An exploration of digital rhetoric in a social network environment

Abstract

This article explores the use of digital rhetoric in a social network environment with a view to obtaining greater insight into how traditional rhetoric may be applied. In this article, digital rhetoric refers to persuasive communication in different electronic formats. The article focuses on an inductive logos communication technique used in a popular microblogging site to promote the 2011 Rugby World Cup event held in New Zealand. Sport readily lends itself to the viral spread of information by means of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) because it generates excitement among sport enthusiasts. Big sporting events thus provide an ideal medium for marketers of sports events to use different marketing communication tools to communicate persuasive messages regarding sport to a large target audience. The findings of the study on which this article is based shed more light on digital rhetoric and can also serve as a heuristic tool for other researchers analysing sports-marketing communication messages in social network environments.