Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Television Advertisements Of Selected Banks In Nigeria

Television advertisement has been a medium used by banks in Nigeria to convey advertising messages to their existing and potential customers through visual images, colours, sounds, written or spoken texts, which co-articulate at the same time. In spite of the importance of television advertisements, significant attention has not been given to all these modes using a Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA). Therefore, this study examined different modes in television advertisements of selected banks in Nigeria. The objectives were to: (i) identify the visual images, verbal and linguistic elements in the television advertisements of the selected banks; (ii) interpret the linguistic resources used by the advertisers; (iii)examine how the hidden meanings from the visual images, verbal and linguistic modes in the advertisements co-articulate; (iv) evaluate the extent to which verbal and linguistic elements in the television advertisements conform to the language in use in the Nigerian context; and (v) examine the impact of visual images, verbal and linguistic elements in the television advertisements on viewers‟ behaviour.rnThe study has adopted a descriptive method. Observations and questionnaires were used for data gathering. Television advertisements were collected from ten banks using stratified random sampling technique. Three hundred questionnaires were administered in six cities across the country.The study adopted a combination of Halliday‟s(1994) meta-functions of language and Kress and van Leeuwen‟s (2001) Multimodal Theory of Communication as a conceptual framework.rnThe findings were that:rn(i) topical themes were more predominant in the structure of clauses in advertisement messages;rn(ii) the material process was predominantly used at 51.25% compared to other processes and what the banks stand for was largely expressed using the declarative mood;rn(iii) respondents strongly agreed that sounds in banks‟ television advertisements captivated the attention of the audience as noted by 46.9% of the respondents, and 44.8% of the respondents also affirmed that images in banks‟ television advertisements make messages in the advert more understandable;rn(iv) respondents agreed that verbal and linguistic elements in the television advertisements conform to the language in use in the Nigerian context. They affirmed that the meanings of the words in the banks‟ television advertisements conveyed were clear; andrn(v) 44.5% of the respondents strongly agreed that contents of messages in the banks‟ television advertisements has a strong impact on them as it enhances their patronage, product recall, product preference and conviction.rnThe study concluded that banks‟ television advertisement resources have a positive impact on the viewers. They evaluate meanings of the various meaning-making modes such linguistic choices, sounds, colours and visual images co-articulate to communicate to the viewers in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that banks should continue to portray social relevance by using simple and understandable modes in the course of packaging their advertisements for more effectiveness.

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