The effectiveness of intralingual subtitles in commercials: A survey

This paper examines the role of intralingual subtitling in commercial advertising since the most recent technological development and their effectiveness in commercials broadcasted through online platforms providing historical knowledge to best comprehend the context of this topic. Previous research has shown that the visualization process of subtitles within a commercial allows the audience to better understand the overall language and concept the brand is trying to deliver. Today’s methods of advertising communicate evermore through subtitles, but are these more, less, or just as effective as simple captionless visual imagery? This research field is interesting as little and vague research has been done. With the increasing rise of digital technology in our daily life, never has this topic been more relevant than now. This research is likely to be important as it could help us predict human behaviours and trends related to the audience reaction after the advertising process. Part of this thesis is dedicated to a survey I developed regarding the effectiveness of subtitles found in commercials broadcasted on youtube. The findings of my survey demonstrate how there is a positive correlation between captions and images, these together indeed allow for the audience to better gain brand awareness.