Assignment - History of Advertising

How Nothing Became Something: White Space, Rhetoric, History, and IVleaning

JOHN W. PRACEJUS G. DOUGLAS OLSEN THOMAS C. O'GUINN*

We seek to advance visual theory in the domain of commerciai rhetoric (advertising) by demonstrating how objects and symbois derive meaning from their iiistories. We do this by examining a single visuai trope common in advertising, white space. The choice of white space was purposeful in that it is not a picture and its history is both accessible and traceable. Our sociohistorical theory is supported by showing how specific movements and sociai forces acted upon the meaning of this particuiar visuai rhetorical device and how this meaning is today shared and understood by both producers of ads (ad agency creative directors) and the readers of ads (or- dinary consumers). We conclude with a discussion of the impiications of this ap- proach to rhetoricai and other major theoretical formulations.

For more than a decade now there has been a growingclamor in the consumer hehavior field to study adver- tising as rhetoric, as text, and as social product (Deighton 1985; McQuan-ie and Mick 1992; Mick 1986; Mulvey and Medina 2003; Phillips and McQuarrie 2002; Scott I994u, 1994b). There has also come to he a growing recognition that advertising is increasingly visual and that visual com- munication in advertising is in need of greater attention (Kenney and Scott 2003; McQuarrie and Phillips 2005; Phil- lips and McQuarrie 2002; Scott 1994a). Following these two turns, we attempt to further advance theory in com- mercial visual rhetoric through a carefully chosen example. We offer a close examination of one particular rhetorical device or visual trope common to advertising, white space. White space, sometimes referred to as negative space, is the conspicuously open space found between other design el- ements or objects within the borders of an ad. It is typically used to convey elegance, power, leadership, honesty, trust- worthiness, a modem nature, and a refined taste associated with the upper social strata. Figure 1 offers two examples.

*John W. Pracejus ([email protected]) is associate professor and G. Douglas Ol.sen ([email protected]) is associate professor, Deparl- ment of Marketing. Business Ei:onomics and Law. Faculty of Business. Uni- versity of Albena, Edmonton. .^B. Canada. T6G 2R6, ThomiLs C. O'Guinn ([email protected]) is professor and executive director. Center for Brand and Product Management, Depanment of Marketing. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison. Wl 53706. Thi,s re,searrh was supported hy the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through its Inilitative in the New Economy Research Alliances Program (SSHRC grant 5.18-02-1013). The order of authorship was arbitrary.

Dawn lacobucci sen'ed as editor and Eric Arnould sen'ed a.i associate editor for this article.

The choice of white space was careful and purposeful. First, white space offers an excellent opportunity for demonstrating the role of history and social forces in how a particular rhe- torical device came to mean what it means. The application of social history in the advancement of visual rhetorical theory has been called for more than once (.see Jewitt and Oyama 2001; Scott 1994a; Van Leeuwen 2001). but it has rarely been enacted. Second, white space is a well-known visual trope, but it is not a picture. Considerable discourse in visual theory turns on, and is often ensnared by, debates concerning re- semblance, representational correspondence, and pictorial re- alism. These debates can prove a significant distraction from more central theoretical concerns (Kenney and Scott 2(X)3; LeVold 2002; Scott 1994a). With white space, these distrac- tions are absent; we are able to advance theory through a common visual rhetorical device without the conflating issues of picturing and correspondence. Finally, a nonpictorial visual trope would be largely undefined in modal consumer adver- tising research (i.e.. it would operationally be the ahsence of something, empty space, nothing). These three qualities and circumstances make white space an attractive and appropriate vehicle for advancing theory in the realm of commercial vi- sual rhetoric.

Rhetoric is persuasive communication; advertising is rhet- oric. Advertising tries to convince consumers to do something, typically to buy something. Thus, advertising is merely rhet- oric in the service of selling. As is true with all rhetoric (Burke 1962), advertising depends on the use of various conventions, or socially agreed upon rules of language. Consumers learn the visual conventions of advertising the same way movie audiences understand that dissolves between scenes indicate the passage of time—not a technical problem with the film.

82

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All righLs reserved, 0O93-5301/2O06/330i-OO12$10,00

WHITE SPACE, RHETORIC, HISTORY, AND MEANING

FIGURE 1

WHITE SPACE ADVERTISING EXAMPLES

Think small. »«.« a w..^,

Volkswagon Ad "Think Small," 1959

NOTE.—Color versions of these ads are available as an online enhancement.

Readers (consumers) leam the ad language and its conven- tions through cultural ininiersion and socialization.

Rhetorical convention is always a matter of history. Things mean what they mean not due to some inherent quality of a string of letters or any other symbol but rather through agree- ment by social actors and publics that certain linguistic forms mean certiun things. Producers and receivers come to agree upon linguistic and rhetorical meanings over time. This is true whether we are speaking of words or visuals. It is true in the language of high culture, liturgy, or advertising. In her 1994 theory paper. Scott (1994a) called for consumer re- searchers to identify and study specific rhetorical devices. We attempt to do that with white space, not because of particular interest in this one figure of visual speech but more broadly as an illustrative example taking us a step closer to a socio- historical theory of commercial visual rhetoric.

White space is a term of art used routinely in advertising praetice. Designers have long known its value and function (Book and Schick 1997; Jewler and Drewniany 2000; Lev- inc 2000). it is accepted as convention and understood not to be "nothing": "But is white space, literally, nothing? The absence of content? Hardly" (Levine 20(X), 1). But, how did

Stella Artois Ad "Perfection has its price," 2005

this happen? How did white space come to its meanings? Beyond its ties to modernism generally, there are three key historical moments that figure prominently in the production of this particular commercial trope.

THREE KEY fflSTORICAL MOMENTS

Minimalist Movement

The first of these three moments is the minimalist move- ment as articulated in midcentury American design. While there is some debate as to just exactly what the minimalist movement was (Meyer 2000), white space owes a significant amount of its present meaning to its connections with this famous artistic movement. Minimalism refers to "painting or sculpture made with an extreme economy of means and reduced to the essentials of geometric abstraction" (Gug- genheim Collection 2005). Minimalism attained apogee in the mid-1960s (Fineberg 1995).

Movements occur in reaction to or against something. In a narrow sense, minimalism was a reaction against art that was "deceptive" and full of illusion. The dominant style of

84 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

midcentury advertising was harsh, loud, sometimes decep- tive, scientistic. authoritative, and aggressively demonstra- tive (Fox 1985; Frank 1998: see fig. 2). Frank (1998, 105) explains: "In the early years of the advertising revolution, creativity meant minimalism. After the .success achieved with simple layouts of Volkswagen and the no-background blankness used by George Lois, minimalism was an obvious choice for speaking to consumers made skeptical by years of stretched autos and glittering appliances."

Corporate Art

In the late 1950s, another related movement was emerging, also in New York: corporate art was being popularized and legitimiied. Prominent American and European designers came to take the work of representing the modem corporation as a serious and legitimate pursuit around this time (Meggs 1998). Likewise, corporations came to decide that their public face should be carefully designed and reified by art, not left to happenstance. As Meggs (1998, 363) points out, "good design is good business" became a corporate mantra of tbe

period and was linked to a major strengthening and growing sophistication in American public relations (Jackall and Hirota 2000). The goal of milking a corporation into a corporate image was institutionalized at this time (Boorstin 1961; Jack- all and Hirota 2000; Meggs 1998), motivated by a fascination with World War II propaganda and by the aftermath of the Great Depression in which corporations were commonly vil- ified (Marchand 1998). This is thus a very important con- nection to a critical moment in the development of Western commercial visual rhetoric, consumer culture, and the public presentation of the corporation (Heller 2001). Significantly, minimalist forms and tropes (including white space) were part of this effort to bring dignity, trustworthiness, elegance, and authenticity to the public corporation through a carefully de- signed and articulated public image. White space is thus part of a commercial visual rhetoric significantly motivated by these same corporate desires.

The key figure in the corporate design movement is Paul Rand, the man who gave us tbe famously minimal IBM block logo. Although others employed it, it is Rand who is most often associated with the use of white space in the

FIGURE 2

DEMONSTRATIVE "SCIENTiFIC" ADVERTISEMENTS

^\1\\ lo ^^l &sl pain relief!

Bufferin Acts lwico.iiN_fu>l

l>ocMit itpsol Iho sloinnrh!

BufFerin Ad "Twice as fast," 1955

NOTE.—Color versions ot these ads are available as an online enhancement.

AMERICAN MEDICAL MEN PREFER THIS FIRM, HEALTHFUL TYPE OF MATTRESS SUPPORT!

Serta Ad "American medical men," 1956

WHITE SPACE. RHETORIC, HISTORY, AND MEANING

FIGURE 3

EXAMPLES OF MINIMALISM IN ARCHITECTURE

COLLECTION

Peterscn Ad "Clean. Simple. Pure.," 2005 The Rob Report "Modem Lives," 2005 Archiiectural Digest, 1959

NOTE.—Color versions of these ads are available as an online enhancement.

corporate context and who is credited with introducing it into the popular visual and commercial vernacular. Early in his career Rand worked in advertising, and he i.s credited as the one who first brought minimalism to Madison Avenue (Meggs 1998). He communicates corporate strength, lead- ership, and trustworthiness by rendering the corporate sym- bol in minimalist form, a form, due to its history, perfectly suited to that exact articulation.

White space spreads. Rand's minimalist style, including white space, is widely emulated. It is Rand's followers in advertising who use white space to successfully tie the same desired qualities to a multitude of popular brands and cor- porate identities. One of the advertising professionals sup- plying words for Rand's advertising art was a young William Bernbach. who was widely regarded a.s the central figure in ihe so-called creative revolution of the 1960s. This movement not only changed the style of advertising but, more impor- (antly, understood advertising's real force to be in its blending of social movements, fashion, and even cultural revolution with commercial motive {Frank 1998). While a "provocateur" and a cultural critic. Bernbach was also an enormously suc- cessful advertising man (Fox 1985; Frank 1998). Bembach's advertising and the school of advertising it begat despised the deceptive, garish, cluttered, dishonest, and demeaning ads of the 195{)s and, through a minimalist rhetorical gesture, re- jected them. So, while Rand was popularizing white space (and its minimalist philosophy) and legitimizing and stabi- lizing the corporate image, Benibach and his imitators were using it to make lots of money for their clients and themselves (Fox 1985; Jackal and Hirota 2000).

In their ads. Rand, Bernbach, and others place the adver- tising object on white space; product, corporation, or service stand alone; they need no sleight of hand. Little more need

be said. The ads reject illusionism and celebrate the object and its materiality. Just as in the art world, white space is a rejection of artifice, a stripped-down unity, a gesture of pow- erful elegance to the reader of the ad (the consumer). White space begins to mean something in the consumer context, and it means what it means, in part, through its connection to a popular, political, social, and artistic discourse about tbe na- ture of the commercial object in society and art. The com- mercial rhetorical gesture of white space thus shiu'es meaning with (and gains cultural capital and power from) a broad social movement: rejection of illusion and celebration of materiality. Through Rand and the minimalist commercial design move- ment, white space is tied to meanings of corporate strength, leadership, trustworthiness, power, and authenticity, and through advertising, these meanings are tied to goods and services sold to consumers.

The Clean Look of Upscale Living and Architecture

Another important historical connection to white space in- volves the minimalist movement in architecture and its re- lationship to social stratification and popular representations of how the upscale modem family lived. The "less is more" movement in architecture is characterized by the works of Mies van der Rohe, Luis Barragan. and Ame Jacobsen, among others. Just as in other minimalist forms, minimalist archi- tecture was a rejection of illusion and a celebration of ma- teriality (Savi and Montaner 1996). However, as the name implies, it was a movement where social stratification and design were hardly strangers (see fig. 3 for examples).

Representations of social stratification map onto popular representations of home life partly through design aesthetics

86 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

and their human context {Benedikt 2000; Kron 1977; Lavin 2001; Marchand 1985). The modern home is populated by modern consumers, and the most modern homes are not pop- ulated with the poor (Benedikt 2(X)0; Hanson 1998; Laumann and House 1970; Weaving and Freedman 2002; Wolfe 1981). The minimalist movement in architecture is characterized by an uncluttered and "clean" look. In visual communications (including advertising), the uncluttered, sparsely decorated, large, and "'white" spaces of the upper social strata (Benedikl 2000; Kron 1977; Weaving and Freedman 2002; Webb 2001; Wolfe 1981) become a midcentury visual cliche, much like the visual advertising cliches of the 1920s and 1930s de- scribed by Marchand (1985).

Long before the minimalist movement in art, popular rep- resentations of how the moderns lived, as opposed to the less modern (and less affluent), were common (Marchand 1985). Modernity and economic status are hardly orthogonal con- structs. M(xlemity was the way to a better life, a life of things. So, when the expansive but "empty" spaces of minimalist architecture are intermingled with representations of modem affluence, the meanings became intertwined as well (Marc- hand 1985; McCracken 1990). Also, the choice of tbe term "clean" is not without cultural and linguistic significance. One of the core notions of advancing consumer modernity was cleanliness and domestic order (Marchand 1985; May 1988; Sivulka 2(K)1); social anxieties about its absence were com- mon in both public discourse aiid commercial rhetoric, and this articulation was often tied to aspiration and social class (Marchand 1985; May 1988; Sivulka 2001). It is not a lin- guistic coincidence that the term clean is applied to this aes- thetic (Lavin 2001). Part of the meaning of the clean, un- cluttered look of white space was literally clean and uncluttered domestic space.

STUDY 1

Does the social history of the white space trope still in- form its contemporary meaning? What do the producers of white space think white space means? Is this meaning still connected to its linguistic past? Are contemporary cultural producers using this rhetorical term in essentially the same way as those 4 decades earlier used it? To answer these questions we turned to the actual creators of contemporary ads. While some rhetorical studies operate on the reception side only, we also incorporate the production side, consistent with the sociohistorical nature of our theory.

Respondents

Participants in study 1 were creative directors at major advertising agencies in North America. They were initially interviewed via telephone to obtain their commitment to com- plete the survey and to ensure that they met the inclusion criterion (i.e., tbat they currently conducted work in print advertising). The in.strument was faxed to those who agreed to participate, and ample time was allowed for the respondents to consider meanings that they believed to be associated with white space. The instrument was designed to freely elicit

nondirected responses. Participants were randomly selected from a list of creative directors across Canada and the United States. Of the 54 creative directors contacted, 90.7% agreed to participate in a fax-administered survey. Of these, 63.3% (31) completed the survey and faxed it back.

Instrument

Tbe instrument asked respondents to list specific mean- ings that might be associated with a product through the use of white space in an ad. Since the white space ads we had encountered were full page, we also asked about the best size for white space ads. Creative directors were asked about their experience in the advertising industry and with print media in particular.

Results

The respondents of study 1 had an average of 16.9 yr. of experience in the advertising industry; they reported that on average 73% of the campaigns on which they worked in- volved print media. Three coders, in a two-step, iterative process, assessed responses to tbe "meanings/signals" listed by the creative directors. In the first step, a coder created coherent categories from the raw responses. In the second step, two additional coders, who had not seen the data before, coded each response as belonging primarily to one of tbe specified categories, to an "other" category relating to brand signal/meaning, or to the design issues category, for state- ments relating solely to tbe look of the ad rather than a par- ticular signal/meaning about the brand. Initial inter-rater re- liability was 94.6%. Disputes were resolved througb discussion and mutual agreement. With respect to the central question of brand meanings/signals sent by the use of white space, several major themes emerged from the responses. These are sutnmadzed in table 1.

As can be seen in table 1, these creative directors had quite coherent beliefs about tbe brand signals/meanings conveyed to consumers by the use of white space in ads. Five of these meanings were the prestige of tbe brand (61.3%), the market power of the brand (41.9%), the trustworthiness of the brand (35.5%), the leadership of tbe brand within the industry

TABLE 1

CREATIVE DIRECTORS' BELIEFS ABOUT BRAND SIGNALS/ MEANINGS CONVEYED BY WHITE SPACE (W - 31)

Meaning/signal %of

respondents

1. Prestigious/upscale/expensive/high-end 2. Confidence/power/financial strength 3. Trust/stability 4. Leadership/cutting edge 5. Quality 6. Fashionable/contemporary 7. Healthy/good for environment 8. Approachable 9. Other signal/meaning

4t.9 36.5 32.3 16.7 12.8 9.7 9.7 9.7

WHITE SPACE, RHETORIC, HISTORY. AND MEANING 87

(32.3%), and the quality of the brand (16.1%). A few other conveyed meanings were mentioned less frequently, such a.s the brand being healthful (9.7%). contemporary (12.9%), and approachable (9.7%). These open-ended responses by people creating actual ads were in high agreement with each other and with the social history of white space.

Because small white space ads have rarely been seen, we asked about the relation of ad size to the use of white space. Of the creative directors surveyed, the majority of respon- dents (58.1%) indicated that the impact of white space in- creased with the size of the advertisement. However. 32.3% reported that they felt that size and impact were unrelated. Beliefs about how white space interacts with ad size were not as coherent as beliefs about what white space conveys.

Discussion

There is considerable agreement on the part of those who create advertising messages as to the meanings attached to

white space. These are consistent with the meaning found in white space's social history. But, what of contemporary readers (consumers) of ads; do they also understand what white space in ads is saying'.' Study 2 investigates consumer perceptions and inferences when white space is used as a design element in an ad. This is the final point on our tra- jectory from art history to commercial context to contem- porary production to consumer reception.

STUDY 2

We now turn to the reader (consumers) of white space in commercial rhetoric. What do contemporary consumers make of it? Are their meanings consistent with those of producers and still linked to linguistic legacy?

Participants were 179 undergraduate students. A 3 x 2 between-subjects design manipulated advertisement size (quarter-page, half-page, and full page) and amount of white space (low vs. high). See figure 4 for a graphic breakdown

FIGURE 4

EXPERIMENTAL STIMULI (STUDY 2)

3 -

ft 5

Full Page Low White Space

HalfPage Low White Space

Quarter Page Low White Space

Full Page High White Space

HalfPage High White Space

Quarter Page High White Space

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

TABLE 2

EFFECT OF AD SIZE AND WHITE SPACE ON BRAND PERCEPTIONS (STUDY 2)

Mean evaluation by condition^

Low white space High white space Analysis of variance (Fvalue)

Statement

White space Size Small ad Medium ad Large ad Small ad Medium ad Large ad (WS) (S) WS x S (n = 28) (n = 28) (n = 29) (n = 31) (n = 30) (n - 33) main effect main effect interaction

Hastjngs is a large company. Hastings mutual funds are of

high quality. It is not risky to purchase

Hastings mutual funds. Hastings is a prestigious

brand of mutual funds, Hastings has considerable

market share. It is more expensive to pur-

chase Hastings mutual funds, relative to competitors,

Hastings can be trusted, Hastings is a leader rather

than a follower. Overall, I have a positive at-

titude toward Hastings, If Hastings comes to my re-

gion I wilt buy from them. Overall MANOVA model*'

4.07

4.46

3.89

3.79

3.61

3,29 4,25

4.00

4,25

3,14

4,64

4,36

3.89

3,93

4,14

3.50 4.18

4,43

4.32

3,36

4.76

4,41

4,10

4.28

4.17

3,93 4.31

4,41

4,00

3,07

4.71

4,81

4,42

4,52

4,42

3,84 4,87

4,68

4,81

3.74

5.43

5.03

4.73

4.97

4.67

3.73 5-07

4.93

5.03

3.60

5,45

5,21

4.58

4.91

4,64

3.82 4.76

5.06

4.79

3.42

14.25—

1 5 . 2 3 -

1 0 . 4 5 " '

20.45*"

12.50"*

1

18.97"'

10.76***

1 5 . 5 8 ' "

4.67* , 8 0 8 -

(10, 164)

5 , 9 1 "

.877 .931 (20, 328) (20, 328)

"Mean ot seven-point scale anchored by 1 = "strongly disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree," "Values for effects are Wilks's Lambda, with hypotheses degrees of freedom and error degrees of freedom reported in parentheses beneath. 'p<.05- **p<.01.

of the conditions employed. All ads were presented on tab- loid size (11 X 14.5 in.) paper and contained a picture of a clock, a logo for a fictitious brand (Hastings), and ad copy at the bottom of the page that read:

Like Clockwork. No matter what day of the week, or week of the year, there are a myriad of things to deal with. From what to wear . . . to where to invest. We don't pretend to have all the answers to all of the demands life places on you. hut we can help when it comes to mutual funds, [n a turbulent world where you can count on tomorrow being different than today you can depend on us to give you consistency and comfort. Visit us on the weh at www.hastings.com or call 1-800-686- 3321 today to find out where our mutual funds are available.

Participants were told that the ad was about to run in The Guardicm, a British newspaper. To control the amount of etnpty space on the sheet, outside the ad borders the page was filled with nonsense words. This filler provided the same level of contrast that might be expected in a newspaper-read- ing environment, excluding the presence of competing ads. Respondents examined the advertisement for 30 sec. then provided their level of agreement on seven-point scales an- chored by "strongly disagree" (I) and "strongly agree" (7) to each of the following statements: (1) Hastings is a large com- pany. (2) Hastings" mutual funds are of high quality. (3) It is not risky to purchase Hastings mutual funds. (4) Hastings is a prestigious brand of mutual funds. (5) Hastings has con-

siderable market share. (6) It is more expensive to purchase Hastings mutual funds relative to competitors. (7) Hastings can be trusted. (8) Hastings is a leader rather than a follower. (9) Overall, I have a positive attitude toward Hastings. (10) If Hastings comes to my region I will buy from them. Other than the general questions (items 9 and 10), all questions were articulations of the social history of this visual device and/or corresponded to a meaning elicited from the professionals in study I.

Results

Our results show that white space is, in fact, quite influential in consumer brand perceptions (see table 2). It affected con- sumer perceptions in all of the expected directions. People who saw an ad that employed this visual rhetorical device saw the product as higher in quality, prestige, trust, and lead- ership and lower in risk than did people who saw an ad without this trope. Further, the two measures of market power (market share and large company) were both significantly affected by white space. Additionally, the latter measure (large company) was the only thing influenced by the size of the ad. The interaction between white space and ad size, however, was not significant. Tbe findings from study 2 were replicated in separate experiments (a) when ads were pre.sented alone in no context, (b) when controlling for image size, (r) when product class was varied, and {d) when image was varied.

WHITE SPACE, RHETORIC, HISTORY, AND MEANING 89

Those results are presented in Pracejus, O'Guinn, and Olsen (2(X)6). Additionally, perceptions of quality, brand prestige, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention were also found to be significantly influenced by the use of this visual element.

Discussion

Meanings derived fTom social history and the creative di- rector survey were, in fact, also conveyed to our experimental subjects. This wa.s a group of consumers with no special training in art or design and, we suspect, no direct knowledge of the midcentury minimalist movement or its history. Yet, they still got it; they understood it. Somehow, through the process of being raised in the industrialized West, having been immersed in the same commercial socioculture into which this rhetorical device was thrust half a century ago, they un- derstood its meaning quite easily.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Advertising possesses a well-established rhetorical system, much of it visual in nature, that is understood by the people who make the ads and the people who read them. By tying history to rhetoric, we hope to have demonstrated that things in ads mean what they do not because of some innate property but due to their particular past. Hopefully, we have shown how specific meanings are attached by sociohistorical process to a specific linguistic device. It is fundamental to our theory that this is the case for all tropes, for all rhetoric, for much, if not all. of what consumer researchers call "information." Here, the "nothing" of white space is information, and, more importantly, conventional meaning.

We tracked the meaning of a specific advertising conven- tion through its historical arc: from artistic statement to a broader commercial design idiom and then to advertising. It turned out that this particular trope retained its essential com- mercial meaning and endures as convention, or symbolic heu- ristic, for contemporary cultural producers and consumers. But, it did not have to tum out that way. White space could have just as easily meant something entirely different if not for it.s particular circumstance, its historical trajectory. This sets rhetoric apart from other theories and approaches. With- out considering the social and historical nature of persuasive language, one assumes too much. Research that violates this essential assumption of rhetoric risks being invalidated by the dynamic and social nature of language, the path of history. Theory and knowledge can only advance so far under such a limitation. The implications go further: if elements of lan- guage, including visual ones, are given meaning by their par- ticular histories, we cannot assume them ever to be static on the page with fixed meanings. By extension, amassed gen- eralizations made under such assumptions must always be suspect.

Of course, this article is also not without its shortcomings. A more demographically diverse set of subjects would have been preferable. Although we have no reason to believe that this common advertising convention is unique to our sample.

it would have been valuable to look at the strength of re- sponses across social strata, particularly income. Even though we would anticipate wide modal meaning for this common trope, we might expect different responses among very di- vergent income and education levels. It is also quite possible that we would get cross-cultural differences as well. While acknowledging this, we were predominately interested in studying a linguistic convention in North America. Conven- tions are generally studied "locally" before trying to assess their universality or lack thereof. This article is also limited in the range of goods and services employed. We did—in- cluding the studies only reported parenthetically—use cloth- ing, mutual funds, and furniture. Using a wider range of prod- ucts whose usage is more tied to particular cultural and demographic groupings might have proved fruitful. Also, as one reviewer noted, we could also bave traded away some internal validity in order to use real ads as stimulus material and thus linked their particular histories and otber embedded cultural cues to consumer response. A carefully selected group of ads witb well-known cultural histories and connections might have been a better choice. This is an excellent sug- gestion, but. of course, had we done that we would now be writing a discussion disclaimer about contamination.

Another issue that arose in the review process was that of demonstrating different interpretations depending on one's social circumstance. Due to the fact tbat white space is so widely applied and that we chose to explore modal or conventional meaning, we did not pursue this. We think that conventional readings were a mucb more interesting and probably fruitful path than demonstrating differences in in- terpretations at the margins. While we understand that it was once something of a revelation that consumers of different circumstance or standing might have different readings of complex social texts like ads, it seems pretty well taken for granted now. To us. studying how the modal meaning of a convention came to be, or exploring "on-the-wall" as op- posed to "off-the-wall" readings (Fish 1980), seemed more promising at this juncture and more fitting to our particular research aims. That was tbe spirit and intent of this article.

In white space, there is a lot more than nothing. Within that framed "nothingness," there iire connections to the rise of corporate public relations through "image management." There are connections to a broad social movement against artifice and deception and to a belief that to say less was to say more. There is a connection to a defining epoch in Amer- ican consumer culture, to a more respectful and elegant com- mercial rhetoric, and to a fundamentally different style of advertising (Frank 1998), one that still references bonesty. One can even see connections to the clean minimalist space of the modem home and the attached aspirations of higher social class. These connections, these circumstances, are what has given white space its meaning, why it means what it does today, and why it may be altered by its history to come to mean something entirely different. In short, by considing the "nothing" of white space, we actually see a lot. By considering the history of a commercial language act, we see why •"noth- ing"' now means "something."

90 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

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