Manipulation, Influence and Deception: The Changing Landscape of Persuasive Language

by Sofia Rüdiger (Editor), Daria Dayter (Editor)

Overview

In an era characterised by information saturation and the rapid evolution of digital communication platforms, the study of persuasive language is undergoing profound developments. Bringing together cutting-edge research from a team of internationally acclaimed experts, this timely book examines the transformations occurring in the domain of persuasive language in contemporary society. It dissects the intricate web of manipulation, influence and deception, providing in-depth analyses of the potent mechanisms governing communication. Each chapter offers empirical insights from a range of different scholarly perspectives, including corpus linguistics, conversation analysis, forensic linguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, phonetics and human-robot interactions. It opens with a comprehensive introductory chapter, making the research accessible to readers without extensive background knowledge. Equipping readers with the tools to critically engage with the multifaceted dynamics of language and persuasion, this is an indispensable resource for anyone striving to fathom the evolving realm of persuasive language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009098724
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/24/2025
Pages:	330
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Sofia Rüdiger is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Notable publications include Morpho-Syntactic Patterns in Spoken Korean English (Benjamins, 2019) and The Language of Pick-Up Artists (co-authored with Dayter, Routledge, 2022).

Daria Dayter is Associate Professor in English Linguistics at Tampere University, Finland. She co-founded the coPRe (communicative practices on Reddit) research network. Her notable publications include Discursive Self in Microblogging (Benjamins, 2016).

Table of Contents

Part I. (Re)framing Persuasion: 1. Persuasion and influence in linguistic research Daria Dayter and Sofia Rüdiger; 2. Persuasion, manipulation, seduction – Through a pragmatic lens Sandrine Sorlin; Part II. Persuasion and (New) Contexts of Use: 3. Preference organisation and turn design as interactional resources for persuasion in telesales Bogdana Humă; 4. Persuasive politics – The strategic use of negative evaluations in US election campaign tweets Christian R. Hoffmann; 5: A cross-context examination of online comments' perceived persuasion power Lu Xiao, Theodoros Lappas and Charis Owuraku Asante-Agyei; 6. A terrible experience!!! vs. A terrible experience – How paralinguistic features in online hotel reviews influence hotel responses Sofie Decock and Koen Plevoets; 7. Influencing people around the globe – The linguistic expression of persuasion across varieties of English worldwide Robert Fuchs; Part III. The Dark Side of Persuasion: 8. The importance of context in analysing the incitement of violence – A case study of an online community David Wright; 9. 'I'd say that being here has helped me' – Attracting new members to online incel communities Frazer Heritage; 10. Language, manipulation, and online radicalisation – Weaponising discourses of masculinity on r/The_Donald Robert Lawson; Part IV. Persuasion and Algorithms: 11. Disinformation and algorithms – Amplification, reception and correction; William Dance; 12. Charismatic speech breathing – How perceived speaker traits are linked to chest and abdominal breathing patterns Oliver Niebuhr and Plinio Almeida Barbosa; 13. Appeals to expertise make robots persuasive in human-robot healthcare interaction Rosalyn M. Langedijk and Kerstin Fischer; Part V. Discussion: 14. An ecological approach to manipulation, influence and deception Rodney H. Jones.