This study examines the current state of advertising in Cameroon and South Africa; two
multilingual and multicultural societies with rich historical and linguistic backgrounds.
Advertising in Douala, Cameroon, is not given enough attention and the inhabitants, not
only of the city but the country as a whole, feel rejected and not taken on board in the
discourse of advertising. The study identified personal characteristics of participants and
their degree of satisfaction with the current state of advertising in Douala and Mafikeng.
The research design is mainly qualitative with a minor supporting component from the
quantitative approach. A purposive sampling approach was used to select fifty participants
in Douala and fifty in Mafikeng as well as five interviewees (three in Douala and two in
Mafikeng). Data collected was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative
analysis involved presenting the findings in major themes using information provided by
participants in the open-ended items of the questionnaire and verbatim quotations from the
interviews. Excerpts from the questionnaires and interviews were used to support
identified themes emanating from the participants. Quantitative data was captured and
analysed through Excel. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution and
percentages were used to identify important and relevant characteristics about
participants. Descriptive statistics were also used to summarise, compare data and
enhance readability of results.
The study revealed that Douala city-dwellers are not satisfied with the dominant use of
French and English in advertising as it deprives citizens of vital and useful information in
their own languages. In Mafikeng, even though there is moderate use of Setswana,
respondents apparently felt justified in recommending the exclusion of languages
prevalent during the apartheid era (Afrikaans and English) in advertising. The researcher
therefore suggests that policy and decision-makers, advertisers and stakeholders involved
in advertising consider the local population in the selection of languages to be used in the
sector and for Cameroonian advertising to take a leaf from the multilingual advertising
practices of South Africa. / Thesis (PhD) North-west University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/14737 |
| Date | 12 October 2015 |
| Creators | Nkamta, P N |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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