SPEECH ACTS AND PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES IN DIGITAL ADVERTISING: A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS

This analytical pilot examines how speech acts can organize persuasion in social-media and e-commerce advertising. Method: Thirty original, explicitly constructed English promotional messages were analyzed using Austin–Searle speech-act theory, Gricean inference, the Persuasion Knowledge Model, and rhetorical appeals. The units are model examples, not quotations from verified advertisements. Results: The cases demonstrate complementary roles for assertives that offer product claims, directives that request attention or action, commissives that promise future performance, and expressives that build social affiliation. Scarcity, social proof, personalization, and testimonial framing may amplify these acts, yet their credibility depends on truthful evidence and disclosure. A codebook separates linguistic form, intended illocution, persuasive mechanism, and plausible counter-reading. Conclusion: Digital persuasion is better described as a context-sensitive sequence of communicative actions than as a simple count of imperatives. The framework supports later testing with traceable advertisements, consumer responses, and verified claims.