Rhetoric of dressing and impression in selected Nigerian political campaigns: A critical reading of Facebook public perception

Rhetorical strategies are often used to arouse sentiments and persuade the electorate in political campaigns. Existing studies on political campaigns in the Nigerian context have offered limited scholarship on the significance of dressing and impression. This study, therefore, examines the use of dressing and impression management as rhetorical strategies in political campaigns in the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria. Data obtained from select Facebook texts between November 2022 and January 2023 were subjected to qualitative analysis. The study adopts three theories: political impression management, multimodal discourse analysis and face work. The study identified the deployment of a major impression management strategy, dressing, as a means through which Nigerian politicians identify with the people. This strategy projected four cognitive frames as an innovative means of controlling public perception and vote canvassing by Nigerian politicians. The study concludes that the implication of these strategies was to identify with the different voter-audiences in order to win their support.