{"id":{"repo_id":"duquesne","oai_identifier":"oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2224"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/duquesne/oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2224","repository":{"repo_id":"duquesne","name":"Duquesne","base_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Rhetorical Marketplace: Interpreting the Rhetoric of Marketers and Consumers as Civil Public Discourse","abstract":"The claim that we live in a time of uncivil public discourse is well-documented. Because public discourse is significantly influenced by commercial forms of conversation, many believe that marketing communication shares responsibility for the way public discourse shapes civil society. Jurgen Habermas, for example, has argued that marketers have transformed the public sphere into a space of passive consumption rather than the critical participation of ordinary people. Habermas' theory of \"communicative action\" provides an intriguing, yet incommensurable theoretical approach to address both concerns regarding the marketer's strategic teleology and the call for alternative communication processes to guide marketer to consumer discourse. Gerard Hauser's conceptual model of the actual discursive practices of ordinary people, on the other hand, bridges gaps in the work of Habermas and demonstrates how a rhetorical interpretation of the marketplace enables marketers to better understand the meaning of dialogue and relationship-building with consumers as a civil, ethical discourse. Marketing communication, then, does not denigrate the quality of public discourse when dialogue and relationship-building is conceived as part of a discursive process that coheres with the rhetorical features of civil society.","abstract_html":"The claim that we live in a time of uncivil public discourse is well-documented. Because public discourse is significantly influenced by commercial forms of conversation, many believe that marketing communication shares responsibility for the way public discourse shapes civil society. Jurgen Habermas, for example, has argued that marketers have transformed the public sphere into a space of passive consumption rather than the critical participation of ordinary people. Habermas' theory of "communicative action" provides an intriguing, yet incommensurable theoretical approach to address both concerns regarding the marketer's strategic teleology and the call for alternative communication processes to guide marketer to consumer discourse. Gerard Hauser's conceptual model of the actual discursive practices of ordinary people, on the other hand, bridges gaps in the work of Habermas and demonstrates how a rhetorical interpretation of the marketplace enables marketers to better understand the meaning of dialogue and relationship-building with consumers as a civil, ethical discourse. Marketing communication, then, does not denigrate the quality of public discourse when dialogue and relationship-building is conceived as part of a discursive process that coheres with the rhetorical features of civil society.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Slott, Casey Joseph"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Communication and Rhetorical Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Calvin Troup","Janie Harden-Fritz","Pat Arneson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:29Z","subjects":["Civil Society","Marketing Communication","Public Discourse","Social Capital"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1208","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Calvin Troup","Janie Harden-Fritz","Pat Arneson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Slott, Casey Joseph"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication and Rhetorical Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Civil Society","Marketing Communication","Public Discourse","Social Capital"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1208"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The claim that we live in a time of uncivil public discourse is well-documented. Because public discourse is significantly influenced by commercial forms of conversation, many believe that marketing communication shares responsibility for the way public discourse shapes civil society. Jurgen Habermas, for example, has argued that marketers have transformed the public sphere into a space of passive consumption rather than the critical participation of ordinary people. Habermas' theory of \"communicative action\" provides an intriguing, yet incommensurable theoretical approach to address both concerns regarding the marketer's strategic teleology and the call for alternative communication processes to guide marketer to consumer discourse. Gerard Hauser's conceptual model of the actual discursive practices of ordinary people, on the other hand, bridges gaps in the work of Habermas and demonstrates how a rhetorical interpretation of the marketplace enables marketers to better understand the meaning of dialogue and relationship-building with consumers as a civil, ethical discourse. Marketing communication, then, does not denigrate the quality of public discourse when dialogue and relationship-building is conceived as part of a discursive process that coheres with the rhetorical features of civil society."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Rhetorical Marketplace: Interpreting the Rhetoric of Marketers and Consumers as Civil Public Discourse"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Calvin Troup","Janie Harden-Fritz","Pat Arneson"],"dc:creator":["Slott, Casey Joseph"],"dc:date.available":["2018-08-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The claim that we live in a time of uncivil public discourse is well-documented. Because public discourse is significantly influenced by commercial forms of conversation, many believe that marketing communication shares responsibility for the way public discourse shapes civil society. Jurgen Habermas, for example, has argued that marketers have transformed the public sphere into a space of passive consumption rather than the critical participation of ordinary people. Habermas' theory of \"communicative action\" provides an intriguing, yet incommensurable theoretical approach to address both concerns regarding the marketer's strategic teleology and the call for alternative communication processes to guide marketer to consumer discourse. Gerard Hauser's conceptual model of the actual discursive practices of ordinary people, on the other hand, bridges gaps in the work of Habermas and demonstrates how a rhetorical interpretation of the marketplace enables marketers to better understand the meaning of dialogue and relationship-building with consumers as a civil, ethical discourse. Marketing communication, then, does not denigrate the quality of public discourse when dialogue and relationship-building is conceived as part of a discursive process that coheres with the rhetorical features of civil society."],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1208"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Civil Society","Marketing Communication","Public Discourse","Social Capital"],"dc:title":["The Rhetorical Marketplace: Interpreting the Rhetoric of Marketers and Consumers as Civil Public Discourse"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication and Rhetorical Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Immediate Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:29Z"}