Picture analysis of billboards and infographic graphics advertising COVID-19 on promoting preventive behaviors and … – Nature.com

After collecting the information, at first, the data analyzed and the understanding of the relationships governing the components and the ideological construction was done based on Cress and Van Leeuwen model51. All communication processes are somewhat law-based; Although the nature of these laws may be infinitely diverse. Image components, like words, have wide meanings. The meanings that are conveyed to the audience through images are the meanings that cannot be conveyed through language. Visual communication, like language, plays its role in creating and maintaining the desired ideologies of society, which can serve to create, perpetuate and legitimize some social concepts. Table 2 shows the billboards and infographics of this research.

The conceptual look is dependent on the object. The field of looking includes the act of seeing, the act of being seen, the act of receiving, and the act of interpretation. In fact, when the audience looks at the object, they are first seen by that object. Therefore, at first, the audience is called by the look of the object and is invited to look with the look of the object53. Types of looks from the point of view of Kress and Van Leeuwen, it is: the staring look at the spectator, which indicates a demand and request from the audience, and the absence of staring look at the spectator, which indicates a presentation.

In the Fig.1, the content producer asks the audience to wear a mask before leaving the house. Therefore, to portray this concept and attract the audience, she/he has used the staring look at the spectator.

The staring look at the spectator.

In the Fig.2, the content producer intends to present and teach the correct method and principles of masking to the audience. Therefore, in order to better present the content to the audience, the method of the absence of staring look at the spectator is used so that the audience is attracted to the content presented.

The absence of staring look at the spectator.

The composition of the image and the position of the subject in the range of the frame seen by the camera is called the shot54. Therefore, the shot includes how the subject is placed in the image frame, the size of the subject that covers the surface of the image, and the angle that the camera has to the subject54. The types of shot are: close-up, medium shot, long shot54.

A close-up shows the details of the subject and accentuates the emotions54. In other words, close-up is used to portray concepts that involve personal and intimate relationships54. In the image below, a close-up of the subject, which represents personal and intimate relationships, along with a Dutch angle shot, which represents isolation, portrays the concept of presentation to the audience. In the Fig.3, the inconsistency of the shot and camera angle with the desired concept causes the audience to fail to attract.

In the medium shot, in addition to emphasizing the main subject, the surrounding environment of the subject is also depicted, which shows the creation of social relationships54. In the Fig.4, the family, which is a social institution, is depicted in a frame and in a medium shot without showing the surrounding environment of the subject. Considering that the concept of the text indicates the creation of intimate relationships between the subject and the audience, presenting the desired concept in close-up will attract the audience better.

In the long shot, the subject is displayed from a distance and the content producer emphasizes the position and location54. Also, in the distant view, non-personal relationship is depicted54. In the Fig.5, the desired subject, which is the image of the Coronavirus disease, is depicted from a long shot. Also, the desired subject is placed on the left side and on the top of the billboard. In terms of information value, the elements on the left are pre-existing and known elements, and the top of the billboard is the ideal information location55,56. Considering that the phrase in the image is related to the new strain of Coronavirus disease, i.e. Omicron, which is not a pre-existing and known element, therefore placing the subject in this position and in the long shot reduces the importance of the subject for the audience. As a result, it causes not attracting the audience and not encouraging them to follow health solutions to prevent the spread of the virus.

The shot angle is a way to describe the subject. The position of the camera angle relative to the ground creates different shots. Diversity in the angle of view creates different concepts that play an essential role in presenting the material to the reader. In other words, with the help of the camera angle, the importance and special status of the event and effective communication with the audience occurs54. In general, shots angles are divided into several main categories, which are: head-on shot, Dutch angle shot, high-angle shot, level shot, down shot54.

The head-on shot means that the audience is standing face to face with the subject54. In this case, the camera is placed directly in front of the subjects eyes, and since this angle of view is usually used in human communication, it will induce a sense of intimacy and closeness between the audience and the subject. In fact, this state means equality and lack of feeling of superiority between the subject and the audience. In the Fig.6, the head-on shot is used to express the concept of we and being together.

Dutch angle shot means looking at the subject crookedly54. This type of camera angle is often used to present concepts such as separation, war, imbalance, inner turmoil, hallucinations, explosions, discordant and disturbing events, worry, etc. to the audience54. In the Fig.7, the concepts of combating and escaping the Coronavirus disease using a vaccine are depicted from Dutch angle shot.

High-angle shot means looking from top to bottom. In this angle, the camera is pointing down, where the object or character is54. The high-angle shot has different degrees. In the Fig.8, the camera angle is above the characters head and depicts the subject vertically and 90. In this type of camera angle, usually most of the shots and angles are made from the point of view of the character and the same size as humans, which sometimes gives a feeling of limitation to the audience, and for this reason, this type of camera angle represents power to the audience. In the Fig.8, the content producer powerfully limits the audience to take the situation seriously and wear a mask and stay healthy, as opposed to not taking the situation seriously and not wearing a mask and illness, which ultimately creates unfavorable conditions for the individual.

One of the most common camera angles and heights to show the content creators point of view is the level shot. In the level shot, the person or object represented is in its natural angle. Using the level shot is to express equality and remove the barrier between the audience and the produced content 54. The Fig.9 shows the level shot. In the Fig.9, the camera angle is the state where the height of the camera from the ground is equal to the height of the waist or the middle part of the subjects body. This type of camera angle is used when one subject is sitting and the other is standing, and it is used to increase the tension or show the power of the subject.

Down shot means looking from bottom to top. When the subject is seen from a down shot in the frame, so that the camera is positioned below the subjects eye line, it indicates a dramatic space that generally emphasizes the dynamic force between the characters54. Like the scene of a hand-to-hand fight between two warriors54. Among the capabilities of the down shot is to show the strength and superiority of a character and also create a sense of participation for the represented person54. In the Fig.10, the combat between the two characters of Coronavirus disease and the vaccine is depicted. In this combat, the vaccine is more powerful and it is the armor that protects people in the combating the Coronavirus disease and makes the virus escape.

The current research aims to discover and identify the best visual factors presented in billboards and infographics related to Covid-19 in order to have a greater impact on the audience and encourage people to perform preventive behaviors and general vaccination. In this regard, exploratory analysis according to the purpose was carried out based on the valid approach of qualitative research and using the analysis of expert researchers. Next, the main question of the research is whether the expert-oriented approach about the best visual items is really aligned with the public opinion about the most attractive and effective visual items. Therefore, in order to investigate public opinion, quantitative method and descriptive statistics have been used so that the results of this research can be used in the real context of peoples lives and in accordance with the culture of the target society. In this section, peoples attitude towards pictures and their content is investigated using a survey that was distributed an online questionnaire, so that based on the highest frequency, the pattern of medical advertisements can be discovered and compiled. This study was conducted with the participation of 350 Iranian adults. The average age of the participants was41.94%. 199 (56.86%) of the participants were female and 151 (43.14%) were male. 224 (64%) were married, 95 people (27.14%) were single, 12 people (3.43%) were divorced and 19 people (5.43%) were widows. 48 people (13.71%) have free jobs, 59 people (16.86%) have government jobs, 15 people (4.29%) workers, 117 people (33.43%) were students, 24 people (6.86%) are housewives, 54 people (15.43%) are retired, 14 people (4%) were unemployed and 19 people (5.42%) had other jobs. Also, the number of 12 people (3.43%) low education, 40 people (11.43%) diploma, 114 people (32.57%) were bachelors degree, 83 people (23.71%) were masters degree, 63 people (18%) were PhD and 38 people (10.86%) were postdoctoral.

As Table 3 shows, the analyzed data includes 36 images containing advertising texts, of which 17 (47.22%) images have a medium shot (creating a social relationship), 15 (41.67%) images have a dutch angle shot (separation), 11 (30.56%) images with a level shot (equality), 9 (25%) images with a head-on shot (inclusion), 8 (22.22%) images containing the absence of staring look at the spectator (presentation), the staring look at the spectator (demand) and close-up (intimate/individual relationship) both 7 cases with an average of 19.44%, 6 (16.67%) images with a down shot (creating a sense of participation for the represented person), 3 (8.33%) images with a long shot (creating a non-individual relationship) and 1 (5.56%) image have a high-angle shot (presenting power to the spectator).

Table 4 contains survey information on peoples interest in research data (billboards and infographics). The total number of people participating in this research is 350 people, of which 342 (97.71%) of the participants chose staring look at the spectator (demand). After that, in order from the highest to the lowest number, it is as follows: 337 (96.29%) people, head-on shot (inclusion); 315 (90%) people, down shot (creating a sense of participation for the represented person); 311 (88.86%) people, close-up (intimate/individual relationship); 291 (83.14%) people, level shot (equality); 259 (74%) people, high-angle shot (presenting power to the spectator); 165 (47.15%) people, the absence of staring look at the spectator (presentation); 143 (40.86%) people chose the dutch angle shot (separation); 94 (26.86%) people, medium shot (creating a social relationship) and 54 (15.43%) people chose the long shot (creating a non-individual relationship).

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Picture analysis of billboards and infographic graphics advertising COVID-19 on promoting preventive behaviors and ... - Nature.com