“We are prepared to play our part…”: A case study of the use of first-person references in e-releases from two oil companies

Abstract

This study looks into the meta-pragmatics of e-releases by providing corpus-based data on variations in the use of first-person references in e-releases from two oil companies: BP and Repsol. Previous research on corporate press releases had approached this particular feature (Jacobs, 1999a(Jacobs, , 1999b, but no further attempts have been made to look into their usage in press releases published on corporate websites of different organizations. Two corpora of nearly 100,000 tokens have been examined for first-person pronouns and determiners in order to identify their frequencies and their referents. The results reveal an interplay of multiple first-person voices that enhance the dialogic nature of e-releases and possibly their persuasive effectiveness. The variations detected show that BP uses first-person references far more frequently than Repsol, yet lower frequencies seem not to correlate with higher frequencies of third-person references. The range of referents identified is also broader for BP. The differences suggest distinct approaches to exploiting the communicative potential served by the use of first-person references, and thus different communication strategies applied by companies operating on a global scale but within the same industry.

Representation of the “business‐self”: Professionals’ construction of multifaceted identities in written business communication

“…Among the few studies that have examined self-mention features independently in business writing include Jacobs (1999) and Skorczynska (2020). Both explored corporate press releases which are not associated with an author, perhaps not surprisingly, both reported writer self-references to be extremely rare.…”

Using Metadiscourse to Enhance Persuasiveness in Corporate Press Releases: A Corpus-Based Study

“…McLaren-Hankin (2008) analyzed hedges in corporate press release and discussed their pragmatic functions. Skorczynska (2020) examined how first-person references were used in corporate press releases to achieve the persuasive effect. Although these studies have added our understanding of metadiscourse resources for persuasiveness, a systematic analysis of metadiscourse devices used to achieve persuasiveness has not been conducted.…”

“…Martín & Pérez, 2014; Ozdemir & Longo, 2014). Studies on corporate press releases from the metadiscourse perspective are rare (McLaren-Hankin, 2008; Skorczynska, 2020). McLaren-Hankin (2008) analyzed hedges in corporate press release and discussed their pragmatic functions.…”

“We Are Strong Believers in the Power of the Avon Brand”: Genre Features of International Cosmetics Companies’ E-Releases

“…Regarding specific characteristics of e-releases, research interest in them has so far been rather limited, involving only a brief overview of their novel linguistic features (see Catenaccio, 2007c;Jacobs, 2014;Skorczynska, 2020;Strobbe & Jacobs, 2005). According to the available research, e-releases tend to combine the traditional preformulation features of paper press releases with a more direct type of discourse (Jacobs, 2014), which includes the use of superlatives, evaluative adjectives, imperatives, directly addressing the reader, and capitalized typography (Strobbe & Jacobs, 2005).…”

“…All these characteristics manifest the metamorphosis of Vol. 9(2)(2021): e-releases into more promotional texts, which now serve as direct marketing tools (Catenaccio, 2007c;Skorczynska, 2020;Strobbe & Jacobs, 2005).…”