Global anti-corporate activists and their communication strategies: an analysis of the use of rhetoric to engage with publics

Abstract: This thesis examines the rhetoric used on three anti corporate activist groups to draw visitors’ attention to their causes and support them and get them engaged and involved in their campaigns. In particular, global anti corporate activism is examined in this thesis, as an interesting yet not so much explored topic of research. Activists often share public relations goals, and they use more and more similar strategies to PR to achieve them, making this topic relevant for the public relations field. A reflection on the Internet and its role within activism is also presented, as the web has been the main factor that has made it possible for activism to overcome geographical issues and become global. Through a rhetorical analysis of three activist groups’ websites based on the concepts of logos, ethos and pathos, common strategies are identified and discussed. In line with previous research, the presence of technical aspects required to create interaction, that is the presence of spaces on the website were visitors are invited to express their opinions, was confirmed. However, engagement is not encouraged at all on the websites analysed. Surprisingly, social media platforms are not yet fully exploited, not compromising however the existence and success of the organisations analysed, as they all are still existing and still running campaigns relying exclusively on their websites, when it comes to their online presence.