Multimodal engagement strategy focusing on a multi-layered voice concept: theory of persuasion in Japanese insurance TV commercials

Multimodal literacy, or the capability to critically produce, interpret and interact with the various forms of semiotic resources, has become one of the essential skills in contemporary discourse practice. Employing Multimodal Discourse Analysis and the Engagement System of Appraisal, this article discusses how the engagement choices used in popular Japanese TV commercials have constructed certain axiological positions, how they convince and motivate the audience, and how they reflect dominant ideologies in a given society. The findings reveal three dimensions of engagement choices: viewer alignment, dialogic engagement and reflection of ideologies. The study also offers an analytical framework of voice system, in examining the dialogic engagement and the mechanisms of how the socio-cultural ideologies such as beliefs, values and expectations are reflected in advertising discourse.