THE RHETORICAL MODEL OF ENGLISH SALES COPIES POSTED ON INSTAGRAM

Abstract

In this internet era, the issue of market globalization has led and encouraged both
individual and cooperative businesses to improve their creativity for selling
products widely. However, studies that underpin this essential issue in linguistic
concerns are still limited. Studies on the rhetorical structure of English sales
copies, for example, have been rarely conducted, while investigating this
fundamental issue is urgently conducted to improve product sales globally. In
responding to this urgent need, I investigated the rhetorical model of English sales
copies. Data in this study are 30 English sales copies posted on Instagram. These
data were collected by three students taking a course in creative writing. For the
analysis, I employed genre-based analysis using a top-down approach. The
analysis discovered a rhetorical model that fitted the rhetorical structures of the
present data set. The model contained three important functional moves, namely
establishing a positive impression, establishing customers’ interest, and
facilitating the purchasing process. To realize these functional moves, copywriters
employed some possible strategies. Compared to earlier literature, the present
finding has differences from those found in literature, on the one hand, but
similarities, on the other hand. For example, establishing customers’ interest, and
facilitating the purchasing process are obligatory, while establishing a positive
impression is conventional in the present study.