Audiences' perception of Pidgin English in Nigerian advertisements (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, grade: A, National Open University of Nigeria, language: English, abstract: In a world of fierce competition and the emergence of the internet as a powerful, borderless medium, gaining and retaining the attention of consumers and customers and persuading them to buy products and services through the broadcast media is becoming more challenging and important.

Although advertising has been proven to be effective in providing market information about products and services, its understanding and comprehension by the masses has been questioned consistently. Thus, it is important for advertisers, advertising agencies, and the media to understand the role that languages play in reaching the target market audience with simple market information about products.

This research examines audience perception of Pidgin English advertisements in Nigerian broadcast media, using Benin-City as a reference point. The inhabitants of Benin-City municipal are mainly businessmen and women of various ethnic backgrounds, mostly Hausas, Igbos, and Yorubas. Hence, the use of Pidgin English is regarded as the best medium of public interaction and communication in carrying out their daily activities. These people mostly understand the surface structure of communicated messages in Standard English, while several others cannot even comprehend them at all.

Hence, this study examines if Pidgin English holds the interest of the audience when used as a vehicle for conveying advertising messages by the advertisers via the broadcast media and also found out if Pidgin English can help decrease misconception and misunderstanding as regards advertised products. It also intends to explore the potential of the Nigerian Pidgin English as a language as a medium of public and mass communication in Nigeria.

A survey research method was adopted in the study, and 200 well-structured questionnaires were administered to purposively selected respondents at random. Data gathered was analyzed using frequency counts, and simple percentages.

Findings showed that Pidgin English usage in advertisements helps to reduce misconceptions and misunderstandings of advertisement information and also holds the interest of the audience when used as a medium of communication. Based on the findings, it was that the use of Pidgin English in advertisements should be encouraged. The study also recommends further study to find out whether the public would embrace the culture of using Pidgin English more often for broadcast programs and perhaps adopt it as one of the country's lingua franca.