THE USE OF IGBO LANGUAGE IN ADVERTISING PRODUCTS IN EASTERN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF ABAKALIKI METROPOLIS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

            Advertising is drawing attention to goods and services for the purpose of attracting patronage. The basic aim of the advertiser according to Ebeze (2003) is to sell. Its effectiveness is therefore measured in terms of the volumes of sales it is able to attract or record. To be effective, advertising is expected to be able to attract attention, arouse interests, create a desire and motivate action (Umeogu 2013). When this is the case, the advertisement is said to be persuasive or effective.

            Advertising persuasion is rated based on many factors but ultimately language is central to all these factors (Shrimp 2000:3). This is supported by his idea that “of all the elements that characterize a social group and distinguished it from other groups, whether in arts, music, dance, attitude and beliefs, festival behavior etc, the most central is language”. What this means is that the use of an indigenous language is highly necessitated by its indispensability and importance in advertising if a truly effective communication is to take place.

According to Goddart (2002), advertising permeates our daily lives. It has become so ubiquitous that it is generally believed that no product can survive the competitiveness of market forces without it.

Udemmadu (2013) observed that many of the advertisements in Nigeria are done in a foreign language – English which makes them actually alienating. Consequently, the value and essence of the message is hidden from the majority of the target audience. This is because the populace at large has various indigenous languages as their mother tongues. Essentially, there are about 521 indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria (Udemmadu 2013). However, this research work is narrowed to the use of Igbo language which is one of the major languages spoken in Nigeria.

             The Igbo language is one of the three major languages in Nigeria. The native Igbo speaking states include: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo. Traces of the Igbo culture and language could also be seen in Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta States (Udemmadu 2013). According to Umeogu (2013), the languages of communication in the igbo speaking cities are mainly Igbo and English. However, English language has been given a pride of place in the media houses in Nigeria to the detriment of indigenous languages like Igbo despite the fact that the recipients of the advertisements are chiefly indigenous users.

THE USE OF IGBO LANGUAGE IN ADVERTISING PRODUCTS IN EASTERN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF ABAKALIKI METROPOLIS