Revisiting adaptability
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Camilla Vásquez
Abstract
Recognized for their influence on consumer decision-making, online consumer reviews have attracted the attention of scholars from marketing, consumer studies and tourism, as well as discourse studies. Taking Virtanen’s (2017) study of Amazon book reviews as our point of departure, this study builds on prior linguistic work describing the discourse focus of online reviews. We examine reviews of a virtual tourism product, Airbnb’s Online Experiences (AOE). Applying Virtanen’s tri-partite framework (Topic, Author, Audience) to a set of 200 AOE reviews, this study explores how review writers frame their evaluative comments. Building on this framework for analyzing the discourse structure and discourse focus of online reviews, our findings identify different patterns of adaptability in response to the communicative demands of this novel reviewing context.
Abstract
Recognized for their influence on consumer decision-making, online consumer reviews have attracted the attention of scholars from marketing, consumer studies and tourism, as well as discourse studies. Taking Virtanen’s (2017) study of Amazon book reviews as our point of departure, this study builds on prior linguistic work describing the discourse focus of online reviews. We examine reviews of a virtual tourism product, Airbnb’s Online Experiences (AOE). Applying Virtanen’s tri-partite framework (Topic, Author, Audience) to a set of 200 AOE reviews, this study explores how review writers frame their evaluative comments. Building on this framework for analyzing the discourse structure and discourse focus of online reviews, our findings identify different patterns of adaptability in response to the communicative demands of this novel reviewing context.
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Structures in discourse 1
- Evaluation as a persuasive tactic in the 2012 Obama-Romney debates 18
- How pragmatically (in)definite are you and one ? 36
- Amazing – The use of English in texting between a Finland-Swedish high school girl and friends 58
- The uses of laughter in epideictic radio interviews 83
- Temporality in reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives 103
- Emoji and illocutionarity 124
- Revisiting adaptability 156
- Vernacular voices in the public sphere 176
- Contributor bios 202
- Index 205
Chapters in this book
- 日本言語政策学会 / Japan Association for Language Policy. 言語政策 / Language Policy 10. 2014 i
- Dedication v
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Structures in discourse 1
- Evaluation as a persuasive tactic in the 2012 Obama-Romney debates 18
- How pragmatically (in)definite are you and one ? 36
- Amazing – The use of English in texting between a Finland-Swedish high school girl and friends 58
- The uses of laughter in epideictic radio interviews 83
- Temporality in reaction GIFs as multimodal virtual performatives 103
- Emoji and illocutionarity 124
- Revisiting adaptability 156
- Vernacular voices in the public sphere 176
- Contributor bios 202
- Index 205
