Influence of ambient media on the perception of urban communicative space by residents of a big city: sociological analysis

The article deals with the attitude of big city residents to non-standard advertising media, which have been little studied in Russia, in the context of urban socio-cultural space. Ambient media such as advertisement on roads, stairs, benches, park plants, receipts are becoming unobtrusive and are integrated into the environment and daily practices. This form of advertising offers innovative ways of interacting with both the consumer and the environment. Ambient media, due to its specificity, is able to change people’s perceptions of socio-cultural space. The impact of Ambient advertising on perception of a city by its inhabitants is also significant. The author conducted sociological research, using qualitative strategy of in-depth interviews with representatives of Yekaterinburg advertising community (N=22) and focus groups with active citizens, most often interacting with the communication space of the city: students, parents, people of science, art and culture and representatives of business community. The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of the new forms of advertising on the perception of the city and the definition of identity to their own city. The role of Ambient media in the city life is not only in the marketing information about the product, but also in the care of the citizens, improvement of urban infrastructure, new opportunities for communication and acquaintance of the citizens, spontaneous association of their interests. The study discloses that Ambient media transforms the urban environment into a more useful, comfortable and attractive place for city dwellers. Thus, Ambient media contributes to the formation of an individual’s identity with the urban space and the perception of the city as «their own» and «native».