A Linguistic Analysis of Youtube's Endorsement-Based Affiliate
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Bc. Anna Havránková “Let’s Talk About Today’s Sponsor” - a Linguistic Analysis of YouTube’s Endorsement-Based Affiliate Advertisements Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D. 2020 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D. not only for his academic expertise and valuable insights, but also for his unyielding patience with changing deadlines and his help with organisational matters. Table of Contents 1.Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Challenges and Limitations ............................................................................................. 4 2. Genre and Structure ................................................................................................................ 5 2.1. What Is Affiliate Advertising .......................................................................................... 5 2.2. Genre ............................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1. Genre of Advertising ................................................................................................. 7 2.2.2. YouTube as a Genre .................................................................................................. 9 2.2.3. Affiliate Advertising as a Genre ............................................................................. 20 2.3. Structure ......................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.1. Co-Text ................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2. Transitions ............................................................................................................... 29 2.3.3. Inner Structure ........................................................................................................ 37 2.4. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 45 3. Participants and Their Interactions ....................................................................................... 46 3.1 Participation Framework ................................................................................................ 47 3.1.1. YouTube ................................................................................................................. 47 3.1.2. Production Format .................................................................................................. 52 3.3. Parasocial Relationships ................................................................................................ 59 3.3.1. YouTube and the Ideal Self .................................................................................... 60 3.4. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 65 4.1. Positioning Theory ........................................................................................................ 67 4.1.1. Names and Referents .............................................................................................. 70 4.2. Persuasion Strategies ..................................................................................................... 72 4.2.1. Theoretical Background .......................................................................................... 73 4.2.2. Affiliate Advertising-Specific Classification .......................................................... 74 4.3. Persuasion Goals ............................................................................................................ 82 4.3.1. Affiliate Persuasion Goals ...................................................................................... 87 4.4. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 89 5. Discussion and Conclusion .................................................................................................. 90 6. Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 93 6.1. Primary Sources ............................................................................................................. 93 6.2. Secondary Sources ......................................................................................................... 96 7. Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 101 7.1. Bhatia’s Rhetorical Moves .......................................................................................... 101 7.2. Transition ..................................................................................................................... 103 7.2.1. Transition Into the Segment .................................................................................. 103 7.2.2. Transition Out of the Segment .............................................................................. 107 7.3. Persuasion Strategies ................................................................................................... 110 7.4. Promotion Types .......................................................................................................... 113 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 114 Abstrakt .................................................................................................................................. 115 Figures Figure 1: Levels of generic description .................................................................................. 7 Figure 2: YouTube's homepage genre categories ................................................................. 10 Figure 3: Jack Black Is Incredible Funny Moments subscription box ................................. 13 Figure 4: Jack Black Is Incredible Funny Moments comment section ................................. 14 Figure 5: Hello, Jack Black here. subscription box .............................................................. 15 Figure 6: Hello, Jack Black here. Comment section ............................................................ 16 Figure 7: Juraj Stefanko channel .......................................................................................... 18 Figure 8: JablinskiGames channel ........................................................................................ 19 Figure 9: Position of ad in the video ..................................................................................... 25 Figure 10: YouTube’s built-in disclosure system ................................................................. 28 Figure 11: Transition into the ad .......................................................................................... 30 Figure 12: Transition out of the ad ....................................................................................... 31 Figure 13: In-video logo ....................................................................................................... 34 Figure 14: In-video hashtag .................................................................................................. 34 Figure 15: Title card transition into the segment .................................................................. 35 Figure 16: Title card transition out of the segment .............................................................. 35 Figure 17 & 18: Subtle scene change ................................................................................... 36 Figure 19 & 20: Major scene change .................................................................................... 36 Figure 21 & 22: Footage type change .................................................................................. 36 Figure 23: usage of Bhatia’s rhetorical moves ..................................................................... 38 Figure 24: Average placement of Bhatia’s rhetorical moves ............................................... 40 Figure 25: Reply thread discussing the advertiser’s production input ................................. 50 Figure 26: Dynel’s model augmented for affiliate advertising. ............................................ 52 Figure 27 - 40: Raid Shadow Legends ads comment section ............................................... 62 Figure 41: Rhetorical triangle ............................................................................................... 74 Figure 42: Number of uses per persuasion strategy ............................................................. 81 Figure 43: Number of occurrences of each persuasion type ................................................ 84 Figure 44: Number of persuasion types occurring per video ............................................... 85 Figure 45: ypes of promotion in a comment section ............................................................ 86 Tables Table 1: Placement of rhetorical