Marketing romantic relationships through social media: An analysis of the online discourse of relationship counsellors
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Date
2014-09
Authors
Roestenberg, Lana
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mount Saint Vincent University
Abstract
Romantic relationships are of fundamental importance to most people – both men and women - and we derive great satisfaction from being in a romantic relationship. For various reasons, people may turn to relationship counsellors when in need of relationship advice. With a focus on romantic relationships, this study examines how the discourse of relationship counselors defines romantic relationships. The qualitative study using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was carried out analyzing 130 electronic newsletters from the year 2012. A Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of two case studies of romantic relationship counsellors involved the coding of data resulting in identification of common themes within the samples. The analysis contributes to our understanding of how romantic relationships are treated by relationship counsellors and women and men. The results show that across both case studies, there is a common discourse used when defining romantic relationships. Furthermore, the findings bring to light a picture of romantic relationships as something that can be manipulated with the right tools and techniques.
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Keywords
Romantic relationships , Online dating , Relationship counsellors