The Impact of Pronouns of Address in Job Ads from Different Industries and Companies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5899929 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maria Den Hartog (0000-0001-6297-2129), Sanne Bra, Gert-Jan Schoenmakers (0000-0002-0666-6001) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 110 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Languages (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/languages9030110 |
| OpenAlex | W4393003394 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 19 |
Some languages make a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address. When organizations communicate in such a language, they have to choose between the formal and informal form. The goal of this paper is to explore the role of the V-T distinction in organizational communication, specifically in generic job advertisements, through two empirical studies and to obtain a preliminary evidence-based framework for V and T in organizational communication. In a corpus study, we explore which form organizations from different industry types tend to use. We find that the choice of pronoun of address is associated with industry type in Netherlandic Dutch, German, French, and Spanish, but not in Belgian Dutch. In an experimental follow-up study, we explore the effect of pronouns of address on Dutch addressees in light of the perceived personality of the companies using these forms. We find an interaction between the pronoun of address used and the level of competence a company is associated with. Based on these studies and the existing literature, we propose a framework for V and T in organizational communication. In this framework, local linguaculture and industry culture play a role in the organizational choice between V and T. Furthermore, the way in which pronouns of address affect the addressee is determined by an interplay of company characteristics and addressee characteristics
Business · Linguistics · Personal pronoun · Digital Communication and Language · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Employer Branding and e-HRM
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Belgian Dutch versus Netherlandic Dutch
The (Lack of) Salience of T/V Pronouns in Professional Communication
T/V pronouns in global communication practices
The effect of the use of T or V pronouns in Dutch HR communication
(When) Can I say Du to You? The metapragmatics of forms of address on German-Speaking Twitter
Measuring the Involvement Construct
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |