Chapter published in:
Approaches to Internet Pragmatics: Theory and practice
Edited by Chaoqun Xie, Francisco Yus and Hartmut Haberland
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 318] 2021
► pp. 207–234

Chapter 7
Inviting a purchase

A multimodal analysis of staged authenticity in WeChat social selling

| Zhejiang International Studies University , China
| Nanjing Xiaozhuang University , China

The present study investigates the pragmatic strategies and effects of self-presentation performance in a social selling context either by way of status updates or through group chat in WeChat, a popular social networking platform in China. Drawing on Goffman’s (1959, 1974, 1981) outstanding research on self-presentation, frame, and footing, as well as Page’s (2010a, 2010b, 2012, 2018) exploration in digital narrative, this chapter analyzes data collected from WeChat Moments and WeChat chat logs to uncover their staged authenticity and the relative social value that it entails. The results of our analysis of both screen data and user data show that the meticulously intertwined and multimodally presented communicative acts of social selling on this particular social platform are the outcome of frame-shifting and frame-overlapping strategies on the one hand and highly crafted staged authenticity on the other.

Keywords: frames, footing, self-presentation, WeChat, status update, group chat, social selling, influencer, multimodal analysis, staged authenticity, pragmatic strategy
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research background
    • 2.1Social selling in WeChat
    • 2.2Theoretical perspective
      • 2.2.1Dramaturgical theory, frame and footing
      • 2.2.2Staged authenticity in digital narratives
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1The narration in WeChat social selling
    • 4.2The influencers in WeChat social selling
      • 4.2.1Case study 1: The influencer in WeChat Moments
      • 4.2.2Case study 2: The influencer in WeChat group chat
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 April 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.318.07xie
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