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[Commlist] Call for abstracts for an edited volume: marketing communication in African languages
Fri Feb 03 22:13:41 GMT 2023
*CALL FOR ABSTRACTS FOR AN EDITED VOLUME:*
*MARKETING COMMUNICATION IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES*
*Abiodun Salawu *and*Kehinde Oyesomi*
There are approximately over 2,000 spoken languages in Africa (Eberhard,
Simons, Fennig, 2019) yet there seems to be an erosion of African
languages. It has become commonplace to equate "modernity, globalism,
and technological growth" with the English language (Gorter, 2013).
According to Chiblow and Meighan (2021), this is due to colonialism. The
United Nations (2016) declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous
Languages; and 2022 to 2032 the International Decade of Indigenous
Languages. UNESCO (2008) explains that indigenous languages have their
foundation in the unique social, cultural, and economic characteristics
of a people that serve as their identity. In this age of technological
advancement, communication entails more than the transmission of
culture, values, and norms; it also serves as a means for promoting,
informing, establishing customer relationships, improving brand
perception, and increasing customer retention, all of which are
synonymous with marketing communication. Marketing communication is a
concoction of traditional and contemporary media tools used to convey
persuasive messages to the target audience. Marketing communication
infused with African languages is crucial to increasing brand visibility
and exposure by focusing on varieties of languages spoken across various
cultures.
Marketing is characterized in terms of the role it plays in engaging and
influencing consumers. The American Marketing Association (2017) defines
it as the process of creating, communicating, delivering, and trading
goods and services that are beneficial to customers, clientele, business
partners, and society at large. Despite the dominance of marketing in
the global sphere, language plays a key role in how messages are
received by the target audience. Communication and marketing go hand in
hand. Marketing communication entails allowing businesses to identify
and successfully engage their target market, improving overall business
performance (Hao and Song, 2016; Takahashi,Bulgacov, Semprebon,
Giacomini, 2016). Marketing communication involves the use of
advertising, personal selling, digital marketing, sales promotion, and
public relations to connect with the target market by building trust and
achieving client objectives. Olatunji (2018) claims that historically,
African native advertising made extensive use of signs and symbols such
as colors, logos, and flags, among others. Therefore, it can be assumed
that the indigenous marketing methods previously employed in Africa have
returned in what is now popularly celebrated as edutainment,
advertainment, or infotainment. All these are made relevant by the type
of language employed.**
Nwachukwu (2005) further explains that languages are also rich in
illustrations and explanations. They therefore, present opportunity for
more details in message creation and adaptation.Language serves as a
tool for carrying out actions that are intended to achieve certain goals
in addition to being a means of communicating ideas. The importance of
an indigenous language stems from its benefits, which include increased
comprehension and a sense of resonance among the target audience, which
makes it more memorable as opposed to foreign languages.
Though some scholars (Bhatia, Nelson, Proshina, and Davis, 2020) have
postulated that the combination of English with native languages gives
credibility to some commercial, other scholars, Heo,Jogaratnam, &
Buchanan, (2004); and Holmqvist, (2011) have argued that using
indigenous languages requires less time and cognitive effort to
comprehend and, as a result, is more effective in persuading the target
audience to act on what is communicated.
Abstracts of 300 – 500 words on any of the following sub-themes and
other relevant ones not listed here are invited.
*Sub-themes*
**Theoretical Foundations of Marketing Communication and African Languages
**Indigenous Modes of Advertising and Marketing in Traditional African
Societies
**Public Relations in African Languages
Advertising in African Languages
Sales Promotion in African Languages
Personal Selling in African Languages
Direct Marketing in African Languages
Social Media Marketing in African Languages
Political Advertising and Marketing in African Languages
Corporate Communication in African Languages
Government/Public Affairs Communication in African Languages
Public Relations for Non-Profit Organisations in African Languages
Interested persons should please submit their abstracts to
(kehinde.oyesomi /at/ covenantuniversity.edu.ng)
<mailto:(kehinde.oyesomi /at/ covenantuniversity.edu.ng)>by February 28, 2023.
Decisions on abstracts received will be communicated by March 15, 2023.
Full papers of accepted abstracts will be expected by June 30, 2023.
Professor Abiodun Salawu, Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA)
Research Entity, North-West University, South Africa
Dr. Kehinde Oyesomi, Department of Communication, Covenant University,
Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
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*References*
American Marketing Association. (2017). Definition of Marketing,
American Marketing Association. /Retrieved November 27, 2022 from
https://www.ama.org <https://www.ama.org/>**/
Bhatia, Nelson, C. L., Proshina, Z. G., & Davis, D. R. (2020). /The
Handbook of World Englishes/.
/Wiley Online Library. //DOI:10.1002/9781119147282///
Chiblow, S., & Meighan, P. J. (2022). Language is land, land is
language: The importance of Indigenous languages. /Human
Geography,/15(2): 206–210.
Eberhard, D. M., & Gary, F. (2019). Simons, and Charles D. Fennig
(eds.). 2020.
Ethnologue:Languages of the World. Dallas,
Texas: SIL International. /Online /
/ version: http://www. ethnologue. com/.
Gorter, D. (2013). Linguistic landscapes in a multilingual world.
/Annual Review of Applied Linguistics/, 33: 190-212.
Haarmann, H. (2011). Symbolic values of foreign language use: From the
Japanese case to
a general sociolinguistic perspective. Walter de Gruyter. Volume 51 in
the series /Contributions to the Sociology of Language [CSL]
<https://www.degruyter.com/serial/csl-b/html>/
//
Hao, S., & Song, M. (2016). Technology-driven strategy and firm
performance: are strategic capabilities missing links? /Journal of
Business Research/, 69(2): 751-759.
Heo, J. K., Jogaratnam, G., & Buchanan, P. (2004). Customer-focused
adaptation in New York City hotels: exploring the perceptions of
Japanese and Korean travelers. /International Journal of Hospitality
Management/, 23(1): 39-53.
Holmqvist, J.
<https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=Jonas%20Holmqvist> (2011),
Consumer language preferences in service encounters: a cross‐cultural
perspective. /Managing Service Quality: An International Journal
<https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/0960-4529>, /Vol. 21
No. 2, pp. 178-191. <https://doi.org/10.1108/09604521111113456>
Nwachukwu, F. G. (2005). Advertising effectiveness: The indigenous
languages option.
/International Journal of Communication/, 8: 77-88.
Olatunji, R. W. (2018). Trends in advertising and cultures in Nigeria.
/Communication /
/ Cultures in Africa/, 1(1): 54-76.
Takahashi, A. R. W., Bulgacov, S., Semprebon, E., & Giacomini, M. M.
(2017). Dynamic
capabilities, marketing capability and organizational performance. /BBR.
Brazilian Business Review/, 14: 466-478
UNESCO. (2008). Links between biological and cultural diversity (Report
of the international workshop, 26–28 September 2007). Paris, France:
UNESCOProfessor Abiodun Salawu, PhD
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