Reading Multimodal Texts: The Analysis of the Influence of Colors on the Interpretation of Tourism Slogans by Polish Students

Purpose: The research examines the influence of colors on the comprehension of multimodal texts on the example of tourism slogans. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the analysis, two slogans of Polish cities have been selected and described as multimodal texts in which colors are used as a semiotic mode. The slogans were applied in an empirical study conducted among two groups of Polish students. While one group of respondents was presented a set of colorful slogans, the second group was asked questions referring to their black-and-white versions. Findings: The analysis revealed that colors cannot be ignored in the analysis of multimodal texts, insofar as they significantly influence their interpretation. Furthermore, colors increase the advertising potential of slogans, which is evidenced by the more positive feedback received from respondents who were presented colorful slogans. Practical implications: The analysis may be found useful for people creating multimodal advertising texts, insofar as it points at the relevance of the relation between linguistic and non-linguistic elements included in such texts. Originality value: Multimodal analysis is still a developing area of studies. In the times when messages surrounding us consist mostly of verbal language accompanied by other modes, mainly visual, a linguistic analysis cannot be limited to investigating only the verbal component of texts. Therefore, each contribution to the field of multimodal analysis is valuable. Additionally, the analysis provides a comprehensive view on slogans, which in the common awareness function mostly as verbal texts. The analysis reveals that in fact a slogan cannot be treated as a monomodal text, insofar as only by paying attention to all the elements included in it are we able to interpret the conveyed message correctly.