A Linguistic Analysis of Language, Persuasion, and Market Positioning in Cameroon’s Telecom Advertising Landscape

Abstract

The linguistic landscape of Cameroon is entrained with pluralities of languages. Official languages (English and French), lingua francas (Cameroon pidgin English and camfranglaise) and more than 300 national languages. This study investigates the linguistic landscape of Cameroon and how telecommunication companies (MTN and Orange) reach their consumers and build consumption preferences. MTN uses English which attracts more of English speakers in consuming their services while Orange uses French ton attract French speakers. The research design is descriptive. The simple random sampling was adopted in data collection. A total of 700 advertisements on all languages used were collected between 2000 to 2025 and analyzed. Sources of data are billboards, internet web pages, flyers and Cameroon tribune news papers. The analytical method employed is the approach of Linguistic landscape by Backhaus (2005). Quantitatively, the ads were counted and quantified to see the effects of language choice on consumers preferences. Results reveal that from 2000 to 2022 MTN used more of English language in their advertisements and Orange more of French. The outcome was more Anglophones consuming MTN products and a similar higher consumption of Orange products by Francophones. This study recommends the increase usage of the lingua francas by these companies since the illiterate classes are left out. Also, these lingua francas should be englobed in the language policy by the state. Code switching and mixing are recommended to these companies, they can attract consumers in purchasing. This study contributes in providing knowledge on communication and marketing strategies to companies who need to venture into the Cameroon market.