A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Selected Nigerian Herbal Medicines Cure for Strokes Advertisements on Facebook

Abstract

An essential technique for examining the intricate relationships that exist between language, image, and sound in many kinds of communication is multimodal discourse analysis. In this work, we employ a multimodal method to analyse the textual and visual features found in Facebook adverts for Nigerian Herbal Medicines Cure for various ailments. We hope to learn more about the linguistic and visual signals used to sell these herbal remedies and their perceived efficacy in treating different ailments through this analysis. Facebook adverts provide the data, which are then analysed qualitatively from the purview of Kress and Leeuwen, 2006. We aim to identify the cultural and social ramifications of treating different ailments with traditional medicine by investigating the conversation around these ads. The results show that a range of persuasive strategies are used, such as the combination of conventional and scientific language, testimonies, and pictures of people and plants. In order to protect consumers, the study also emphasizes the possible risks of depending only on these natural remedies and urges more investigation. All things considered, this study adds to the expanding corpus of knowledge on multimodal communication in advertising and clarifies the convoluted conversation around social media advertisements of herbal medicines. Our research can help consumers and healthcare professionals alike better understand how social media plays a part in the promotion of complementary and alternative medicine and how it affects public health.