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Article published In:
The interpersonal functions of public signs during the Covid-19 pandemic
Edited by Eva Ogiermann
[Pragmatics and Society 14:2] 2023
► pp. 334–357

Disseminating risk communication

Advice offered on non-official public signage during the Covid-19 pandemic

ORCID logo | King’s College London
| National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
This paper investigates advice offered on closure signs displayed on businesses in Greece and the UK during the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic. By scrutinising signs photographed in London and in Athens, as well as speeches delivered by the British and Greek prime ministers at the time of the closures, our analysis shows how business owners pass on government instructions to their customers. The study thus makes an original contribution to research on the effectiveness of risk communication, revealing that while businesses in both countries supported the implementation of containment measures, the Greek signs replicated governmental messages more closely. At the same time, the analysis of advice offered by business owners to their customers in an unprecedented context of a global health crisis provides new insights into research on this speech act.
Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, risk communication, closure signs, advice, Greece, UK
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background: Advice
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data collection
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Government ‘advice’
      • 4.1.1Framing
      • 4.1.2Pragmatic choices
    • 4.2Advice on signs
      • 4.2.1Functions of advice
      • 4.2.2Forms of advice
        • English
        • Greek
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Prime ministers’ statements (last accessed on 22/02/22)
Published online: 6 July 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.22016.ogi
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