Picture This: Developing a Model for the Analysis of Visual Metadiscourse

Elizabeth De Groot ; Catherine Nickerson Zayed University ; Hubert Korzilius Radboud University Nijmegen ; Marinel Gerritsen Radboud University Nijmegen

Abstract

Corporate documents increasingly rely on visual rhetoric to complement text. Although previous studies have indicated that companies’ local culture may be reflected in the images they employ, scholars have never systematically investigated the use of visual rhetoric as it is used across different business cultures. This study analyzes visual rhetoric using a new model of visual metadiscourse—a set of devices that designers use to convey meaning in order to influence the audience’s interpretation of the text. The study compares the visual metadiscourse in photos used in English management statements in the annual reports of Dutch and U.K. companies. The results show that metadiscourse is inherent not only in the written text of a corporate document but also in the visuals that a design team chooses to include. The results also indicate that despite some similarities, Dutch-based and U.K.-based statements contain differences in their use of visual metadiscourse. Several of these differences can be attributed to cultural differences between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The study underlines the applicability of the new model and warns international text designers not to overlook cultural differences in visual metadiscourse.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2016-04-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651915620235
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

References (82) · 13 in this index

  1. Annual report 2003
  2. 10.1108/14691931111123421
  3. 10.1080/13527260500247827
  4. 10.2307/1511498
  5. Annual report and accounts 2003
Show all 82 →
  1. Annual report and accounts 2003
  2. 10.1016/j.bar.2014.05.001
  3. 10.1177/0021943607313993
  4. 10.1016/S0361-3682(01)00049-6
  5. 10.1177/1750481309351208
  6. Intercultural aspects of specialized communication
  7. 10.1080/13602380500135836
  8. 10.1177/0021943610364523
  9. 10.1075/ijcl.9.2.06con
  10. Written Communication
  11. Technical Communication Quarterly
  12. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. 10.1016/j.aos.2009.03.003
  14. 10.1016/j.cpa.2010.06.010
  15. 10.1016/j.aos.2014.01.001
  16. The map and the landscape: Norms and practices in genre
  17. English annual reports in Europe: A study on the identification and reception of genre ch…
  18. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  19. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  20. 10.1108/13563281211253593
  21. Technical Communication Quarterly
  22. The design of rhetoric
  23. 10.1016/j.cpa.2010.05.001
  24. 10.1177/026192702237956
  25. 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02658.x
  26. 10.1016/S0378-2166(01)80026-6
  27. 10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00117-4
  28. Intercultural aspects of specialized communication
  29. Changes in museum practice: New Media, refugees and participation
  30. 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1996.tb00377.x
  31. 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00532.x
  32. Language as a social semiotic
  33. 10.1016/S0147-1767(00)00007-9
  34. 10.1111/j.1467-8683.2004.00372.x
  35. Paper presented to the Sixth Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference
  36. 10.1177/002194369803500203
  37. 10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00009-5
  38. 10.35360/njes.220
  39. 10.1016/j.esp.2011.04.004
  40. 10.1093/applin/25.2.156
  41. Annual report and accounts 2003
  42. Annual report 2003
  43. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  44. 10.1075/ijcl.6.1.05kil
  45. 10.1177/1750481309102450
  46. 10.1108/13527600110797218
  47. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  48. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  49. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  50. Designing visual language: Strategies for professional communicators
  51. 10.4324/9780203619728
  52. 10.1016/0147-1767(78)90029-9
  53. 10.1145/564376.564403
  54. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  55. 10.5465/19416520.2013.781867
  56. 10.1016/j.pragma.2011.05.012
  57. The content analysis guidebook
  58. 10.1163/9789004483842
  59. Annual report 2003
  60. Written Communication
  61. 10.1108/02651330210435690
  62. 10.1177/002194369803500302
  63. 10.1177/0021943607313990
  64. Exploring corporate rhetoric in English: Hedging in company annual reports: A corpus-assi…
  65. 10.1016/S0361-3682(98)00066-X
  66. Annual report 2003
  67. 10.1515/9783110871609
  68. 10.1016/S0889-4906(00)00024-7
  69. 10.1177/0021943605279244
  70. 10.1108/03090560510572025
  71. 10.1016/S0148-2963(02)00482-4
  72. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  73. 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.02.005
  74. Advertising research: Message, medium and context
  75. Negotiations between British and Dutch managers: Cultural values, approaches to conflict …
  76. The use of English in institutional and business settings: An intercultural perspective
  77. 10.1177/1750481312439818