Abstract:
This study investigates the syntactic choice of adjectival and adverbial phrases from the selected Facebook advertisements as a persuasive tool for brand slogans to attract consumers to the product(s). This study is anchored within the guidelines of Radford Inflectional Phrase (IP) model, where IP model emphasises the role of inflectional elements such as tense, aspect and mood that occupy central positions in the syntactic organisation of sentences. The study adopted the survey and manual method of data collection, where the researchers used their mobile personal phones and screenshot as instruments for data collection. The study samples nine (9) advertisement, which were randomly picked from the Facebook handles of Viva detergent, Good Mama detergent, Nivea and Honeywell. The results of this study show that adverbial phrase is rarely used in social media ads as compared to adjectival phrases; it appears least in terms of usage in Facebook ads as advertisers always avoid using it to prevent confusion. The results also reveals that imperative form is fervently used in Facebook advertisements with the motive of creating direct language to encourage audience to take a specific action, thereby making the message persuasive and arrest audience's attention. The declarative form is moderately used while Interrogative form is less used in Facebook advertisements. It is advised that the advertiser should always select a language that resonates with a target demographic that could create emotional connection and enhance engagement and also be aware that syntactic choices such as tone and structure influence how persuasive and appealing the message is. Lastly, they should know that language is an essential tool for increasing visibility and effectiveness of the products.
Keywords: Brand Slogans, Persuasive Tool, Inflectional Phrase, Syntactic Choice, Target Consumers.
DOI: 10.36349/djhs.2026.v04i01.004
author/Abdullahi, S. A., Mshelbwala, C. U. and Awotunde, K. W.
journal/Dundaye JOHS, July 2026
