TY - CHAP

T1 - The rhetorical structure of marketisation in selected emails of tertiary institutions

AU - Olajimbiti, Ezekiel Opeyemi

AU - Dada, Samuel Ayodele

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, IGI Global. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/7/11

Y1 - 2023/7/11

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Literature studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167706512&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4018/978-1-6684-8122-6.ch007

DO - 10.4018/978-1-6684-8122-6.ch007

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85167706512

SN - 9781668481226

SN - 9781668481264

SP - 110

EP - 126

BT - Transformation of Higher Education Through Institutional Online Spaces

A2 - Taiwo, Rotimi

A2 - Idowu-Faith, Bimbola

A2 - Ajiboye, Simeon

PB - IGI Global Publishing

ER -