Determination of Prominent Representations of Domestic Products Advertisements in Kass TV on to Kipsigis Consumer in Belgut Sub-County, Kericho, Kenya

Abstract

Commercial advertising is part and parcel of our day to day lives which bears vast meanings, thus drawing a great discussion. This study, therefore, intended to study television (TV) advertisements. Television advertisements come in both visual and verbal modes of communication. Meaning is achieved by sounds and images which in turn influence the viewers’ choice. This study sought to investigate how adverts in Kass TV use music, textual and visual images to create meaning and its influence on Kipsigis consumers. The objective of this study was to: determine the prominent representations of domestic products by Kass TV to Kipsigis consumer in Belgut sub-county, Kericho, Kenya. To establish if the prominent representations of domestic products in Kass TV influence consumer choice within Belgut sub-county and to evaluate the extent to which the prominent representations of domestic products reflect the socio-cultural context of Kenya as far as Belgut Sub-County is considered. The study used Kress and van Leeuwen’s Multimodal Discourse Analysis theory, the theory of semiotics and information processing theory. ‘Multimodality’ typically refers to the use of both verbal and non-verbal modes of communication. This study, therefore, analysed the verbal and visual modes of communication in TV advertisements in order to determine their influence on Kipsigis consumers. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The target population was Kass TV viewers in Belgut sub-county because it is among the Kass TV coverage areas and also due to the fact that a wide population in the sub-county is Kipsigis speakers. Simple random sampling was used to identify the respondents. A structured questionnaire which was self-administered to the Kass TV viewers and buyers of the advertised domestic products was used. 186 respondents were sampled. Data was analysed using content analysis with the use of Frith’s table for analysis of layers of meanings (surface meaning, advertiser’s intended meaning and cultural meaning) by employing descriptive statistics. The study was aimed at contributing to the studies of Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) since it sought to analyse how information is presented in Kass TV advertisement of domestic products. It also aimed at shedding more light on letting consumers be aware of the multiple modes that TV producers of television advertisement use to influence their buying behaviour. Television adverts were found to blend visual and verbal modes of communication.