The Rhetorical Structure of Marketisation in Selected Emails of Tertiary Institutions

Abstract

The marketization of higher education, which is becoming competitive due to the growing number of tertiary institutions, has attracted the attention of scholars. Previous studies have focused on promotional strategies in institutions' websites, prospectuses, and social media, while little attention has been paid to promotional emails. This study, therefore, complements existing studies by examining the rhetoric in promotional emails of tertiary institutions within the context of student enrollment. The data includes 80 emails sent by 20 higher education institutions to prospective students and were subjected to discourse analysis using Bhatia's genre analysis. The findings reveal three move structures: self-promotion, incentive, and invitation through rhetorical strategies of the institution's achievements, scholarship opportunities, and event participation using linguistic resources that indicate intentions to persuade potential applicants. The findings show how tertiary institutions attempt to build friendly relationships with prospective students through persuasion.