Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2018

Stories They Tell: The Rhetoric of Recruiting Independent Consultants

Sarah E. Martin Texas Tech University ; Jacob D. Rawlins Brigham Young University

Abstract

This study investigates the themes that drive persuasive recruiting appeals, or stories, designed to attract new, entrepreneurial workers in the direct selling industry. It offers a rhetorical perspective informed by fantasy theme analysis on the themes present in the recruiting content on the corporate Web sites of three direct selling companies (Mary Kay, Stella & Dot, and Scentsy). The analysis indicates that rhetorical agency is a core theme in the persuasive recruiting stories for these companies. Offering a means for business and technical communication scholars to explore agency or other persuasive story themes in context, this study addresses how a rhetorical perspective is useful to assess recruiting appeals in shifting, entrepreneurial work contexts.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2018-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651918780196
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Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism technical communication
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Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Mathis et al. (2023)
    Perpetuating Perceptions: Understanding the “Chaining” of a Common Training Nar…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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