Bargenda studied the silent messages communicated by corporate architecture. She reports that, “Architecture intersects with micro-level and macro-level marketing systems, as it inherently projects corporate identity while referring to broader artistic, social and historical parameters…Especially in the finance sector, the rapid shift toward digitalization, crypto-currencies and online banking have dematerialized financial marketing systems. To retain their material visibility and competitive positioning in the marketplace, banks increasingly set up flagship venues of significant symbolic and cultural value, while closing down non-descript neighborhood branches devoid of iconographic expression…the production and valorization of creative, meaningful and value-laden architectural spaces accrue [increase] the cultural meanings of organizations…Whether a bank is located in a traditional stone building, a contemporary high-rise building or a regional venue, built materiality conveys discernible brand values to stakeholders…For instance, sustainable building materials project ecologically responsible brand values to stakeholders.”
Angela Bargenda. “Building Meaning: Architectural Dialectic in Spatial Marketing Systems.” Journal of Macromarketing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146718789232
Sally Augustin, PhD,a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.