The Language of Persuasion on Instagram

""This volume makes a valuable and innovative contribution to the study of tourist discourse through a robust multimodal analysis. By examining websites and Instagram accounts of three major English-speaking tourism entities, the author demonstrates methodological rigor, combining detailed manual annotation with advanced statistical tools rooted in systemic-functional linguistics and visual design. The development of a comprehensive model for analyzing linguistic and visual choices offers fresh insights into how digital tourism strategies shape perceptions and evoke emotions. Well-structured, original, and highly relevant to contemporary digital communication research, this work significantly advances understanding in tourism and multimodal studies."" - Prof. Marina Bondi, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia ""This book is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of multimodal discourse in digital tourism communication. With an impressive command of Systemic Functional Linguistics and social semiotics, the volume offers a theoretically rich and empirically rigorous analysis of how tourism authorities construct meaning across Instagram and web platforms. The approach is methodologically sophisticated, blending meticulous manual annotation with robust statistical techniques to reveal linguistic and visual patterns in promotional discourse. What sets this volume apart is its careful integration of qualitative interpretation and quantitative analysis—an approach that not only unveils the persuasive strategies employed by tourism brands but also models best practices for future multimodal research. Particularly innovative is the adaptation of visual and verbal resources to the genre-specific affordances of Instagram, shedding light on the semiotic work that goes into crafting idealized tourist experiences. This is an essential work for scholars in discourse analysis, tourism studies, and digital humanities: its clarity, analytical depth, and originality make it both a reference point and a source of inspiration for ongoing inquiries into digital genres and the multimodal construction of meaning."" - Prof. Stefania M. Maci, University of Bergamo ""The Language of Persuasion on Instagram by Elena Mattei provides a brilliant multimodal corpus analysis of digital tourism discourse. This volume explores convincingly the manipulative communication strategies adopted by the official tourism boards of Ireland, Canada and Australia on their Instagram accounts and company websites. If the extensive and thorough bibliographical references reflect the interdisciplinary, layered and fluid scenario of contemporary tourism studies, Mattei’s robust methodological framework, which integrates tools from systemic functional linguistics and visual semiotics, accounts for the multimodal meaning-making in tourism destination branding. The present study is also notable for its remarkable corpus compilation, accurate text annotation, and original discussion of results. Overall, this book offers essential reading for researchers and students in the fields of applied linguistics, tourism studies, and communication and media studies."" - Sabrina Francesconi - University of Trento