A critical visual analysis: Memorial University's use of instagram as a promotional tool

Cojulun, Andrea (2024) A critical visual analysis: Memorial University's use of instagram as a promotional tool. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Instagram is a predominantly mobile application that allows users to capture images in a square format, mimicking the Polaroid, which in previous decades was used to capture a moment in time. Instagram perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the era of social media and allows us to understand what types of images post-secondary institutions use to attract students. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada and is home to Memorial University, the only university in the province. Given its isolation, Memorial University (MUN) has sought to take advantage of new technologies, such as Instagram, to promote its brand and attract students worldwide. This research is a visual critical analysis of the images used by Memorial University’s official Instagram account @MemorialUniversity. It is argued that marketing relies heavily on visuals, and a critical visual analysis provides an interdisciplinary method for understanding images in their context. The purpose of this study is to explore how Memorial University uses its official Instagram account by specifically analyzing their use of images to promote MUN, thereby attracting students. This qualitative research relies mainly on the critical visual analysis of images, which allows for an in-depth understanding of images. This critical visual analysis is done through the thorough description of the images, Instagram posts and the comments each post received. After this, an interpretation is provided, which rounds up the analysis. The following research questions guided this study: 1) How are images used to promote Memorial University? and 2) how are the selected images helping to define Memorial University’s brand? The key findings of this research are that the university uses emotional appeal to promote Memorial University, as this appeal sets out to create a connection with the viewer. Another key finding is that to create emotional appeal, the university falls back on its branding of large, open spaces, which suggests that space allows ideas to grow and blossom. The last key finding is that even though Instagram is used to connect, it does not all the time achieve its intended purpose.

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