Metadiscourse Markers and Persuasion in Saudi Influencers' Snapchat Advertising Discourse

This qualitative study investigated persuasion in advertising discourse posted on Snapchat by Saudi influencers through the lens of metadiscourse markers. The data for this study was gathered from recordings of advertised snaps posted by 20 Snapchat influencers (10 males and 10 females). The discourses were analysed using Hyland's (2005a, 2005b) metadiscourse markers. The findings indicated that stance markers were the most frequently employed (54.7%), with attitude markers (20.5%) being the most common, followed by self-mention (18.7%), boosters (12.2%), and hedges (3.3%). Engagement markers constituted 45.3% of the findings, with hearer mentions (22.5%) being the most prevalent, followed by directives (16.7%), questions (4.2%), personal asides (1.6%), and appeals to shared knowledge (0.3%). The study concluded by examining the implications for marketing that could improve persuasive advertising discourse from a linguistic standpoint, in addition to providing suggestions for future research endeavors

Influencer marketing · Metadiscourse · Persuasion · Persuasive communication · Qualitative research · Digital Communication and Language · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies