http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/13694/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20262/ 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z The paper reviews the conceptual foundations of advertising polysemy-the occurrence of different interpretations for the same advertising message. We provide a cross-disciplinary perspective on advertising polysemy, with examples from research and practice, to explain the conditions that lead to the emergence of multiple interpretations for the same message. We review what we call purposeful polysemy as strategic ambiguity and present a framework of advertising polysemy. Propositions for research are provided, and implications for studying and understanding polysemy's prevalence in advertising are discussed. The concept of purposeful polysemy-advertising polysemy emerging as a consequence of a firm's strategic efforts-is increasingly relevant to both academics and practitioners. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7898/ 2006-08-22T00:00:00Z The article reviews the conceptual foundations of advertising polysemy – the occurrence of different interpretations for the same advertising message. We discuss how disciplines as diverse as psychology, semiotics and literary theory have dealt with the issue of polysemy, and provide translations and integration among these multiple perspectives. From such review we draw recurrent themes to foster future research in the area and to show how seemingly opposed methodological and theoretical perspectives complement and extend each other. Implications for advertising research and practice are discussed.