A critical analysis of the advertising discourse by First National Bank (FNB) in Windhoek
Loading...
Date
2019-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study investigated how language is used to communicate meaning in bank advertisements. It also examined stylistics in advertising with specific focus on selected FNB branches in Windhoek. Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which studies the principles, as well as effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Advertising is a form of communication used to help sell products and services. There are many sampling strategies, for example, random and purposive sampling. The study employed purposive sampling since the researcher sought to gather information from reliable people. The researcher used 10 printed adverts from 5 FNB branches, which means that 2 printed adverts were collected from each branch. Advertisements are not only designed to fascinate, but also to achieve their persuasive goal. This study shows how language is used in bank advertisements to convey messages to the public. The stylistic elements employed in the analysis of bank advertisements included graphology, phonology, lexis, syntax and cohesion. The use of capitalisation and repetition for emphasis, phonemes and Gothic writing to attract the attention of readers and images to stimulate customers’ aspirations were some of the findings of the study. Given that studies on language use are still of high interest to linguists, this study critically interrogated the effectiveness of language choice in FNB bank advertisements. The conclusion is that stylistic devices are important in advertising as they attract customers to the services and products being advertised.
Description
Thesis submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters of English and Applied Linguistics in the Department of Communication, Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Supervisor: Prof. R. Makamani
Co- supervisor: Dr. H. Mapudzi
Keywords
Thesis - Namibia, Advertising, Stylistics, Discourse analysis, Language
Citation
Niilungu, M. T. (2019). A critical analysis of the advertising discourse by First National Bank (FNB) in Windhoek. [Mater's thesis, Namibia University of Science and Technology]. Ounongo Repository.