The speech acts of persuasion: a case study of Pharmaceutical advertisement in selected Ghanaian media .
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Date
2023-02
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KNUST
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Advertisers of pharmaceutical products use language to communicate with their
customers to persuade and influence them. This study was, therefore, conducted to
investigate the speech acts used in the advertisements of pharmaceutical products in
selected Ghanaian media. A total of forty (40) English and Twi adverts from radio and
television on pharmaceutical products constituted the data set for the study. The data
was analyzed using Searleās (1969) classification of illocutionary speech acts and
Rank's (1991) Model of persuasion. The study found that pharmaceutical advertisers
used representative, declarative, directive, commissive, and expressive acts
respectively to communicate the most to buyers. Again, the study showed how speech
acts facilitate the achievement of persuasion in adverts. Advertisers mostly use
attention-getting and desire-stimulation techniques as the strongest persuasive
intentions. The findings have implications for the speech act theory about advertising
and research on pharmaceutical advertising
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of English, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master Of Philosophy Degree In English Language