A cross-sectional, qualitative study describing interpretations of a South African Arrive Alive (2015) advertisement: an audience reception analysis

Abstract

With the increased use of technology, such as cell phones among young adults has come dangerous behaviours such as texting while driving. To prevent this act, organisations such as Arrive Alive in South Africa have developed advertisements that depict the dangers associated with texting while driving. Using Stuart Hall’s Audience Reception Theory (1973), this study focuses on describing how audience members interpret a South African Arrive Alive: You’re a killer if you text and drive advertisement (2015). The aim of this study was to describe whether audience members interpret this advertisement by taking the dominant-hegemonic position, or not, as proposed by Hall. With the use of a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews, this report provides descriptions of how young adults between the ages of 18 and 26 interpret the 2015 Arrive Alive: You’re a killer if you text and drive advertisement in accordance with the intended meaning of the advertisement. The findings of the study show that audience members interpret the advertisement as intended by the sender, but some will not refrain from texting while driving. This contributes to practice as Arrive Alive will be provided with results that will assist them in understanding how audience members have interpreted this 2015 advertisement on texting while driving.