Rhetoric in action: A multimodal and rhetorical analysis of PETA and animal justice online advocacy

Activist groups, particularly PETA and Animal Justice, leverage multimodality in online advocacy to effectively communicate their organizational missions and updates across diverse communication platforms. This study uses a content analysis approach to examine the official websites of two prominent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers and composition Vol. 76; p. 102924
Main Author: Pandey, Shyam
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2025
Subjects:
Multimodality
Online advocacy
Persuasion strategies
Rhetorical analysis
Rhetorical appeals
Visual rhetoric
Rhetorical analysis
Rhetorical appeals
Visual rhetoric
Online advocacy
Multimodality
Persuasion strategies
ISSN:8755-4615
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Activist groups, particularly PETA and Animal Justice, leverage multimodality in online advocacy to effectively communicate their organizational missions and updates across diverse communication platforms. This study uses a content analysis approach to examine the official websites of two prominent international animal rights organizations, PETA and Animal Justice, with the aim of understanding how they utilize multimodality to emotionally engage their audiences. The analysis of sample news reports, featured stories, photographs, and video materials collected from 50 web pages of these organizations’ official sites reveals three key findings: the use of multimodal combinations and synergetic blending, the application of rhetorical appeals, and an emphasis on a call to action. The subsequent discussion and conclusion highlight the significance of adopting a multimodal approach in the current technological landscape, illustrating how PETA and Animal Justice, as non-profit and non-academic entities, effectively convey their messages persuasively through online advocacy and multimodality. This study contributes to multimodal theory by demonstrating how the combination of visual, textual, and auditory elements enhances emotional engagement in digital advocacy—a domain that has received limited scholarly attention.
ISSN:8755-4615
DOI:10.1016/j.compcom.2025.102924