Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments

Abstract

The ability to effectively persuade in the context of the highly competitive, fast-paced, but tight global economy is arguably an elixir to organisational growth in these challenging times. Sustainable growth is dependant not only on carving out a distinctive value proposition, but also on convincing the market of the merits thereof in order to remain competitive. The need for this research originated from the gap in literature on the interconnectedness of persuasive instruments, and their effectiveness as mechanisms for organisational growth. Rhetoric and social influence are complex phenomena, and their impact as persuasive instruments incompletely understood. By better understanding their interconnectedness, the researcher hoped to appreciate how executives could possibly leverage them, from an organisational perspective, as instruments of growth. A hypothetical framework was generated based on the themes that emerged from the literature review. The framework was sense tested through in-depth interviews with executives and the subsequent data analysis process, with the aim of validating its rationale and a number of assumptions made in its creation. Interviews were conducted with fourteen research respondents from a cross-section of industries, comprising of eight executives in the listed corporate environment as well as six owners of private entities. The stated objective of the research was to debunk growth strategy in the context of the arduous current economic environment, and to explore executives experiences and perspectives of growth strategy. The underlying objective of the research was to investigate executives instinctive use of rhetoric and social influence as persuasive instruments, as observed in the description of their growth strategies. Research respondents were only made aware of the underlying research objective after interview completion, so as to ensure the integrity of the data. Through their narratives, research respondents enabled triangulation of the various phenomena investigated. A refined model, dubbed the contemporary model of persuasive instruments emerged from the findings of the research. It presented a conceptualised framework of the combinations of rhetoric and social influence which were observed in the interviews with executives. The research contributed toward the facilitation of a better understanding of the interplay of persuasive instruments in practice, which provided valuable insight on how to utilise these to the benefit of business. The model, whilst only conceptual in nature, requires more rigorous strength testing through the collection of quantitative data to further validate the findings.