Examining the photographs used in the marketing of Turkish cuisine by semiotic method

Nutrition, beyond being a physiological necessity, stands as a fundamental requirement embellished with cultural, psychological, political, and religious symbols. These symbols have instigated varied interpretations of eating habits and nutritional practices among societies across different geographical realms. Historically, each society inhabited its own geographical confines, guided by its distinct cultures, teachings, and customs. However, the advent of globalization has ushered in the notion of an interconnected world, facilitating encounters between diverse cultures. Another catalyst fostering the interaction among different cultures is the advancements witnessed in the realm of technology. Presently, physical travel is no longer imperative for exploration, learning, and communication with denizens of a particular destination. Instead, destinations of interest can be explored via online platforms such as internet pages or social media channels. Consequently, nations have shifted their promotional and marketing endeavors for the tourism sector to online platforms, akin to other sectors. To underscore and distinguish their tourism endeavors from those of other competing nations, countries leverage their culinary cultures. The culinary ethos of each nation is shaped by factors such as geography, climate, religion, beliefs, history, customs, traditions, and interactions with other civilizations. Consequently, culinary culture has emerged as a tool in promotional and marketing initiatives, serving to portray the distinctive qualities of nations. The promotion and marketing of culinary culture through the internet, a widely adopted practice today, underscore its reach to a broad audience. Hence, promotional and marketing campaigns ought to be crafted to resonate with diverse audiences, characterized by openness, conciseness, swiftness, and accessibility. The most expedient means to achieve these objectives is through the use of photographs, as compositions featuring shared indicators, albeit originating from disparate cultures, can serve as potent marketing and promotional instruments. The pervasive reach of the internet, the capacity of promotional efforts to engage vast audiences, the escalating significance of photographs as marketing tools, and humanity's perennial inclination to interpret symbols throughout history have culminated in this study. Consequently, it is posited that showcasing and marketing Turkish cuisine through meal photographs containing cultural signifiers represents the most efficacious approach. This study aims to analyze meal photographs employed in the marketing of Turkish cuisine utilizing semiotic methodologies to ascertain their suitability for marketing purposes. In this context, 62 food and beverage photographs under the rubric of Traditional Cuisine on the Culture Portal website were scrutinized utilizing Roland Barthes' semiotic framework. The analysis revealed that certain signifiers present in the photographs were not consciously integrated into the compositions, rendering photographs containing such signifiers technically unsuitable for photography and qualitatively unsuitable for marketing.