Social Media has brought profound changes to the way people communicate with one another. The 2016 U.S. American presidential elections have demonstrated its deep impact on political participation. But still, only a small segment of research has focused on the actual content of tweets during election campaigns.
This is why Amelie Kersten explores Donald Trump’s preferred linguistic style within his presidential campaign. Did Trump use a simple marketing instrument called Corporate Language? Have all his tweets been written by himself?
By using a particular style in his tweets the former business man convinced voters to become his followers - not only in the digital world. Kersten shows that there are various linguistic patterns which point to a systematic use. In fact, the verbalization of Trump’s tweets can be generated through means such as reverse engineering.
In this book:
- Political Presidential Campaigning;
- Corporate Identity;
- Hillary Clinton;
- Twitter;
- Social Networks
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Aims of the thesis
1.2 Structure of the thesis
2 Political Context
2.1 The electoral system in the USA
2.2 Political Presidential Campaigning
2.3 Changes within Political Presidential Campaigning in thest century
2.4 The use of social media in Presidential Campaigning
3 Corporate Language
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Implementation
3.3 Trump - A Corporate World
3.4 Previous Research
4 Methodology
4.1 Method of Data Collection
4.2 Method of Data Analysis
4.3 Limitations of the Study
5 Results
5.1 Presentation of Results
5.2 Discussion of Results
6 Conclusions and Future Work
7 Bibliography
Research Objectives and Thematic Focus
This thesis examines the linguistic strategy employed during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign to determine if "Corporate Language" was systematically utilized on Twitter to frame authenticity and emotionality. It investigates whether Trump’s speech style was a calculated editorial effort rather than purely personal expression, exploring how this influenced public perception and political campaigning in the digital era.
- The intersection of political science, marketing, and computer linguistics.
- Systematic linguistic patterns and stylometric analysis of political campaign tweets.
- The impact of social media as a primary marketing instrument in modern politics.
- The role of editorial team input in creating an "authentic" yet manufactured candidate image.
- Comparative analysis of tweeting behavior among Trump and his core campaign staff.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 Implementation
Reins highlights the value of Corporate Language and presents an instructive handbook on how to successfully implement it. Not only does it promise linguistic recognizability, it is also highly important for brand building, communicating with the right target group and assuring one common language internally and externally. According to Reins Corporate-Language-Model, which comprises 12 methodological steps to design and implement a high-quality Corporate Language, the focus lies on the analysis of communication with the end customer following the aim to draw up every message reflecting the brand essence to 100 percent. The CL-12-Steps Method includes:
1. Market Analysis
2. Market Voice Encoding
3. Speech Style Definition
4. Speech Style Collection Analysis
5. General Tonality Definition
6. Insights Finding
7. Text Inventory
8. Development of Speech Corridors and Corporate Language-Speech Bank
9. Development of Sample Text
10.Development of Corporate Language-Manual
11.Workshops for employees and
12.Topicality-Check
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Provides the foundation of the research, outlining the study's aims regarding the analysis of Trump's Twitter usage and the hypothesis that Corporate Language was used as a strategic marketing tool.
2 Political Context: Discusses the evolution of U.S. presidential campaigning, highlighting the transition from traditional media to the digital "hypermedia" era and the rise of social media platforms.
3 Corporate Language: Defines Corporate Language as a strategic linguistic tool and examines Trump's background as a businessman, linking his deal-making rhetoric to his political communication style.
4 Methodology: Explains the quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis procedures, including the use of Twitter data and stylometric tools to examine tweet content.
5 Results: Presents the empirical findings, including the repetitive linguistic patterns, the role of specific keywords, and the involvement of campaign staff in maintaining the communication strategy.
6 Conclusions and Future Work: Synthesizes the results, confirming the presence of a systematic, editorialized linguistic strategy that prioritized emotional engagement to secure voter support.
7 Bibliography: Lists the academic literature, media reports, and internet sources referenced throughout the research.
Keywords
Twitter, Corporate Language, Social Networks, Political Campaigning, Trump, Stylometric, Content Analysis, Digital Era, Authenticity, Framing, Sentiment Analysis, Voter Manipulation, Marketing Instrument
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The research explores the linguistic strategies of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign on Twitter, specifically investigating whether a "Corporate Language" approach was used to frame an "authentic" but strategically managed political image.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The work covers political communication evolution, the rise of digital marketing in politics, the application of Corporate Language models, and the use of stylometric analysis to decode political rhetoric.
What is the main hypothesis of the thesis?
The thesis proposes that the Trump campaign utilized an editorial linguistic style guide—Corporate Language—to systematically create a persona that appeared authentic, emotional, and commercially focused to win voters.
What methodologies were employed in this study?
The study uses a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, involving the content analysis of a large corpus of tweets from Trump and his campaign staff using tools like AntConc to identify linguistic patterns.
What does the main body of the text cover?
It provides an overview of the political context of U.S. elections, the theoretical definition of Corporate Language, an in-depth analysis of Trump's specific linguistic patterns, and an evaluation of how those patterns align with his broader campaign goals.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is best defined by terms such as Corporate Language, Twitter, Political Campaigning, Authenticity, Framing, and Stylometric analysis.
How did the study confirm the role of an editorial team?
The analysis identified consistent linguistic patterns not just in Trump's tweets, but in those of key campaign members like Dan Scavino, suggesting a coordinated, strategic approach to social media communication.
What specific role did the term "Crooked" play in the campaign?
The term was used systematically to frame opponent Hillary Clinton by attaching a negative, memorable tag that associated her with corruption, effectively guiding public perception through repetitive denigration.
How does the author define the "Emotion-oriented" speech style group?
This group prefers strong, direct emotional language, avoiding overly abstract metaphors. The study shows Trump targeted them by framing himself as the sole, immediate solution to the problems he highlighted in his tweets.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Amelie Kersten (Autor:in), 2019, Corporate Language in Online Campaigning. Candidate Trump's Tweets in the 2016 Presidential Election Campaign, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/499466
