A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Advertising Language in Selected Nigerian Mass Media Commercials

Abstract

Advertising is a form of communication and it is one of the oldest professions in the world.  It is as old as humanity.  It is the market instrument which advertisers use to influence the behaviour of consumers at the point of purchase (Sandage, Frouburger and Rotzol, 1997).  Language is a very powerful tool in advertising and advertising language is unique in terms of usage and the mass media are the agencies of diffusing advertisement messages.  The aim of this paper, among others, is to discuss the essential characteristics of advertising language in the mass media which enables the advertisers to reach the target audience and also to find out how advertising language influences the consumer’s purchasing attitude.