Television advertising and television audiences in contemporary South Africa

Field, Martin Stanley

Television advertising and television audiences in contemporary South Africa

Master Thesis

1988

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of English Language and Literature

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The three television channels provided by the South African Broadcasting Corporation target different demographic sectors of the South African population. A survey was conducted quantifying advertisements shown on SABC 1, which caters for a mainly black audience, and on SABC3, which caters for a mainly white audience. The semiotic codes employed to engage the viewers were recorded, tabulated and measured. The differences between the codes used on each channel were compared and tested for statistical significance. Significant differences were observed in the type of speech used by the advertisements, the race of the characters, the types of products advertised, the lifestyles portrayed and the type of rhetoric used. Specific examples were subjected to textual analysis to gauge where the approaches to the audiences differed or converged. A number of strategies were observed, reflecting the advertisers' perceptions of the audiences' relationships with the economic and political establishments. Corporate advertisements often represent the diversity of South African society, establishing a corporate identity as a unifying feature. Advertisements for financial services either exploit white anxieties, or black optimism, encouraging investment or credit purchases respectively. A stereotype representing South African isolation and backwardness is often presented as a negative identity, implying a progressive alternative to which the product is integral. Allegories of societal transformation also feature, with varying moods of anxiety or excitement depending on the audience.