BA-Thesis in Marketing & Management Communication, May 2010 Sandra Laursen
Summary
BA Thesis in Marketing and management Communication – A multimodal analysis of Scientology’s persuasive strategies.
The bachelor thesis takes its point of departure in analyzing the multimodal and persuasive choices made by one of today’s most controversial religious societies in their online videos. This focus was chosen based on the fact that we as part of the Western world are exposed to commercial messages every day, aiming at influencing our choices on how to live our lives. This raised the question of how susceptible we are to these messages. How much we are willing to change if only the message is persuasive enough. One question builds the foundation for the analysis: Which multimodal tools do Scientology make use of in their online videos in order to persuasively communicate their religious conviction and implicitly attempting to gain new members?
Scientology is one of today’s most controversial religious societies and the amount of critique and rumorsabout them is known to many, neverthelesswith millions of followers across 200 nations, their success cannot be denied. The focus of the thesis was chosen to examine the multimodal and persuasive strategies Scientology make use of in three of their online videos.
The three videos consist of Search (1:02) an advertisement, and two testimonials What Scientologists say about Scientology (3:02) and Meet a Scientologist - Paula (1:03). The three videos were chosen both to provide an overview of Scientology from a Scientologists point of view, but mainly due to their variety in content. Behind this deliberate choice lies the idea that the variety in content will show different multimodal and persuasive choices which will enable a more detailed and thorough analysis and answer to the problem statement.
The three videos and their meaning-making constructs are analysed based on a social semiotic approach to filmic texts and television, following Iedema’s work on multimodal analysis across the three metafunctions representation, orientation and organisation. Taking a multimodal approach the videos were further analyzed in regards to several semiotic modes including image, text and sound.The analysis showed that, Scientology through a wide range of close shots at eye-level, soft continuous background music and the use of personal pronouns by the voice-over in the advertisement and the physical presence of the narrators in the testimonials,establish and withhold an intimate relation with the viewer to arouse their interest and induce action. The purpose of the two genres however, revealed to serve two different interests. In the advertisement the purpose was to visualize and communicate their conviction that Scientology is the source to enlightenment and knowledge. By using constructs such as light and God-like shots in which the viewer look down at the represented participants the viewer is aroused, and invited into Scientology’s powerful world hence, serving as implicit persuasive tools. In the testimonials focus is on communicating Scientology’s conviction through the physically presence of narrators or mediators. The viewer is presented to various people in both constructed and authentic situations, sharing their personal stories, using their own everyday language, and thereby establishing an intimacy with the viewer and making the viewer relate. All these tools serve as implicit persuasive actsto arouse the interest of the viewer and induce action, and according to Halmari and Virtanen implicit persuasion is most often “the best kind of persuasion” (2005: 229).
Table of Content
1. Introduction...... 5
1.1 Motivation...... 5
1.2 Delimitations...... 6
1.3 BA -Thesis structure...... 7
2. Background information...... 7
3. Theoretical Framework...... 8
3.1 From social semiotics to multimodal social semiotics...... 8
3.1.1 M.A.K Halliday...... 9
3.1.2 Kress and Van Leeuwen...... 10
3.1.3 Rick Iedema...... 12
3.2 Persuasion theory...... 13
4. Methodology...... 15
4.1 The interdisciplinary theoretical approach...... 15
4.1.1 Representation:...... 16
4.1.2 Orientation:...... 17
4.1.3 Organization:...... 17
4.1.4 Conclusive remarks:...... 18
4.2 Transcription:...... 18
5. Analysis...... 19
5.1 Search – Advertisement...... 19
5.1.1 Representation:...... 19
5.1.1.1 Visually...... 19
5.1.1.2 Verbally...... 20
5.1.1.3 Aurally...... 21
5.1.2 Orientation...... 21
5.1.2.1 Visually...... 21
5.1.2.2 Aurally...... 22
5.1.3 Organization...... 23
5.3 What Scientologists say about Scientology...... 23
5.3.1 Representation:...... 23
5.3.1.1 Visually...... 23
5.3.1.2 Verbally...... 24
5.3.1.3 Aurally...... 25
5.3.2 Orientation...... 26
5.3.2.1 Visually...... 26
5.3.2.2 Aurally...... 26
5.3.3 Organization...... 27
5.4 Meet a Scientologist – Paula...... 28
5.4.1 Representation...... 28
5.4.1.1. Visually...... 28
5.4.1.2 Verbally...... 29
5.4.1.3 Aurally...... 29
5.4.2 Orientation...... 30
5.4.2.1 Visually...... 30
5.4.2.2 Aurally...... 30
5.4.3 Organization...... 31
6. Conclusion...... 31
7. Bibliography...... 33
1. Introduction
1.1 Motivation
As people of the Western world we have become accustomed to live an everyday life, in which we are constantly exposedto messages of various kinds. Whether they may be posters on bus-stops, TV-commercials or internet pop-ups they are everywhere and they all do their best to influence us in our choices ofwhat we should wear, how we should smell, which TV we should buy, how to behave and live our lives. The ways in which established businesses and brands pursue their goals are many and all do they have but one ultimate goal; trying to persuade us to change in one way or another.
But how susceptible are we to these commercial messages? And how much are we willing accept when it comes to getting advice on how we should live our lives? Would it be possible to convince us to change their sense of ethics and morals if only the message was persuasive enough? Our political views? Or perhaps ourreligion? It is this last matter that shall be explored in this thesis, the motivational background being to examine what multimodal tools one of today’s most controversial religious societies make use of in their pursue to persuade viewers of their religiousconviction through online advertising.
Since their founding in 1950-51 the religious society of Scientology has gained foothold and admiration amongst members in countries all over the world, and if not for anything else Scientology is known for its A-list celebrity members including John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and Tom Cruise. Their fascination anddedication to this religion is known to many, however Scientology has also been target of large amounts of critique and rumors. Books[1] and articles[2]have been published in which ex-members and journalists describe horror-scenarios and stories from within Scientology. Somestories describe how Scientology deprives its members of enormous amounts of money, supposedly for the greater benefit of the individual in order to get promoted to thehigher levels of the society[3]. Others portray the tragic circumstances in which the financial pressure has forced members to end their lives[4].
If this is all true, then what is it that still draws people’s attention and curiosity to this religion in the first place? The answer is that despite all the critique and rumors, with a scope that spans across more than 200 nations[5] and with millions of followers[6] theenormous success of Scientology cannot be denied.
The aim of this thesis is to conduct a multimodal analysis of three online videos, consisting of two advertisements and three testimonials, which are available on Scientology’s homepage[7]. Focus shall be drawn upon the semiotic modes[8](image, sound, text) and persuasive attemptswhich Scientology make use of as“the specific usage of one or the other mode is guided by socially determined intentions and realizes group interests, subjective points of view or ideological stances” (Stöckl, 2004: 10).Keeping this thought, the ultimate goal of the thesis shall be to answer thefollowing question:Which multimodal tools do Scientology make use of in their online videos in order to persuasively communicate their religious conviction and implicitly attempting to gain new members?
In order to answer the problem statement the interdisciplinary theoretical framework shall thus consist of a combination of multimodal- and persuasion theory.
1.2 Delimitations
- Due to limited amount of space and time, the analysis shall be based upon three videos only from Scientology’s homepage.This however leaves the opportunity to conduct a more thorough and detailed analysis of the chosen material.
- This thesis is not meant as a mere evaluation of whether or not Scientology is successful in communicating their conviction persuasively or not, but more as an analysis and identification of the multimodal and persuasive tools they apply in their attempt to gain new members.
1.3 BA -Thesis structure
The thesis takes its point of departure in the background information of Scientology in order to provide a sense of what the religion of Scientology is, what Scientologists stand for and believe, hence to provide the reader with an overview before proceeding to the theoretical framework.The theoretical framework introduces the theoretical field as well as it highlights the change from social semiotics to multimodal social semiotics.In the methodological section an explanation follows on what concrete theories will be applied in practice, what meaning-making processes and constructs to look for in the analysis, as well as the section considers some of the constructs which may be found within the analysis. Then, follows the actual analysisof the chosen material and in the conclusion the thesis’ problem statement will be answered based on the findings in the analysis.
2. Background information
Scientology was founded in 1950-51 by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) and literally means the studyofknowing how to know. It comes from the Latin word Scio meaning “knowing in the fullest sense of the word” and the Greek word logos which means “the study of[9]”. L. Ron Hubbard was originally a “science fiction author[10]” who had long been committed to and interested in the examining of human thinking, and when he published his book Dianeticsabout the human mind“it immediately hit the New York Times bestseller-list for 26 consecutive weeks, as such it was the biggest selling book about the mind ever written, and remains to be today[11]”. In the book, L. Ron Hubbard describes the exploration of a technique which supposedly proved that “the spirit is separable from the body and mind[12]”. Keeping this thought, Scientology is also “the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life[13]”. Scientologists believe that “all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights” and “that which is true for the individual is what the individual has observed to be true[14]”. An individual in other words, discovers for himself that Scientology works by “personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results[15]”. Apart from being a religion the churches of Scientology and theirfollowers are “committed to social betterment — in the local neighborhood, the nation or in the world as a whole[16]”.
3. Theoretical Framework
As the purpose of this thesis is to conduct a multimodal analysis of three Scientology videos with the aim of establishing the multimodal and persuasive means used and answering the thesis’ problem statement, a basic understanding of multimodality is crucial. In order to understand multimodality, it is necessary to have a look at its origins within social semiotics. This section is meant as an overview to further the understanding of multimodality, what makes modality-multi-, and its significance in constructing meaning-making processes. In addition, the section introduces the theorists whose theories will be adopted throughout the thesis and the work they have each contributed with within social semiotics and multimodal social semiotics respectively. Conclusively, and with the ultimate aim to answer the thesis’ problem statement an introduction will be made to the theoretical framework of persuasion.
3.1 From social semiotics to multimodal social semiotics
The analysis of this thesis rests on a multimodal approach and “multimodality describes approaches that understand communication and representation to be more than about language, and which attend to the full range of communicational forms people use – image, gesture, gaze, posture, and so on- and the relationships between them” (Jewitt, 2009: 14). However, multimodality has not always existed or been recognized as a possible method for analysis. In this section the various attempts to multimodality, its development from social semiotics- the study of explaining meaning-making processes of language in relation tosocially and culturally specific practices-, to what it is today, shall be accounted for. Theorists and their work and influence within each approach will be emphasized in order to create an overview as well as to provide a general introduction to the theories which will later be usedin the analysis. The chapter begins with an introduction of Michael Halliday as; “Halliday’s theories of social semiotics […] provided the initial starting point for social semiotic multimodal analysis” (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2001).
3.1.1 M.A.K Halliday
As just proposed “multimodality has its origins in a particular strand of linguistics: namely, the social semiotic theory of communication, first proposed by Halliday (1978)” (Jewitt, 2009: 26). His point of departure is that “language is a product of the social process (Halliday, 1996: 89). In other words, Halliday holds the social semiotic view that meaning is gained through language which is a product of socially specific circumstances. It is important to notice here, that the emphasis is on language as the single dominant semiotic factor for sharing and reaching meaning. Halliday provided a theory which suggested that language is realized through three metafunctions. The ideational metafunction is the resource which people use to construct an image of “what goes on in the world and their experience of the world […]” (Jewitt, 2009: 24). It is the metafunction which enables us to build representations of the world that surrounds us as individuals and which is culturally and socially specific. The interpersonal metafunction has to do, as the name says, with how “meanings position characters and readers-viewers” (Iedema, 2001: 192). In other words, what the relation between a given sign-maker/sender and the reader/viewer of this sign is.The thirdtextual metafunction serves to present “a world in which all the elements of the text[17]cohere internally, and which itself coheres with its relevant environment” (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006: 15). This approach of analysis, creating meaning by means of the three metafunctions, has been extended- and applied by various other theorists, for exampleGunter Kress, Theo Van Leeuwen and Rick Iedema, and it is this metafunctional approach upon which this thesis’ analysis is based and through which the thesis’ problem statement will be answered.
Two of the theorists who have adopted this metafunctional approach and method of creating meaning are Theo Van Leeuwen and Gunther Kress. In their work Reading Images – The Grammar of Visual design(2006) they expand Halliday’s concept of metafunctional analysis and apply it to the visual mode. They explain that: “Halliday’s model with its three functions is a starting point for our account of images […] because it works well as a source for thinking about all modes of representation” (2006: 20). With this conclusive remark we shall move to a more thorough description of Kress and Van Leeuwen and their impact on moving from traditional social semiotics where language stands as the dominant mode towards multimodal social semiotics which incorporates the interplay between various different modes.
3.1.2 Kress and Van Leeuwen
Like the work of Michael Halliday the work of Kress and Van Leeuwen on visual representations “is set within the theoretical framework of social semiotics” (2006: 6). However, as opposed to the social semiotic view likewise by Halliday: “The basic assumption that runs through multimodality is that meanings are made, distributed, received, interpreted and remade in interpretation through many representational and communicative modes- not just through language […]” (Jewitt, 2009: 14). “Multimodal approaches take up the concept of metafunctions and apply them to all modal (semiotic) resources (that is, the metafunctions are viewed as a higher order of meaning rather than specific to language)” (ibid: 24). Kress and Van Leeuwen hold the view “that language and visual communication can both be used to realize the same fundamental systems of meanings […], but that each does so by means of its own specific forms, does so differently and independently” (2006: 19). And they continue; “We believe that visual designs, like all semiotic modes, fulfill three major functions. To use Halliday’s terms, every semiotic fulfils both an ideational function, a function of representing the world around and inside us, an interpersonal function, a function of enacting social interactions as social relations”(ibid:15). And third, the textual metafunction is given by “the way representations and communicative acts cohere into a kind of meaningful whole we call text” (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1996: 14). The reason for which the visual semiotic universe has caught the attention of Kress and Van Leeuwen stems from their observations that there is an “overwhelming evidence of the importance of visual communication, and the now problematic absence of means for talking and thinking about what is actually communicated by images and visual design” (2006: 17). This observation is important as it builds the foundation for the analysis of visual texts such as advertisements and testimonials which are the subjects for this thesis’ analysis.
Within their work with the three metafunctions, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) operate with a range of different visual semioticconstructs, which play a significant role in the interpersonal meaning-making process, hence throughout this thesis. These constructs include the size of frame- namely the choice made by a sign-maker to use e.g. a long shot rather than a close- or medium shot[18]. These suggest the kind of social distance a represented participant and the viewer hold to each other. Furthermore, the perspective establishes the angle which a given represented participant holds in relation to the viewer. For example, if the represented participant is placed at a high angle, if the viewer looks up at the represented participant, creating a vertical angle, it suggests that the participant holds power over the viewer. Opposite if a represented participant is placed at a low angle, and the viewer looks down at him or her, it suggests that the viewer holds power over the represented participant. Additionally, horizontal angles suggest some kind of involvement as they can be frontal “confronting us directly and unavoidably” or profile detaching the viewer from the world of the represented (Van Leeuwen, 2006: 180). “These concepts can be used to ask what attitudes a given image expresses towards what it represents” (ibid).