The child “in absentia” in furniture retail catalogues

Abstract

Purpose

From an interpretive semiology perspective this paper examines the meaning suggested by the absence of children in newspaper advertisements, commercial websites and catalogue images of children’s furniture manufacturers. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the multilayered process involved in conveying meaning to the “parent-child cluster” consumer through press and online advertisements designed by children’s furniture manufacturers.

Design/methodology/approach

A corpus of 200 press advertisements and catalogues produced by children's furniture manufacturers (particularly IKEA and Gautier) was analysed using a combination of Barthes’ (1964) visual analysis and Greimas’ (1987) narrative approach to visual discourses.

Findings

The scenes portrayed to shape the message addressed to the “parent-child cluster“ consumer, suggest that, in addition to fostering positive values such as self-fulfilment and stimulating background for an active child, they also promote discourses about contemporary childhood and parenthood.

Originality/value

This paper highlights how furniture retailers through the figurative choices they make to portray a child bedroom and to organize a series of child bedroom images within a catalogue, generate a brand discourse aiming to typify representations of childhood imbued with diverse cognitive, social and emotional dimensions within diverse cultural backgrounds.

Citation

de La Ville, V.-I. and Krupicka, A. (2016), "The child “in absentia” in furniture retail catalogues", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 44 No. 10, pp. 1064-1080. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-05-2016-0088