A Meaning-Based Model of Advertising Experiences

The provided text outlines a research article by Mick and Buhl from 1992, which introduces and empirically evaluates a meaning-based model of advertising experiences centered on the consumer's perspective. The authors challenge conventional advertising theories that view ads as fixed stimuli and consumers as passive reactors, advocating instead for an approach that stresses the subjectivity of ad interpretation. Their proposed model incorporates two core humanistic concepts: life themes (such as being true vs. false) and life projects (like career or family roles), arguing that these deeply motivate and shape the meanings consumers derive from advertisements. Through a phenomenological inquiry, specifically using life-story interviews with three Danish brothers and their responses to magazine ads, the study corroborates that actualized ad meanings are indeed a function of the consumer's salient life projects conjoined with their life themes. The discussion further analyzes the brothers' varied interpretations, illustrating how personal history influences the social and individual connotative meanings assigned to advertising.