Gestalt and Semiotic Analyses of Brand Communication on Disability Inclusion: The Case of Malaysia and the US

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underscore the United Nations' effort in advocating disability inclusion in education and the infrastructure of member countries. Brands can also play their role by promoting disability inclusion through their brand messages. Brand messages are powerful as they advocate causes and ideals that include disability inclusion through repetitive and omnipresent messages whose ultimate goal is to influence the target audience's behaviour. This multiple case study compared brand communication from ten brands each originating from Malaysia and the United States using Saussure's model of semiotics. It was found that Common Fate is the fundamental gestalt principle in most brands' communication on disability inclusion of both countries and that positive nomenclature was used as the signifier that underlined the organisations' positive perception of disability inclusion.