Accounting Department Research Seminar – Dr Sabrina Chong

Date: Wednesday 21 Nov, 11am - 12pm
Location: AUT City Campus
WF Building, 611
Auckland
New Zealand
Contact: accountingseminars@aut.ac.nz
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Accounting Department Research Seminar – Dr Sabrina Chong 11/21/2018 11:00 11/21/2018 12:00 More Than Meets the Eye? Gauging the Visual Persuasion of Sustainability Related PhotographsPurposeThe aim of the paper is to propose a framework for examining AUT City Campus, WF Building, 611, Auckland , New Zealand

More Than Meets the Eye? Gauging the Visual Persuasion of Sustainability Related Photographs

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to propose a framework for examining the nature and extent of visual persuasion of photographs in sustainability disclosures. Specifically, the paper determines the elements of visual persuasion in sustainability related photographs and measure the level of persuasion of these photographs.

Design / methodology / approach

The paper analyses how sustainability related photographs are being presented by corporations in a visually persuasive manner. Aristotle’s (1984) persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos and logos and Peirce’s (1991) semiotic system of icon, index and symbol are drawn to build a visual persuasion framework to determine the elements of visual persuasion that present in sustainability related photographs. By extending the visual persuasion framework, a visual persuasion scoring is constructed to measure the persuasion level of the photographs.

Findings

Aristotle’s ethos, pathos and logos can be applied effectively to visual persuasion by identifying and categorising the semiotic characteristics of icon, index and symbol signs of the photographs. These categorisations render the photographic images as credible, capable of emotion elicitation, and logical. A visual persuasion scoring is constructed and subsequently tested on its applicability. Visual persuasion level of sustainability related photographs can be determined and measured when their content images are deconstructed using the semiotics of icon, index and symbol into persuasion elements of ethos, pathos and logos.

Practical implication

The study contributes to a greater understanding of the power of sustainability related photographs in visual persuasion. By exposing companies’ visual persuasion strategy underlying the utilisation of photographs in sustainability reporting, the paper creates awareness amongst the stakeholders about the need to bring about changes to improve the quality of sustainability reporting.

Originality / value

By proposing a method of systematic analysis of the nature and extent of visual persuasion, the paper provides a solution to methodical understanding of visual persuasion in sustainability reporting.