Investigating the Rhetorical Strategies in Tesla's Zero-Dollar Social Media Marketing
by Jesutofunmi Faith Adeyanju | Xchanges 20.1/2, Spring 2026
Contents
References
Aristotle, & Roberts, W. R. (Trans.). (2004). Rhetoric. Dover Publications.
Ab Rashid, R., & Mohamad, A. (2019). Theories and Concepts Related to Blogging. In New Media Narratives and Cultural Influence in Malaysia: The Strategic Construction of Blog Rhetoric by an Apostate (pp. 7-16). Singapore: Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9985-5_2
Auger, G. A. (2014). Rhetorical framing: Examining the message structure of nonprofit organizations on Twitter. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 19(4), 239–249. https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1502
Blanchard, O. (2011). Social media ROI: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Que Publishing.
Cezim, B. (2023). An in-depth look at Tesla’s marketing strategy. Digital Agency Network. https://digitalagencynetwork.com/an-in-depth-look-at-teslas-marketing-strategy/
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. Allen & Unwin.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education (5th ed.). Routledge Falmer.
Dudovskiy, J. (2021). Tesla marketing strategy: A brief overview. Business Research Methodology. https://research-methodology.net/tesla-marketing-strategy/
Eyrich, N., Padman, M. L., & Sweetser, K. D. (2008). PR practitioners’ use of social media tools and communication technology. Public Relations Review, 34(4), 412–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2008.09.010
Forbes Agency Council. (2020, December 10). Eight digital marketing lessons we can learn from Tesla. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2020/12/10/eight-digital-marketing-lessons-we-can-learn-from-tesla/
Griffin, E. (2000). A first look at communication theory (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Hratelius, J., & Browning, L. D. (2008). The application of rhetorical theory in managerial research: A literature review. Management Communication Quarterly, 22(1), 13-39.
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Krows Digital. (2023). Tesla’s marketing playbook: Driving success without paid ads. https://krows-digital.com/teslas-marketing-playbook-driving-success-without-paid-ads
Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H., Seifert, C. M., Schwarz, N., & Cook, J. (2012). Misinformation and Its Correction: Continued Influence and Successful Debiasing. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(3), 106-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612451018
Miles, C., & Nilsson, T. (2018). Marketing (as) rhetoric: An introduction. Journal of Marketing Management, 34(15–16), 1259-1271. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2018.1532405
Moore, S. (2020). Rhetorical strategies of Forbes’ 2019 most valuable brands. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 11(1), 29-39.
Murthy, M., & Gosal, M. (2016). A study on Aristotle’s rhetoric applied to industrial communication. British Journal of English Linguistics, 4(1), 64-74.
Mshvenieradze, T. (2013). Logos, ethos and pathos in political discourse. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(11), 1939-1945. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.3.11.1939-1945
Myrick, J. G., Holton, A. E., Himelboim, I., & Love, B. (2016). #stupidcancer: Exploring a typology of social support and the role of emotional expression in a social media community. Health Communication, 31(5), 596-605. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2014.981664
Simplilearn. (2023). Tesla marketing strategy. https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/marketing-case-studies-tutorial/tesla-marketing-strategy
Tonks, D. (2002). Marketing as cooking: The return of the sophists. Journal of Marketing Management, 18(7-8), 803-822.
Torto, R. (2020). Aristotelian rhetorical theory as a framework for analyzing advertising texts in the print media in Ghana. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(3), 269–275. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1003.02
Vestergaard, T., & Schroder, K. (1985). The language of advertising. Basil Blackwell Ltd.
Williams, C. (2007). Research methods. Journal of Business and Economic Research, 5(3), 65–72.
Yang, S. B., Lee, H., Lee, K., & Koo, C. (2018). The application of Aristotle’s rhetorical theory of the sharing economy: An empirical study of Airbnb. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 35(7), 938-957.
YouTube. (2023, December 3). Model Y | Engineering from first principles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LECh9dfG4
YouTube. (2023, December 3). Extreme heat testing | Tesla Model S, 3, X and Y. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOOnrbXVmUU&t=20s
YouTube. (2023, December 3). Model S Track Pack | Tesla. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7j3NP8dWMY
Download PDF