A SURVEY OF PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE USED IN NIGERIAN NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS: A CASE STUDY OF VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the persuasive language strategies employed in Nigerian newspaper advertisements, an underexplored domain within advertising and linguistic research. The research seeks to analyze a representative sample of advertisements from prominent Nigerian newspaper which is Vanguard newspaper, spanning industries such as telecommunications, finance, and fast-moving consumer goods. The study will focus on identifying and categorizing the linguistic techniques such as emotional appeals, rhetorical flourishes, cultural idioms, and lexical framing that advertisers use to engage and persuade Nigeria’s diverse readership. By adopting a qualitative content analysis approach, this research will explore how these strategies align with the socio-cultural values, multilingual context, and economic aspirations of Nigerian consumers. The study hypothesizes that advertisers leverage localized expressions, authority-driven endorsements, and aspirational messaging to build trust and influence behavior in a competitive media landscape. As an inaugural survey of its kind, this research promises to fill a critical gap in understanding the intersection of language, persuasion, and culture in Nigerian print advertising, offering a foundation for subsequent empirical studies on audience reception and advertising efficacy. The findings of the study is the presentation and analysis of the data collected from selected newspaper advertisements published in the Vanguard Newspaper.In essence, this study bridges the gap between the theoretical framework of persuasion and its practical manifestation in the discourse of Nigerian newspaper advertising.