the empirical study undertaken in this thesis. There, the methodology will discuss the research design, sampling and selection, data collection and data analysis.

Finally, the findings are presented.

Chapter four provides a discussion of the findings and highlights the relevance and its relation to other research. This chapter includes theoretical and managerial implications, as well as limitations and ideas for further research.

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Introduction

The following Figure 2 provides an overview of the previously mentioned structure.

Figure 2: Structure of the Thesis

Source: Own presentation

I d c i

Objec i es, p rpose of research and s r c re of he hesis

1

The e ical F ame k Ar inf sion

Ill s ra ion and i s se in differen media Percep ion of ill s ra ion as ar

2

Em i ical S d

Research me hodolog Findings

3

Di c i

Theore ical and managerial implica ions Limi a ions and f r her research

4

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2 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework aims to review the existing literature on art infusion, illustration, as well as the perception of illustration as art. Those will be the guiding concepts leading to the empirical research of this thesis while at the same time guiding the present research.

Therefore, the chapter will first examine the art infusion theory. In a second step, the literature on illustration will provide background on the topic, followed by the perception of illustration as art in the third step.

2.1 Art Infusion Theory

Performing an analysis of art infusion with illustrative art, one must first understand the theory behind the so-called art infusion phenomenon, which is consequently the driver behind this analysis. A definition of art infusion, as well as its background, will provide a greater understanding of the topic in a first step. Furthermore, the question about what has led to the assumption that art would influence consumer perceptions in the first place will be addressed. An increasing combination of art and advertising states not only a critical observance in marketing but also the initial starting condition for art infusion theory. Those are presented in a second step. Next, the development of art infusion theory by Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) explains in greater detail how Hagtvedt and Patrick have researched and tested the phenomenon. Then, the further development of the approach by other researchers follows. Lastly, state of the art about turning art into mere illustration concludes the first part of the theoretical framework.

2.1.1 Definition of Art Infusion and Its Background

Throughout history, art has had the ability to arouse the imagination and capture the attention. Therefore, it is not surprising that art images are often used to promote unrelated prod c s ( )

(Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b, p.379)

Art infusion is defined as the general influence of art on the perception and evaluation of consumer products (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b, p.379). More specifically, the existence of art seems to influence perceptions and evaluations of consumer products favourably (Ibid.).

Consequently, this phenomenon has been called the art infusion effect. Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) first introduced the term art infusion, when they demonstrated its effect by

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Theoretical Framework

exposing participants of their studies to products associated with artworks via packaging, advertising, and product design.

The use of art in marketing had already been recognised before (Lewis, 1996; Hoffman, 2002; Gibbons, 2005; Hetsroni and Tukachinsky, 2005). However, it was Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) who tried to figure out the mechanism behind it and uncovered the already mentioned insight that products with art were evaluated more favourably compared to products that did not incorporate art (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b).

Besides, they discovered that content-independent spillover effects of luxury drive the positive effec (Ibid.). The s gges ha ar s general conno a ion of sophis ica ion, c l re, luxury and prestige (Margolin, 1992; Martorella, 1996; Tansey and Kleiner, 1996) leads to luxurious perceptions (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b). Those luxury perceptions mediate in turn the art infusion effect (Ibid.). Positive connotations spill from the artwork onto the product, leading to more favourable product evaluations (Ibid.). The influence of the artwork, however, does not depend on its content, which they refer it to as a content- independent spillover effect (Ibid.).

All in all, art infusion effect has been analysed by various researchers (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b; Moon and Kwak, 2010; Huettl and Gierl, 2012; Lee et al., 2015) in particular in fashion products (Kim et al., 2012) and in the luxury segment (Lee et al., 2014; Jelinek, 2017).

2.1.2 Starting Conditions for Art Infusion Theory

Before research based on Hag ed and Pa rick s (2008b) ar inf sion heor , ar and advertising had already been a topic of interest in literature as the combination of these two subjects seemed to be a pairing of two contradictions (Gibbons, 2005). While art was previously seen free from any commercial concerns, advertising represented rather the opposite (Gibbons, 2005, p.3). At first, combining these two seemed to be quite a contrast (Hoffman, 2002, p.5). However, these two disciplines may have even more in joint today than ever before (Diaz and Martin, 2016).

The increased combination of art and advertising presumably started in the twentieth century, around the seventies (Hoffman, 2002, pp.16; Gibbons, 2005, p.29). It could be that certain boundaries between fine art and marketing have disappeared as advertisers were commonly using artworks to promote products (Hoffman, 2002). Andy Warhol questioned

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art (Hoffman, 2002, p.99). However, the borders might have shifted even more has time has passed. The sole creation of art for marketing purposes became more and more visible and campaigns for Absolut Vodka, for instance, started featured art creations by various artists (Lewis, 1996). Some artists may have seen in advertising a chance to participate in the creation of a new urban space, where they could exhibit their work or likewise enter the domestic space (Diaz and Martin, 2016, p.97). Besides, artists could potentially reach more people through advertising than through any other medium (Hoffman, 2002, p.6).

As the borders between art and marketing seemed to distinguish, Gibbons (2005) explored the concept of art and advertising and noted, certain similarities exist between both.

According to Gibbons, certain advertisers developed strategies that were alien to advertising but familiar in the art (Gibbons, 2005, pp.53). Moreover, some marketers started building a brand identity using a distinctive type of imagery (Ibid.). The presentation and portrayal of indi id al s les and recogni abili ere kno n from he ar s orld. These findings would fuel the assumption that due to an increasing merger of art and advertising. It could be hard to differentiate between both. An advertisement poster could appeal just like an art poster due to using similar presentation styles.

Additionally, there is some further scientific research regarding the use of art and marketing.

Hetsroni and Tukachinsky (2005) focused on identifying in more detail, which types of advertisements featured what kind of art. They presented in an exploratory study the use of fine art in advertising and identified the most common style of art used in ads, which was Renaissance. The advertised products were typically from cultural establishments, cosmetic, fashion apparel or furniture, and typically prestigious goods that pursued a soft-sell approach. However, their research incorporated both content analysis and a survey of ad creatives. The latter revealed that there was little knowledge about any mechanisms why ad creatives choose advertisements to incorporate art, nor any proven knowledge about how art and marketing come along. It was not until Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) first researched the role of art in advertising.

2.1.3 Development of the Art Infusion Effect by Hagtvedt and Patrick

Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008a) distinguished the underlying mechanism of how art can have an impact on consumers in greater detail and referred to it as art infusion. They conducted three studies in which they were able to identify content-independent spillover effects of luxury as a mediating variable driving a favourable effect of ar . Hag ed and Pa rick s

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(2008a) research s ressed on ar s abili o crea e l r percep ions b referring o he commonly accepted notion that art is intrinsically tied to a heritage of high culture, with connotations of exclusivity, luxury, and sophistication (Hoffman, 2002; Margolin, 1992;

Martorella, 1996; Tansey and Kleiner, 1996).

In the first study, a field experiment, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008a) exposed consumers to an art and a non-art image on the packaging of silverware before letting them evaluate the product. They used Vincent van Gogh s Café Terrace at Night as an art image and a photograph with similar content. The two images were pretested to ensure they match in content while they differ in being examined as art. In the second study, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) presented art and non-art image, as well as a control variable with no image in ad er isemen s for ba hroom fi ings. The sed Vincen Vermeer s Girl with a Pearl Earring as the art image and a poster with identical content, however starring actress Scarlett Johansson s face on he image. The images ere pre es ed to ensure they match equivalent perceptions of luxury and quality while the art image was considered art to a higher degree than the non-art image. The third study incorporated a positive art image, a positive non-art image and a negative image on a soap dispenser. Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) used Claude Mone s Palazzo da Mula as a positive art image, a photograph depicting identical content and J.M.W. T rner s Burning of the house of Lords and Commons as negative art image.

Results of their studies revealed that, in all cases, products with art were better evaluated in terms of consumer evaluations. The favourable evaluation was also the case for negatively valenced art as revealed in the third study, which results in two variations of the effect. The spillover effect occurred when the viewer liked the artwork and also when he disliked it.

Spillover effects could be limited by very negatively valenced ar s ch as extremely gro esq e con en (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b, p.388). However, their third study demonstrated that art infusion effect interestingly also works when the artwork is perceived negatively. Furthermore, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b) chose ordinary non-luxury products such as silverware, bathrooms and soap dispenser to demonstrate that the effect is not restricted to the luxury segment. Their research was the basis for other research regarding art and marketing. Nevertheless, their research was limited to artworks by well-known and established artists, and they only used paintings. As a prerequisite, the viewers recognise the artwork as art, which is also necessary for the present study to identify the art infusion effect with illustrations.

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Interestingly, Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008a) demonstrated that association with art influences brand image and perceived extension fit due to enhanced cognitive flexibility (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008a). They suggest that art may be a successful tool to improve consumer perceptions of a brand and simultaneously increase brand extendibility. Brands associated with art were more extendible than brands without art, across a variety of extension categories.

Having the previous findings of Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008a;b) in mind, this present thesis uses actual and fictional art-infused advertisements by well-known brands, among them, Absolut, Estrella, Fritz-Kola, Guinness, Kitchenaid and Spreequell. Consequently, the author assumes that advertising with illustrations might show an art infusion effect due to the increased extensibility of the brand when the brands are known to the viewers.

2.1.4 Further Development of Art Infusion Effect

Before Hag ed and Pa rick s (2008a;b) research regarding the art infusion effect, there was no empirical research s s emicall meas ring and anal sing ar s infl ence. Af er he suggested the term art infusion, man researchers ha e cond c ed s dies of ar s effec in marketing using the same term and indicated a similar effect.

The most recent studies have enhanced the initial framework initially described by Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b). For example, Estes et al. (2018) focused their research on the value of art and developed an emotion-based model of how artwork in advertisements improves product evaluation. Other authors are equally concerned with the topic of art and brand co- creation or collaboration (Jelinek, 2017; Baumgarth and Sandberg, 2016). Jelinek (2017) investigated art as a strategic branding tool for luxury brands and conducted an exploratory study that revealed when art is applied as a strategic tool to achieve an authentic fit for the brand. Integrating art consistently and authentically within the whole value chain system could lead to higher brand equity (Jelinek, 2017). Baumgarth and Sandberg (2016) described in detail how differentiated the cooperation between art artist can look. Moreover, in contrast to a cooperative co-creation, non-collaborative co-creation could harm brand equity, especially brand attack stronger than brand play (Kristal et al., 2018).

Baumgarth (2018) presented an extensive literature review about arts and brands and four pillars regarding brand management in the world of arts, i.e. inspiration, insights, identity and image. Table 1 adapted from Baumgarth (2018) highlights how the art infusion effect

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has been tested by other researchers, whereas art infusion belongs to one of the four pillars, i.e. image. The table highlights the context, the art type and the main findings.

Table 1: Studies on the Art Infusion Effect

Source Context Art type Main findings

Estes et al.

(2018)

FMCG advertisement

Fine art (classic artworks)

Art infusion effect is based on the more general brand effect and not only on the perceived luxury. The impact of art infusion on brand effect and eventually on product evaluation is particularly high for utilitarian products

Naletelich and Paswan (2018)

Non-luxury retailing

Fine art (contemporary art)

Abstract art has a stronger art infusion effect than realist art

Pino et al.

(2017)

Luxury retailing

Iconic artwork has a stronger art infusion effect than non-iconic. Greed and extroversion strengthen the effect Peluso et al.

(2017)

Luxury advertisement

Iconic artworks enhance the perceived luxuriousness of the product. They are particularly relevant where consumer have a high desire to signal status; non-iconic artworks are more relevant for those with a desire for distinction

Mantovani and Tazima (2016)

FMCG advertising

Fine art (classic artwork)

The art infusion effect is more persuasive in situations of high regulatory fit

Lee et al. (2015) Luxury brand Fine art (contemporary art)

The presence of art resulted in higher perceived prestige for the luxury brand Huettl and Gierl

(2012)

Advertising, durable products

Art has a positive impact on perceived luxury and a negative effect on perceived expensiveness (dual effect of art infusion) Kim et al.

(2012)

Fashion products

Fine art Art has a positive impact on product evaluation, luxury perception and brand image fit

Moon and Kwak (2010)

Consumer products

Classical artworks are more effective than art parody for utilitarian products.

Consumer with a promotion focus prefer art parody ads; those with a prevention focus prefer classical artworks

Source: Own presentation adapted from Baumgarth (2018, p.241)

The here outlined findings emphasise the scope of the art infusion phenomenon.

Furthermore, they highlight just a glace of the findings in the area of arts and brands. Despite numerous studies dealing with the art infusion effect, there is a persistent lack of research

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focusing on other types of art. While previous research focused for example on different product types (Moon and Kwak, 2010; Estes et al., 2018), or congruence between an art- infused image in advertisement and the advertised product (Lee et al., 2015), studies focused primarily on fine arts. Within fine art, the majority focused only on classic artworks (Moon and Kwak, 2010; Huettl and Gierl, 2012; Mantovani and Tazima, 2016; Peluso et al., 2017;

Pino et al., 2017; Estes et al., 2018). However, two of the researches mentioned above focused on contemporary art (Lee et al., 2015; Naletilch and Paswan, 2018).

Interestingly, abstract art showed a stronger effect than realist art (Naletelich and Paswan, 2018). Consequently, these presented findings were taken into consideration when constructing the empirical research. However, due to the qualitative nature of the study in this present paper, no explanatory variables or moderators have been tested quantitatively.

2.1.5 State of the Art: Turning Art into Mere Illustration

Illustration was already partly a topic for Hagtvedt and Patrick (2011) when they investigated the role of the content with regards to the art infusion effect. Their findings showed that the influence of artwork as art was context-independent. However, the influence of artwork as the illustration may be context-dependent and prevent the art infusion effect. Their study highlights ha ar s capaci o infl ence ie ers migh depend on he lense hro gh hich i is ie ed (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2011, p.1624).

These results are probably the most relevant for thesis, as they showed that an emphasis on the content of their mage could turn art into a mere illustration and therefore prevent the art infusion effect. They suggest that visual art consists in the broadest sense of two components, the content and the manner it has been produced. By stressing the content of the artwork ar s niq e charac eris ic ma anish. Furthermore, they suggest two possible mindsets, a concrete and an abstract mindset. The concrete mindset evokes an emphasises on the content and most likely coding of the artwork as an illustration, which subsequently would diminish the art infusion effect whereas an abstract mindset evokes the emphasis of the manner and the coding of the artwork as art, which in turn may influence what the artwork conveys to the viewer. Despite these findings that support that recognition of art as an illustration may diminish the art infusion effect, this present thesis suspects, that illustrations might have an effect, if not an art infusion effect, presumably another effect. Since Hagtvedt and Patrick (2011) s gges ha car oons for e ample co ld depic an imaginable con en , b he

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manner of cartoons might have its own particular influence on consumer perceptions and j dgemen s (Hag ed and Pa rick, 2011, p.1630).

2.2 Understanding Illustration and Its Use in Media

The second chapter deals with understanding illustration and its use in different media.

Interestingly, Male (2014) describes illustration as he oldes form of con e ali ed is al communication, proposing that origins of early illustrations may be traced back to prehistoric time (Male, 2014, p.20). Visual communication started about 40,000 years ago, considering initial cave paintings (Ibid.). These early drawings were most likely to convey specific messages or codes, giving them a vital role in communication between people as they were presumably the only method of recording stories before the development of written language (Zeegen, 2005, p.6). In one form or another, illustration practice may have been in existence for centuries (Male, 2017, p.9). Considering these roots uncovers that analysing potential influences of an illustration is not only depended on understanding its anchored meaning and its function b also ill s ra ions use throughout history, which l ima el leads o i s sage in oda s ad er ising. Consequently, all of these aspects will be covered in the following sections, beginning with a broad definition of illustration and its background before presenting possible purposes of illustration. Finally, different examples of illustration will be shown in a classification according to their style and function.

2.2.1 Definition and Background of Illustration To signify and lend clarity to a subject by visual means (Doyle et al., 2019, p.ii)

Illustrations are typically images or a constellation of visual signs which elucidate a subject in a literal or metaphorical manner (Doyle et al., 2019, p.xvii). They often accompany texts, but can also operate independently (Ibid.) Overall, they are often referred to as contextualized visual communication, as they typically communicate context to an audience (Doyle et al., 2019; Male 2014, 2019a;b). Besides these defining characteristics outlined by Doyle (2019), several other authors have depicted somewhat different aspects when making an attempt to define illustration. For instance, Male (2019b) describes illustration as infl en ial discipline of is al communication by referring to its influential power when illustration is used to convey a specific message. (Male, 2019b, p.9). Blaiklock (2019) similarly describes ill s ra ion as a con emporar e pressi e form and a a of e plaining

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and constructing visual experiences of contemporary society, in which pictures, language, and meaning are ine ricabl en ined. (Blaiklock, 2019, p.8).

Indeed, this responsive characteristic of illustration is visible over the years. One may simply consider that its practices responded to ever-changing shifts in culture, economy, technological advancements and media and communication accordingly (Male, 2014, p.15).

This, in turn, establishes a diverse field of its practice among different media. This diversification of illustration practices is also reflected in several different styles it could have. For instance, the creation of imagery can be done using varying techniques, ranging from hand-drawn practices to digital creations (Mareis, 2005, p.4; Doyle et al., 2019, p.xvii).

As for today, illustrators typically create illustrations with a range of traditional and digital means. In fact, many young illustrators go back to pictorial traditions, techniques, historical styles and pictorial language, for instance, Art Deco or Jugendstil are being rediscovered in contemporary illustration.

However, it seems not so easy to define illustration by the way it is created considering that illustration can be made through various styles. It is also not a question of a specific subject.

Rather it is the purpose which determines an illustration as such (Doyle et al., 2019, p.xvii).

An illustration is an illustration because of the intention to convey a message or piece of information; without context, it could not be an illustration (Doyle et al., 2019, p.xvii, Male, 2019a, p.6). Furthermore, it is the context that defines the raison d'être of the image and underpins its essence (Male, 2019a, p.6). Considering the selected fields of characteristics mentioned in the above as well as the background of illustration, this thesis considers illustration as a creative and variously distinctive discipline of visual communication to convey context to an audience.

2.2.2 Purpose and Functions of Illustration

Literature covers a fair description of different purposes an illustration may have, as well as different areas of obligations and functions that will be presented in the following. The purpose of an illustration seems to be a multi-faceted matter. According to Gowans (1971) illustrations may be considered to serve one or more of the following four purposes, as shown in Figure 3.

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Figure 3: Purposes of Illustration

(1) to document creating visual record of something

(2) to narrate explaining or entertaining through storytelling (3) to persuade establishing, maintaining or discrediting ideas (4) to ornament enhancing life or concretizing identity

Source: Own presentation adapted from Gowans (1971, pp.12)

Considering the above-outlined criteria, most works created before the advent of mass communication would qualify as illustrations (Doyle et al., 2019). By these means, Creation of Adam by Michelangelo for example, which is considered as one of the greatest masterpieces of western Renaissance art, would be an illustration (Ibid.). Since the artwork serves one or more of these listed purposes, i.e. to narrate by explaining through telling a story about the biblical narration about Adam s crea ion. This present thesis includes an illustration which was inspired by Michelangelo s pain ing, among other types of illustrations in its qualitative study. Furthermore, Renaissance was previously identified as the most used style of art in Hetsroni and Tukachinsky study of art and advertising in 2005, see chapter 2.1.1. These criteria reinforce the assumption that illustrations may have the potential to influence the viewer through an art infusion effect.

Additionally, there are five areas of obligations an illustration can belong to, which help to understand the complexity of illustration and its use in media (Male, 2019a, p.9). Figure 4 states the different areas of illustrations and lists the most common background of these, respectively. Furthermore, they determine the area from which the context came and define its rational reason for being (Male, 2019a, p.9). Nevertheless, these areas might be overlapping at times.

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Figure 4: Areas of Obligations of Illustration

(1) Knowledge education, documentation, information, instruction, research (2) Persuasion advertising, promotion, inducement, propaganda

(3) Identity corporate literature, branding, packaging

(4) Fiction literature, young audience picture books, sequential fiction, general entertainment

(5) Commentary journalism, editorial review, critique, reportage Source: Own presentation adapted from Male (2019a, p.9)

Now, when thinking about illustration, people often refer to textbook illustration or children s book ill s ra ions, hich o ld fall nder he area of fiction or education in the case of educational books. Not needless to say that those might make up a significant part of its use among media, but it is for sure not the only use, as shown in Figure 4. From a marketing perspective, the use of illustration in advertising, corporate literature, branding, packaging context are to be mentioned here that would accordingly fall under the areas of persuasion and identity. At this point, there is no research addressing the use of illustration in either of these. However, there is some research regarding illustrations in textbooks (Kaciuba, 1998) and illustrations in scientific text (Mayer, 1989) showing that illustration can affect the reading process positively and help remember information.

Furthermore, it might be worth looking at the functions of text illustrations in order to gain a greater understanding of the function of illustrations in general. Research suggests states functions that text illustrations can have, see Figure 5. Even though previous research (Levin, 1982; Carney and Levin, 2002) considered text illustrations in their approach, similarities of illustration in other areas might simultaneously arise. Illustration in advertising may help the viewer visualise information regarding the brand or product, remember vital information or organise the pieces of information on the advertisement accordingly.

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Figure 5: Functions of Text Illustrations

(1) Decoration Illustration can help the reader enjoy the textbook by making it more attractive, but without being relevant to the text.

(2) Representation Illustration can help the reader visualize a particular event, person, place, or thing.

(3) Transformation Illustration can help the reader remember key information in a text.

(4) Organisation Illustration can help the reader organize information in a text.

(5) Interpretation Illustration can help the reader organize information into a coherent structure.

Source: Own presentation adapted from Levin (1982) and Carney and Levin (2002)

Notably, there is a complicated relationship between the illustration and what is illustrated since the potency of any illustration is dependent on the visual literacy of its audience or the ability of people to construct and derive meaning from visual information (Doyle et al., p.2).

However, in the following chapter, the researcher derives two classifications of function and style of illustration based on here mentioned purposes and functions.

2.2.3 Classification of Illustration in Advertising

Despite several different styles an illustration can have, and several functions an illustration may serve, this paper distinguishes between two main styles such as traditional and modern style, as well as between two main functions of illustration in advertising, here outlined as decorative and narrative.

This thesis distinguishes between these two functions, decorative and narrative, based on previously presented literature (Gowans, 1971; Levin, 1982; Carney and Levin, 2002) as highlighted in chapter 2.2.2. Since illustrations in advertising are generally used rather persuasively, i.e. to persuade customers, than solely for documentation purposes, i.e. such as cave paintings would have been instead for the sake of documentation. The author assumes that illustrations in advertising would serve the overall function of persuasion, i.e.

establishing or maintaining ideas about the advertised product or brand, rather than discrediting them. In contrast, the function of documentation may be disregarded.

Additionally, decorative textbook illustrations can help readers enjoy the books, but without being necessarily relevant to it (Levin, 1982; Carney and Levin, 2002). Consequently, the same could be for decorative illustrations in advertising.

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Furthermore, the author distinguishes between two manners of styles, a traditional style and a modern style of illustration in advertising. While a traditional style includes the more pencil brush looking styles similar to paintings, modern styles refer to the more flat-looking styles, with much resemblance to a comic. Nevertheless, both styles could be created digitally.

Additionally, these categories might not necessarily be the only ones that could group the styles of illustrations, as illustration practice is highly differentiated and illustrations can often have more than one style (Male, 2019b, p.66). Moreover, it may not be as easy to distinguish as the lines between these categories are blurred. For example, an illustration could be both decorative and narrative, and it could be created by a hybrid style between flat design and traditional design. In the scope of this thesis, the author decided to consider these two categories each. These classifications serve the purpose to analyse them and select different illustrations according to the criteria mentioned above in the empirical part of the study. However, in the empirical study, the author considered illustrations which are both decorative and narrative. Figure 6 demonstrates the classification of illustrations in advertising in this thesis.

Figure 6: Classification of Illustrations in Advertising Function Decorative

Enhancing life and concretizing identity without being relevant

Narrative

Explaining and entertaining though storytelling

Style Traditional Style

Brush strokes visible and a resemblance to a painting

Modern Style

Flat looking and resemblance to infographics, vector or a comic

Source: Own presentation adapted from Gowans (1971), Levin (1982), Carney and Levin (2002), and Male (2019a)

2.2.3.1 Decorative Function

A decorative illustration in advertising refers to their primary function of decoration, i.e. the illustration ornaments. Additionally, a decorative illustration could also be integrated into the product design and ornamenting the product. However, the decorative function serves primarily to improve and embellish without necessarily being relevant. Two examples of advertisements are shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8 in Table 2 on the following pages.

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2.2.3.2 Narrative Function

A narrative illustration refers to their primary narrative function. The illustration itself is telling a story. The narrative function serves the main purpose to explain or entertain through storytelling. Two examples of advertisements with narrative illustrations are shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10 in Table 2.

2.2.3.3 Traditional Style

The traditional style includes all illustrations which remind of more traditional design and where brush strokes might be clearly visible. They can also be produced digitally. Figure 7 and Figure 9 resemble two traditional illustration styles.

2.2.3.4 Modern Style

Modern styles refer to the more modern looking flat design. They often include infographics, or vectors and might look similar to a cartoon. Accordingly, Figure 8 and Figure 10 resemble two examples of modern styles.

Table 2: Examples of Function and Design of Illustrations in Advertisements

Traditional Modern

Decorative

Figure 7: Decorative Traditional Design

Source: Rlon (2014)

Figure 8: Decorative Modern Design

Source: Götz (2014)

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Traditional Modern

Narrative

Figure 9: Decorative Traditional Design

Source: Guinness (2014)

Figure 10: Narrative Modern Design

Source: Rocket + Wink (2018) Source: Own presentation

2.3 Perception of Illustration as Art

Moving on to the third part of the theoretical framework, the question arises, under which conditions illustrations are perceived as art? As already mentioned, art is perceived differently by each individual viewer, making the understanding of art a wide field of differing perceptions (Bourdieu and Darbel, 1991) primarily. In short, what is considered as art is dependent on the viewer (Ibid.) In this chapter, however, differences and similarities, in theory, will be identified before investigating the effect on the viewers in the empirical part of the thesis. The general perception and evaluation of art will be addressed first, followed by differences and similarities between illustration and fine art.

2.3.1 Perception and Evaluation of Art

The experience of art seems to be particularly challenging in a scientific framework.

However, Bo rdie and Darbel s (1991) study of European art museum audiences The Love of Art remains one of the most influential academic studies of the social indices of art perception dealing with those subjects. The study addresses characteristics of art museums visitors in France, Greece, Spain and Italy, showing that art is of great value in society as cultural capital; however, to a great extent the appreciation of art is personal. Hagtvedt and Patrick adopted this consumer-focused approach by Bo rdie and Darbel s (1991). They classified as art what the viewers consider as such in their study (Bourdieu and Darbel, 1991;

Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008b). This approach also la s he fo nda ion for his hesis analysis. Besides its repetitive application and its theoretical foundations, this approach

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allows considering ie ers percep ions, hich in rn enables cons mer-focused evaluation of the surveyed data.

2.3.2 Differences and Similarities between Illustration and Fine Art

B here is ano her is al ar form ha manifes l ubiquitous and, some will argue, much more accessible han fine ar : ill s ra ion

(Male, 2014, p.8)

Despite individual differences in the observation of art that seem to be highly interpersonal (Bourdieu and Darbel, 1991), similarities and differences between illustration and fine art shall be discussed in the following, from an objective point of view. Hence the reader gains greater understanding of both. Indeed, illustration is often seen as an applied art form (Male, 2019b, p.10). Even though there are some similarities between fine art and illustrative art, illustration differs to some extent significantly to what would be typically considered as fine art. Those differences will be discussed in the following.

Fine art generally refers to visual art such as painting, drawing, sculpture, installation or conceptual art (Chilvers, 2004). It is cultivated for its own sake, such as appealing mind and emotions while experiencing the first or the latter (Male, 2014, p.8). The conception and production of fine art is usually driven by a subjective rational, i.e. expressing opinions, influences or experiences of the artist, but often without resourcing any commercial driver such as publications (Male, 2019b, p.8).

Instead, illustration is rather seen as a form of is al ar s prac ice (Male, 2014, p.8). All in all, the term applied arts refer to all art that applies design and decoration to objects to make them aesthetically pleasing (Chilvers, 2004). Male (2019b) describes i also as ar a he ser ice of he people (Male, 2019b, p.10). Furthermore, Zeegen refers to it as commercial art, considering that the creation of an illustration may often be commercial nature, to fulfil a clien s ask or brief (Zeegen, 2005, p.6). Which thus would contradict the nature of fine arts.

Additionally, while fine art, on the one hand, is produced to be accessed in its original form (i.e. art galleries), illustrations, on the other hand, are generally much more accessible commissioned for arge a diences, of en reprod ced in large q an i ies and dis rib ed ia ever-e panding crea i e, media and comm nica ion ind s ries. (Male, 2019b, p.8).

Furthermore, art has several characteristics, one including non-utility. According to Doyle:

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I does no impl ha ar orks cannot have utility, but creativity and skill are central to the creation and appreciation of the artwork, irrespective of any other functions (Doyle et al., 2019). This non-utilitarian quest, when associated with other objects, might leads ultimately to more favourable evaluations of those objects. (Ibid.) From the perspective of art infusion, however, it is not always guaranteed that art used in advertising is non-utility. For instance, once the art is adapted to the product or brands, or for instance created for the sake of the product, it could no longer be called fine art or visual art.

It is worth noting that despite these differences, certain instances consider illustration to be an art form and illustration compete for recognition as artists. For instance, in the USA, the importance of Illustration was recognised by the Society of Illustrators, a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of illustrations founded in 1901. Its mission is inter alia to promote the art of illustration, appreciate its history and to evolve its nature through exhibitions, lectures and education (Society of Illustrators, n.d.). The organization recognizes artists for their distinguished achievements in the art of illustration. Since 1958 the Society of Illustrators has elected to its Hall of Fame artists recognized for their distinguished achievement in the art of illustration. Furthermore, in 1981 the Society of Illustrators opened the Museum of Illustration, located in New York City (Ibid.). However, its credibility may be called into question as the members consist mainly of illustrators, who might be concerned about their reputations as artists.

Besides, as the perception of art seems highly personal, see chapter 2.3.1, it cannot be excluded that illustration is necessarily not perceived as art or nevertheless perceived as a work of art. According to Male (2019b), the significant and influential impact of illustration on society over the years is undeniable, evoking a variety of audience reactions and emotions is undeniable (Male, 2019b, p.11). The impact and importance it may have had in helping to create new forms of creative expression through a wide range of literary and entertainment worlds and in contributing to economic and cultural prosperity through advertising, media, design and service industries, and in contributing to the preservation, conservation and presentation of cultural heritage through education, knowledge sharing, museums and documentary films (Ibid.)

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Empirical Study: Art Infusion Advertising with Illustration

3 Empirical Study: Art Infusion Advertising with Illustration

An empirical study has been undertaken in this thesis to analyse the art infusion effect with illustrative art in advertising. As highlighted in the theoretical framework, art and marketing are of great interest today and in the past. The art infusion hypothesis is a phenomenon that, since its discovery, has led to a fascination with these two subjects combined, which becomes visible through a large number of studies dedicated this topic, as previously described in the theoretical framework. Despite their controversial nature, illustrations are an interesting matter in the context of art. Since they are often used in advertising, this study investigates, if illustrations in advertising have an impact on the viewer, which is similar to the effect of visual art, initially described by Hagtvedt and Patrick (2008b). Therefore, the research objectives are the following:

To extend the research in the area of the art infusion and illustration Empirically test if there is art infusion in the context of illustrative art

To identify how an illustration is perceived, if an illustration is perceived as art, and consequently if there an art infusion effect

Firstly, due to a gap of research regarding illustrations in advertising, it called for further investigation of those. First, it must be clarified whether illustrations in advertisements have an effect and if so, what kind of effect they have. Since research has mainly focused on scientific and textbook illustration, no research has focused on illustrations in advertisements, which leads to the development of the first research question:

RQ1: Do illustrations used in advertisements have an impact on the viewer? If so, what effect do they have?

Secondly, to maintain the relation to art infusion hypothesis, the researcher aims to analyse if such an effect exists with illustrations. Indeed, the perception of illustration as art has been recognized by some institutions (Society of illustrators, n.d.). However, the perception of art might differ among individuals. In addition, due to individual differences in art perception, it can neither be included or excluded that those would not be perceived as art. Furthermore, the researcher assumes that if illustrations are perceived as art, they will lead to an art infusion effect. Which ultimately leads to the second research question:

RQ2: Are illustrations perceived as art? If so, is there a similar art infusion effect?

Consequently, a qualitative research approach has been selected due to the rather exploratory nature of the topic. In this case, it is to explore ideas and understand the vie er s perspec i e

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regarding the use of illustration in advertising. Overall, the study consisted of six semi- structured interviews, with close resemblance to a focused interview where participants were exposed to different stimuli. In this study, the participants were exposed to 14 different images, including a total of seven illustrations and the corresponding seven advertisements.

3.1 Research Methodology

In the following, the chosen research methodology will be outlined. A qualitative approach seems more relevant in this study, as it allows the researcher to explore ideas and understand the perspectives of the viewers to generate information with fewer predetermined assumptions. Furthermore, it allows gaining more depth and meaning based on the individual perceptions of the viewers. It contrasts with a quantitative approach, which is more structured, based on numbers and often used with predetermined assumptions, i.e. a deductive approach (Saunders et al., 2016, pp.165). Qualitative studies serve to understand the nature of a phenomenon better, and new topics can be approached better (Ibid.). Because art infusion analysis of illustrative art is a to a certain extent a new field of research, with no predetermined and tested assumptions, it seemed the most appropriate to use a qualitative approach. The novelty of the topic, the research questions, as well as its complexity, further justifies the chosen qualitative method.

Additionally, qualitative research can be done with either a deductive or inductive approach (Saunders et al., 2016, p.569). In this study, using a combination between inductive and deductive approach helped building a guiding framework on the existing theory, while at the same time fitting the explorative nature of the study. In practice, much qualitative research uses an abductive approach which includes both deductive and inductive approaches, where inferences are developed, and deductive ones are tested throughout the research (Saunders et al., 2016). The process of qualitative research typically involves the collection of data, that may occur, refute or dispute theories, and in turn, allow for the understanding and clarification of various observations. Several aspects were considered when in the design of research methods. In the following sections, the research design, the sampling and selection, data collection and data analysis methods are presented in greater detail.

3.1.1 Focused Interview

The implementation of the study design bears a close resemblance to a focused interview developed by Merton and Kendall (1946), slightly amended to the researcher s needs, i.e.

the researcher refrained from an extensive analysis of the stimuli. The focused interview is

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a form of an interview where a clearly defined stimulus, i.e. a picture, is presented to the participants, that has been previously analysed by the researcher (Merton and Kendall, 1946). Since the focused interview is used to investiga e an indi id al s reac ion to a specific stimulus or a situation, it seemed to be well suited for this study. The interviews in this study aimed to analyse individual viewers perceptions with the help of a semi-structured interview guideline, that can be found in Appendix 1.1: Interview Guideline.

The focused interview was created for individual interviews, as well as group interviews, initially regarding the social and psychological effects of mass communications (Merton and Kendall, 1946, p.542). Today it is often used for individual interview settings, although its nearest relative, the focus group, uses group interviews instead. Indeed, in this study, individual interviews seemed more appropriate than a group interview in order to prevent the assumptions of the individual from being influenced by other participants, especially since the perception of art seems very personal (Bourdieu and Darbel, 1997). As stimuli, the researcher decided to test advertisements that contain illustrations which differed in style and type of presentation, as they were classified earlier, see chapter 2.2.3.

Due to its original purpose of interpreting the effects of mass communications, the focused interview seems particularly suitable for the use of illustrations in advertisements. The researcher distinguished the illustrations between a traditional and a modern style, which served either a decorative or a narrative function or a mix between both, as the distinction of these categories might be unclear. As a result, seven different advertisements were presented to the participants. The images were edited so that the front page only showed the illustrated scene from the advertisement. The backside contained the entire section of the advertisement. During the interview, the respondents were alternately confronted with a stimulus, to judge one picture after another. The participants first had to judge the illustration based on their opinion, which is ultimately the purpose of a focused interview, to explore the subjective and not the objective nature of the stimulus (Merton and Kendall, 1946, p.541). After each illustration, the researcher revealed the entire advertisement to the participant. Afterwards, the participant was asked to express thoughts about the ad and the advertised product and brand, at each time focusing on the subjective opinions, before they continued with the next illustration. The images contained a total of 14 images in the order of A1-G1 showing the illustration scene and A2-G2 showing the entire ad. The order of the pictures varied randomly for each participant to avoid assumptions arising to the images

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presented later. Table 3 provides a summary of the details of the style and technique of the illustration and a brief description of the brand and product being promoted.

Table 3: Description of Illustration Advertisements used in the Study

No. Illustration (1)

Style of the Illustration

Function Advertisement (2)

Brand Description

1 A1 Modern Decorative A2 Estrella Estrella Damm beer

campaign by &Rosas / Barcelona

Illustrator: Silja Goetz

2 B1 Traditional Narrative B2 Guinness A Masterpiece,

Creation of Adam Michelangelo

3 C1 Traditional Decorative C2 Absolut Illustrator: Rlon Wang

4 D1 Modern Narrative D2 Spreequell Prickelnd ohne

Worte Jung von Matt/SPREE

Illustrator: Tim Schmitt

5 E1 Modern Narrative E2 Fritz-Kola Willkommen im

Wach campaign by Rocket + Wink 6 F1 Traditional Narrative/

decorative

F2 KitchenAid Art Nouveau style by agency DDB

7 G1 Traditional Narrative/

decorative

G2 Chocolat

Idéal

Art Nouveau poster by Alphonse Mucha from 1897

Source: Own presentation

Each image was printed in colour on a DIN A4 page and coated with foil to ensure good quality. An overview of the actual images is provided in Table 4.

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Table 4: Overview of the Illustration-Advertisements used in the Study

No. Illustration Advertisement

1 A1

Source: Götz (2014), cropped

A2

Source: Götz (2014)

2 B1

Source: Guinness (2014), cropped

B2

Source: Guinness (2014)

3 C1

Source: Rlon (2014), cropped

C2

Source: Rlon (2014)

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No. Illustration Advertisement

4 D1

Source: Spreequell (2019), cropped

D2

Source: Spreequell (2019)

5 E1

Source: Rocket + Wink (2018), cropped

E2

Source: Rocket + Wink. (2018) 6 F1

Source: KitchenAid (2011), cropped

F2

Source: KitchenAid (2011)

7 G1

Source: Mucha (1897), cropped

G2

Source: Mucha (1897) Source: Own presentation