Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 2011

Visualizing Banking and Financial Products: A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Practices

Han Yu Kansas State University

Abstract

This study examines the visual rhetoric used in Chinese and American promotional business communication. Comparing banking and financial product brochures published in the two countries, the study finds similar as well as different visual strategies. Most importantly, the Chinese samples frequently use visual metaphors, whereas the American samples hardly do. Prompted by this finding, I review relevant literature on visual metaphors and examine their structures and rhetorical functions. In addition, the study suggests that buyer images and cartoon images are used differently in the two countries, whereas product-related images are used similarly. I explore the contextual and cultural roots of these findings and offer suggestions on how to visually communicate with the Chinese audience and other international audiences.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2011-07-01
DOI
10.2190/tw.41.3.e
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Topics
rhetorical criticism professional writing empirical research multimodality
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

  1. Winkle (2024)
    Between the Lines: Visual Euphemism in Technical and Professional Communication…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  2. Li et al. (2021)
    Getting the Picture: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Chinese and Western Users’ …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. King et al. (2018)
    Artifactual dimensions of visual rhetoric: what a content analysis of 114 peer-…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. King et al. (2018)
    Artifactual Dimensions of Visual Rhetoric: What a Content Analysis of 114 Peer-…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

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CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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