Moves and Images: A Multimodal Genre Analysis of Web-Based Crowdfunding Proposals

Haiying Feng University of International Business and Economics ; Chengfang Song ; Lin Li University of International Business and Economics

Abstract

This article presents a multimodal genre analysis of crowdfunding proposals, an emerging web-based genre for raising funds from internet crowds for a project or venture. Based on an analysis of nine most-funded Kickstarter crowdfunding proposals, the authors describe the generic move structure using a semiotic approach and examine the role of visual images in constructing meaning within and across moves. The analysis shows that visual images facilitate potential backers’ sense-making in basically two dimensions: rhetorically, functioning to persuade by establishing ethos, logos, and pathos, and compositionally, helping achieve cohesion within and between moves and facilitate move mixing, embedding, and positioning. This study also attests a case-based approach to examining multiple influences on genre emergence.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2023-10-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519231179959
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  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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