Cover not available

In:Persuasive Games in Political and Professional Dialogue
Edited by Răzvan Săftoiu, Maria-Ionela Neagu and Stanca Măda
[Dialogue Studies 26] 2015
► pp. 217–248

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Leaders banking on ethos

Communicating (in) the financial crisis

 | Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti (Romania)
Published online: 1 October 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ds.26.11nic
This paper investigates persuasion in the context of the current economic-financial crisis by focusing on the strategies employed by banks to attract and preserve confidence. The targeted genre is senior executives’ letters to the shareholders issued before and during crisis. Theoretically, the study predicates on two crucial perspectives: it relies on Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) and on Close Textual Analysis (Browne 2009), an interpretive practice whose aim is to decipher the linguistic particulars underlying the rhetorical force of a text, and it equally tackles other semiotic resources that are considered to be persuasion markers. The twofold investigation (both quantitative and qualitative) shows that the crisis exerts psychological and economic pressures upon the communication stream even between high-performing banking institutions and their website audience, and, therefore, the three rhetorical appeals, ethos, pathos, logos are fully enhanced and appropriately adjusted towards shaping the desired corporate image.
References (72)
References
Albert, Stuart, and David A. Whetten. 1985. “Organizational Identity.” Research in Organizational Behavior 7: 263–295.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Alvesson, Mats. 1990. “Organization: From Substance to Image?” Organization Studies 11: 373–394. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Antconc. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 30th Aug. 2013.
Aristotle. 1954. Rhetoric, transl. by W. Rhys Roberts, Ingram Bywater, and Friedrich Solmsen. New York: Modern Library.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Askehave, Inger. 1999. “Communicative Purpose as Genre Determinant.” Hermes 23: 13–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bankers’ Accuity. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 10th Oct. 2012.
Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca, and Sandra J. Harris. 1997. Managing Language: The Discourse of Corporate Meetings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca. 2008. “In Memory of the Business Letter: Multimedia, Genres, and Social Action in a Banking Website.” In Genre Variation in Business Letters, ed. by Paul Gillaerts, and Maurizio Gotti, 99–124. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beason, Larry. 1991. “Strategies for Establishing an Effective Persona: An Analysis of Appeals to Ethos in Business Speeches.” Journal of Business Communication 28 (4): 326–346. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benveniste, Emile. 1974. Problèmes de Linguistique Générale. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bernstein, Andrew D. 1984. Company Image and Reality: A Critique of Corporate Communications. Eastbourne, East Sussex: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bhatia, Vijay K. 1993. Analysing Genre. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1999. “Disciplinary Variation in Business English.” In Business English: Research into Practice, ed. by Martin Hewings, and Chaterine Nickerson, 129–143. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Worlds of Written Discourse [A Genre-Based View]. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Black, John, Nigar Hashimzade, and Gareth Myles. 2009. Oxford Dictionary of Economics. (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Browne, Stephen H. 2009. “Close Textual Analysis: Approaches and Applications.” In Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action, ed. by Jim A. Kuypers, 63–76. Plymouth: Lexington Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coombs, Tim W. 2004. “Impact of Past Crisis on Current Crisis Communications: Insights from Situational Crisis Communication Theory.” Journal of Business Communication 41: 265–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. “Protecting Organization Reputations during a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory.” Corporate Reputation Review 10 (3): 163–176. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooper, Barbara M. 1989. Analyzing Public Discourse. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crawford Camiciottoli, Belinda. 2011. “Ethics and Ethos in Financial Reporting: Analyzing Persuasive Language in Earnings Calls.” Business Communication Quarterly 74 (3): 298–312. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Currer-Briggs, Noel, Brian Kennett, and Jane Patterson. 1971. Handwriting Analysis in Business. London: Associated Business Programs.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman. 1992. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fombrun, Charles J. 1996. Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foss, Sonja K. 2009. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration & Practice. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Furnham, Adrian, and Evgeniya Petrova. 2010. Body Language in Business. Decoding the Signals. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garver, Eugene. 1995. Aristotle’s Rhetoric: An Art of Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garzone, Giuliana. 2004. “Annual Company Reports and CEO's Letters: Discoursal Features and Cultural Markedness.” In Intercultural Aspects of Specialized Communication, ed. by Christopher N. Candlin, and Maurizio Gotti, 311–342. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. “Letters to Shareholders and Chairman’s Statements: Textual Variability and Generic Integrity.” In Genre Variation in Business Letters, ed. by Paul Gillaerts, and Maurizio Gotti, 179–204. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gillaerts, Paul. 1996. “The Address to the Shareholders in Annual Reports. A Genological Approach.” In 1996 European Writing Conference . Barcelona: Institut de Ciencies de l’Educacio. (CD-ROM: EARLI Special Interest Group Writing).
Gioia, Dennis A., Mark Schultz, and Kevin G. Corley. 2000. “Organisational Identity, Image, and Adaptive Instability.” Academy of Management Review 25 (1): 63–81.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Griffin, Frank. 2009. “Merck’s Open Letters and the Teaching of Ethos.” Business Communication Quarterly 72: 61–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grunig, James E. 1993. “Image and Substance: From Symbolic to Behavioural Relationships.” Public Relations Review 19 (2): 121–139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Higgins, Colin, and Roby Walker. 2012. “ Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Strategies of Persuasion in Social/ Environmental Reports.” Accounting Forum 36: 194–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, Ken. 2005. Metadiscourse. Exploring Interaction in Writing. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hodge, Reed. 2003. “Towards a Postmodern Science of Language.” Social Semiotics 13 (3): 241–262. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Investopedia. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 3rd Oct. 2013.
Jasinski, James. 2001. Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jucker, Andreas H. 1997. “Persuasion by Inference: Analysis of a Party Political Broadcast.” In Political Linguistics [special issue of Belgian Journal of Linguistics 2], ed. by Jan Blommaert, and Chris Bulcaen, 121–137. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine. 1997. La enunciación de la subjetividad en el lenguaje. Buenos Aires: Edicial.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinneavy, James L. 1971. A Theory of Discourse: The Aims of Discourse. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klimoski, Richard J., and Anat Rafaeli. 1983. “Inferring Personal Qualities through Handwriting Analysis.” Journal of Occupational Psychology 56 (3): 191–202. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Zoltán. 2002. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Metaphor in Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen. 2001. Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, Robin T. 2000. The Language War. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Law, Jonathan (ed). 2009. Oxford Dictionary of Business and Management. (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leitner, Anton G. 1997. “The Sociolinguistics of Communication Media.” In The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, ed. by Florian Coulmas, 187–204. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lemke, Elmer A., and John H. Kirchner. 1971. “Multivariate Study of Handwriting, Intelligence and Personality Correlates.” Journal of Personality Assessment 35: 584–592. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loughran, John T., Bill McDonald, and Chloe H. Yun. 2009. “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Use of Ethics-related Terms in 10-K Reports.” Journal of Business Ethics 89: 39–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milne, Markus J., Kate Kearins, and Sara Walton. 2006. “Creating Adventures in Wonderland: The Journey Metaphor and Environmental Sustainability.” Organization 13 (6): 801–836. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Newton, Lee. 2005. Business Ethics and the Natural Environment. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nickerson, Catherine, and Elizabeth de Groot. 2005. “‘Dear Shareholder, Dear Stockholder, Dear Stakeholder’: The Business Letter Genre in the Annual General Report.” In Genre Variation in Business Letters, ed. by Paul Gillaerts, and Maurizio Gotti, 325–346. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Patterson, James. 1976. Interpreting Handwriting. New York: McKay.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pease, Alan, and Barbara Pease. 2004. The Definitive Book of Body Language. Buderim: Pease International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pross, Edward L. 1952. “Practical Implications of the Aristotelian Concept of Ethos.” Southern Speech Journal 17: 257–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qfinance: The Ultimate Resource. 2009. London: A. & C. Black. [URL]. Accessed on 3rd Oct. 2013.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, David A. 1990. “Ethos in Oratory and Rhetoric.” In Characterization and Individuality in Greek Literature, ed. by Christopher Pelling, 197–212. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sattler, William. 1947. “Conceptions of Ethos in Ancient Rhetoric.” Speech Monographs 14: 55–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scott, David L. 2009. The American Heritage Dictionary of Business Terms. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scott, Mike. 2010. “Problems in Investigating Keyness, or Clearing the Undergrowth and Marking out Trails…” In Keyness in Texts, ed. by Marina Bondi, and Mike Scott, 43–58. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swales, John. M. 1990. Genre Analysis - English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomas, Steven L., and Steve Vaught. 2001. “The Write Stuff: What the Evidence Says about Using Handwriting Analysis in Hiring.” SAM Advanced Management Journal 66 (4): 31–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Virtanen, Tuija, and Helena Halmari. 2005. “Persuasion Across Genres: Emerging Perspectives.” In Persuasion Across Genres: A Linguistic Approach, ed. by Helena Halmari, and Tuija Virtanen, 3–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wordnet. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 30th Aug. 2013.
Worthington, Ian. 1994. Persuasion: Greek Rhetoric in Action. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Corpus data
Barclays Annual Reports. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 10th Oct. 2012.
BNP Paribas Annual Reports. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 10th Oct. 2012.
Deutsche Bank Annual Reports. Available at [URL]. Accessed 10th Oct. 2012.
ICBC Annual Reports. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 10th Oct. 2012.
Japan Post Bank Annual Reports. Available at [URL]. Accessed on 10th Oct. 2012.
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue