Persuasion in the English of Advertising in the Ghanaian Newspapers

IntroductionAlthough advertising goes back many years in history, it has evolved with time.Advertising in ancient China was either verbal or by the use of musical instruments; however, later, it took the form of inscriptions on signboards and posters.In the medieval time in Europe, advertising took the form of exhibition of manufactured products since many people were not literate.Advertising was also like oral announcement at public places and this was to draw customers' attention.Bhatia (2000) reported thatart work on rocks and walls for advertising started in India many centuries ago.Advertising underwent changes during the Renaissance Period in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when advancement in printing gave rise to literacy.With the advent of an innovative printing technology in Asia and Europe in the second half of the fifteenth century, printing was done on a large scale and people read extensively to broaden their intellectual horizon.Information dissemination was improved and advertising was given the needed publicity in the print media (Moriarty, Mitchell& Wells, 2009).Advertising, therefore, took the form of mass communication for commercial purposes in newspapers in America and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively.During the period of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, which saw a rise in the production of goods, advertising in the print media in the United States (US) and Europe helped manufacturers to disseminate information about their products to prospective buyers.In Africa, advertising was practiced in a traditional way up to the colonial era.During this period, foreign advertising companies brought about changes and innovation in advertising in Africa.This external influence gave rise to growth, development and modernity in advertising on the African continent.In the West Africa sub-region, advertising took traditional forms before the colonization period.The early forms of advertising in Nigeria were signs, paintings and public announcements (Kasie, 2007).Islamic migrants from other West African countries like Mali and Nigeria came to Ghana occasionally to sell traditional medicines.These foreign traders used magic as an advertising strategy.They would display magical powers in order to persuade buyers of the potency of their medicines (Asare, 2013).The growth and development of advertising in Nigeria and Ghana occurred during the colonial era in the early part of the twentieth century.The colonial influence on advertising led to the creation of the West African Publicity Limited (WAPL) in 1928 (Kasie, ibid).The WAPL (an advertising agency) which emanated from the United African Company (UAC) was responsible for marketing communication and the coordination of economic activities of colonial expatriates in Nigeria, Ghana and other West African countries (Akatu, 1980).In Ghana, the WAPL installed billboards that displayed pictures advertising variety of foreign products.The WAPL used pictorial images as instruments of advertising in newspapers and cinemas.Advertising was also in the form of posters on trains, buses, trees and billboards by roads and streets (Atta, 2013).Advertising in the post-independence period in West Africa was more creative, innovative and sophisticated due to