Taste for exclusivity. – A visual image analysis on the representation of social class and taste.

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding on how brands today arepart of culture, creating meaning and effects, persuading customers through hidden messages and cultural communication codes. The starting point for my studies has been a European approach, with a German brand as empirical material. As a visual communicator it is especially important to critically understand how each element in an advertising campaigncreates meaning and therewith influences consumers unconsciously. My study has the ambition to research how luxury products are portrayed by examining visual markers for taste and exclusivity that indicate that the Jil Sander advertising campaign (2018) is directed towards members of a higher social strata. This has been done by using a qualitative visual image analysis based on social semiotics. Representation, taste, status and social milieus are the theoretical key terms in this study which are linked to my image analysis which shows that the characters are members of the same scene belonging tothe same social milieu, were they share social norms, dress codes, linguistic codes such assigns and symbols. All of them are visual markers of a higher social class, taste and capital.