Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2019.1683462
Persuasive strategies in the SME entrepreneurial pitch: Functional and discursive considerations
José-Santiago Fernández-Vázquez
Roberto-Carlos Álvarez-Delgado
Abstract
This paper aims to determine the efficacy of persuasive strategies
in the SME pitch by examining the discursive interaction that
takes place in a televised corpus, taken from the Spanish TV programme
“Tu Oportunidad” (“Your Chance”), the counterpart of
the British Dragon’s Den and the American Shark Tank. Using the
information gathered in the discursive analysis of the corpus, we
address how the use of rational and emotional factors may influence
the decisions taken by the investors and how the entrepreneurs
may achieve credibility. The results show the importance of
rational argumentation in entrepreneurial and SME pitches, relegating
emotional aspects to a secondary role from the persuasive
point of view, which should, however, not be disregarded.
Entrepreneurs should anchor their discourse firmly in a rational
cognitive framework, but without discarding those emotional
appeals which may be naturally connected to rational arguments,
reinforcing their validity.
Keywords
SMEs; entrepreneurship; persuasion; decision making; elevator pitch
Hrčak ID:
254605
URI
Publication date:
9.2.2021.
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