- Colloquial words: “big end of town”; “tough luck, big boys”; (The author uses colloquial words (such as …) to generate/stimulate hostility between consumers and retailers. Describing the retailers as the “big end of town” sets them up as a target for our hostility.
- Assonance: “shop till they drop” (Such phrases seek to justify consumers’ shopping behaviour.)
- Cliché: “milking consumers”; crying over spilt milk” (Such phrases seek to encourage us to see that the retailers are self-interested and unsympathetic to consumers’ needs. They conveniently exploit consumers when they can, and become annoyed when they cannot.)
- Appeal to hip pocket nerve: Ms Hardware cites figures to show that the GST is a scapegoat as many goods are up to 50 per cent – not 10 per cent – cheaper on the internet. (These figures encourage customers to recognise the extent to which the GST is an excuse to justify high prices and exploit customers.)
- Negative reference to retailers: The fact that the “big boys” are “milking consumers” suggests that they are exploiting customers. (such phrases encourage us to vent our indignation at the retailers.)
- Personal experience/ comparison: She states that she has received better service from stores on the internet. People are more courteous and the service is prompt. (the relatable example is used to build hostility and discredit retailers. She impresses upon retailers the need to provide better service if they want to remain competitive.)
- Exasperated tone: “Many of us have been complaining for years about poor service.” (Her exasperated statement seeks to discredit retailers.)
Please identify examples of the following language/reasoning technique. Give examples and explain their purpose.
Taking it further: build a paragraph: (p. 56)
Taking a practical approach, Ms Hardware maintains that, despite the GST component, consumers are finding better bargains on the internet to the dismay of the bigger retailers. She uses assonance, such as ‘shop till they drop” to colourfully depict consumers’ shopping patterns that have been encouraged by the arrogance of the “big end of town”. Her colloquial reference to “the big end of town” seeks to create a division between big business and ordinary consumers as well as build resentment at the fact that they are idiomatically speaking “milking consumers”. Contradicting the views of the retailers, she bluntly states in her simple sentence that the “GST is a furphy”. A list of price facts shows how their claims are deceiving customers and are presenting the GST as a scapegoat. Such language and its strong inferences help the author to justify on-line shopping and dispel any guilt feelings entertained by online consumers. They are also likely to stimulate anger towards big business-directors who seem to resent the fact that they are no longer able to exploit consumers.
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