Verbal modalities in corporate publications

Viac o knihe

In an era of globalization, business corporations have broadened their reach to the global market, competing for market share, financial investments, brand awareness, and audience trust. The intersection of national and corporate cultures necessitates a consistent corporate identity and a positive public image, which can significantly influence the success or failure of business strategies. This study examines the linguistic practices on the corporate websites of German and American companies, focusing on image work and self-portrayal in online texts. A comprehensive linguistic model, the 3-Layer-Model, is introduced for analyzing this language material. This model classifies data within the framework of genre analysis, emphasizing a multi-dimensional approach to linguistic features. It facilitates cross-cultural comparisons of corporate image work, incorporating variations influenced by internal language factors and external cultural contexts. The research establishes 'Globalization-Sensitive Genre Research,' identifying online corporate self-portrayal texts as representatives of the emerging genre of infosuasion, characterized by a communicative mode that blends informative and persuasive functions. The analysis reveals a trend toward a uniform communication style across cultures, suggesting that online corporate image work is only loosely tied to the corporation's home culture.