The role of language in the persuasive communication of television evangelists
Date
1983
Authors
Schmidt, Rosemarie
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Abstract
The process of persuasion has received a great deal of scholarly attention, yet it remains today an incompletely understood phenomenon. One of the basic components of any attempt at persuasion is language. How ever, comparatively little research has been done to determine whether certain kinds of linguistic techniques might function to enhance the persuasive impact of a message or, alternatively, whether it is possible to identify specific linguistic features as characteristic of the use of language to persuade. Two studies which have attempted to address these questions examined the persuasive messages of television advertising. The fact that both studies examined only one type of persuasive message, however, leaves open the possibility that some of the linguistic features found to characterize these messages might, in fact, be artifacts of advertising style as opposed to characteristics common to persuasive language use.
This research was therefore undertaken to study the role of language in persuasion in two ways. First, it comprises an attempt to refine our understanding of how language might function in persuasion by examining relevant work from a variety of disciplines both in terms of theoretical approaches to the process and in terms of the actual linguistic techniques which have been discussed as enhancing the persuasive impact of a message. Second, in order to test the generalizability of the linguistic features found to characterize persuasive language in television advertising, a comparative study was undertaken. Here another group of televised messages for which persuasive intent could be assumed were examined to determine whether the linguistic categories derived from television advertising could also be found in another form of persuasive language use. The messages used for comparison were comprised of the promotional segments of five television evangelists broadcasts. In the subsequent analysis of these data it was found that many of the linguistic techniques which had been identified as characteristic of persuasive language in television advertising also occurred in the speech of television evangelists. Some of the categories set forth as exemplifying persuasive language use, however, were not found in the data. Those linguistic techniques which were found in both types of messages were considered to lend support to the previous interpretations of these devises as characteristics of language to persuade. With regard to those features not found in the data, however, it could only be concluded that they do not necessarily correspond with persuasive intent. The results of this study, while suggestive, are not conclusive. They do, however, point to interesting questions which might be pursued in future research. Some of these are mentioned in the concluding portions of the study.