Stylistics of headlines in advertising texts of admission campaigns through the prism of emotional intelligence (accounts of Chinese universities on the Weibo media-platform)

Stylistic features of headings in advertising texts posted in the official accounts of Chinese universities on the Weibo Internet platform are analyzed in the context of ideas about emotional intelligence. The main research method is a content analysis of cases collected from the accounts of the top ten Chinese universities, selected according to the results of the Weibo University Influence Ranking announced by ―WeiboCampus‖ in February 2023, as a result of selecting advertising titles of admission texts for the keyword ―Admission‖ from June 2022 to January 2023, and analysis of the linguistic stylistic means of these headings. Based on the generalization of the characteristics of style means used in the headlines of university advertising texts on new media platforms, their significance and effective potential in terms of the formation of emotional attractiveness in the network media space are revealed. The results show that network communication determines the significance of the emotional mode realized with the help of stylistic devices that are used in the headlines of university advertising texts. It is concluded that the colloquial manner, Internet slang, language play, components of non-verbal communication, as well as the use of certain syntactic structures make the style of headings casual and witty, and this, in turn, contributes to emotional rapprochement with the audience, improves the quality of communication and ultimately leads to to a better understanding of information. 

1. Kan C. On the title of online news [Master’s dissertation]. Shandong, 2005. (In Chinese).

2. Zhang L A comparative study of Online news headlines and newspaper news headlines – take People’s Daily and People’s Daily as an example [Master’s dissertation]. Shandong, 2015. (In Chinese).

3. Chen R. Rhetoric Tutorial. Beijing, Beijing University Press, 2014. (In Chinese).

4. Van S. Chinese Rhetoric. The Commercial Press, 2013. (In Chinese).

5. Jan S. Research on the rhetorical techniques of newspaper news headlines. China Press, 2019, no. 1, pp. 71-72. (In Chinese).

6. Gong Sh. Research on language: Changes in the headline of the ”People’s Daily" news [Master’s dissertation]. Jiangxi, 2018. (In Chinese).

7. Jan S. “Wuhan Evening News” News Title Language Research [Master’s dissertation]. Shanghai, 2018. (In Chinese).

8. Zhang K. Research on the language: Characteristics of Weibo [Master’s dissertation]. Shaanxi, 2012. (In Chinese).

9. Zhang J. Talking about the language characteristics and expression methods of the title of the Russian press [Master’s dissertation]. Shandong, 2011. (In Chinese).

10. Wu Qing. Research on the use of Idioms in Russian newspaper headlines [Master’s dissertation]. Nanjing, 2019. (In Chinese).

11. Fowler R. Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. London, New York, Routledge Publ., 1991, 254 p. Available at: https://archive.org/details/languageinnewsdi0000fowl/page/n1/mode/2up

12. Sanda M. Some typical linguistic features of English newspaper headlines. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 2014, no. 13, pp. 708-714. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Some-Typical-Linguistic-Features-of-English-Marcoci/59965eff0bf3c1ee0b3e3de69b2f1d192f5acc69

13. Jeffrey K., Anne S., Martijn S., Maarten M. Effective headlines of newspaper articles in a digital environment. Digital Journalism, 2017, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 1300-1314. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1279978

14. Goulman D. Emotsional’nyi intellekt: Pochemu on mozhet znachit’ bol’she, chem IQ [Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Mean More than IQ]. Moscow, Mann, Ivanov i Ferber Publ., 2013, 536 p. (In Russ.) Available at: https://search.rsl.ru/ru/record/01006590695

15. Goleman D. An EI-based theory of performance. The emotionally intelligent workplace. San Francisco, JosseyBass Publ., 2001, pp. 27-43. Available at: https://eiconsortium.org/reprints/ei_theory_performance.html

16. Karuzo D., Selovei P. Emotsional’nyi intellekt rukovoditelya. Kak razvivat’ i primenyat’ [Emotional Intelligence of the Leader. How to Develop and Apply]. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2016, 319 p. (In Russ.) Available at: https://search.rsl.ru/ru/record/01008549236

17. Matthews G., Zeidner M. Emotional intelligence, adaptation to stressful encounters, and health outcomes. In: Bar-On R., Parker J.D.A. (eds.). Handbook of emotional intelligence. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publ., 2000, pp. 459-489. Available at: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/534896/TOC

18. Bar-On R. Emotional and social intelligence: insights from the emotional quotient inventory. In: Bar-On R., Parker J.D.A. (eds.). Handbook of emotional intelligence. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publ., 2000, pp. 363-388. Available at: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16986794M/The_handbook_of_emotional_intelligence

19. Spasibenko S.G. Emotsional’noe i ratsional’noe v sotsial’noi strukture cheloveka [Emotional and rational in the social structure of human]. Sotsial’no-gumanitarnye znaniya [Social and Humanitarian Knowledge], 2002, no. 2, pp. 109-125. (In Russ.) Available at: https://unis.shpl.ru/Pages/Search/BookInfo.aspx?Id=256458

20. Kholmogorova A.B., Garanyan N.G. Kul’tura, emotsii i psikhicheskoe zdorov’e [Culture, emotions and mental health]. Voprosy psikhologii = Issues of Psychology, 1999, no. 2, pp. 61-74. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qzcfvp

21. Ushakov D.V. Sotsial’nyi i emotsional’nyi intellekt: nadezhdy, somneniya, perspektivy [Social and emotional intelligence: hopes, doubts, prospects]. In: Lyusina D.V., Ushakov D.V. Sbornik statei «Sotsial’nyi i emotsional’nyi intellekt: Ot protsessov k izmereniyam» [Proceedings ―Social and Emotional Intelligence: From Processes to Measurement‖]. Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 2009, pp. 11-30. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/sgbsbz

22. Lyusin D.V. Sovremennye predstavleniya ob emotsional’nom intellekte [Modern concepts of emotional intelligence]. In: Lyusina D.V., Ushakov D.V. Sbornik statei «Sotsial’nyi intellekt: Teoriya, izmerenie, issledovaniya» [Proceedings ―Social Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, Researches‖]. Moscow, Institut psikhologii RAN Publ., 2004, pp. 29-36. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/uvgygb

23. Goulman D. Emotsional’nyi intellect [Emotional Intellect]. Moscow, ACT Publ., ACT MOSCOW Publ., Vladimir, VKT Publ., 2009, 478 p. (In Russ.) Available at: https://sdo.mgpu.ru/pluginfile.php?file=%2F498074%2Fmod_folder%2Fcontent%2F0%2FДэниел-Гоулман-Эмоциональный-интеллект.pdf&forcedownload=1

24. Mayer J.D., DiPaolo M., Salovey P. Perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1990, vol. 54, no. 3-4, pp. 772-781. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.1990.9674037