A SEMIOTIC EXPLORATION OF MULTIMODAL PERSUASIVE DEVICES IN SELECTED NIGERIAN GSM TEXT ADVERTISEMENTS

Abstract

The language of advertising through Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) text features linguistic and pictorial stimuli which were designed to inform and persuade the audience. Previous studies examined the language of GSM advertising from the semiotic and stylistic perspectives, showing that linguistic choices and visual elements serve the communicative function of persuasion. However, such studies have not given adequate attention to the significance of the interface between linguistic and visual representation in GSM advertisement. Multimodal devices in selected Nigerian GSM text advertisements were investigated in order to examine how they combine to produce persuasive effects. Halliday’s model of Systemic Functional Semiotics was adopted for its relevance to the relationship between the co-occurrence of linguistic and visual forms on a page. A corpus of 400 Nigerian GSM advertisements - 100 each from MTN, Globacom, Etisalat and Airtel, which were collected between 2013 and 2016, and purposively selected based on the availability of interface between verbal and visual content. Data were subjected to functional semiotic analysis. Seven major categories of multimodal devices that interfaced to encode and decode persuasive meaning in GSM text advertisements aregrapho-graphetic, spatial-syntactic, verb-vectorial, verbal-visual metaphor, sight-sound, verbal-visual symbolism and textual-iconic. Grapho-graphetic devices portrayed declarative clauses such as Our attitude rocks indexed with graphetic forms (visual shape and typography) in MTN to communicate dynamism. The left-right spatial composition of two actors on a moving boat interacted with syntactic post-modified noun phrase such as Gist without limits (Globacom)to depict value and express limitlesscapacity.Verb-vectorial forms portrayed the sequential description of actions between the imperative statements such as Enjoy great rewards, Refer-A-Friend and the facial expression of represented participants in MTN, to express enthusiasm. Verbal-visual metaphors depicted an interface between concepts such as the declarative statement 15 kobo can’t buy a bus ticket, but it can take you to places and the photograph of a moving vehicle which conveyed two actors in Globacom, to express efficiency and affordability. Sound and sight devices interacted as consonance to visualise what is said verbally as in the interaction between the alliteration Go Green, Go Glo! and the colour ‘green’ of Globacom logo to enhance sense of sight and identity. Verbal-visual symbolism portrayed the relation between the noun phrase happy valentine’s day (signified) and the photograph of a red heart shape in-between a man and woman (signifier) in Airtel to signal passionate affection. Textual-iconic forms showed direct imitation of concepts as in the noun phrase 2015 megabytes which interacted with the photograph of windy software applications and served as the icon signifier (MTN) to communicate the strength of 2015 megabytes and emphasize the products’ attributes.

Verbal-visual devices namely- spatial-syntactic, verb-vectorial, and verbo-visual metaphors interfaced to achieve persuasive effects such as dynamism, efficiency, and affordability in GSM text advertisements. The interactions of multimodal devices for persuasion as observed in this work have shown further insights into the understanding of GSM text advertisements in the Nigerian context