In the world of consumer-based research, it is unlikely to find research, a report, or even a hypothesis that isn’t written in the official style. Research and the official style go hand in hand—but why? Edward F. Macguire, Jessica Miller, and Barbara J. Phillips’ article “The Megaphone Effect: Taste and Audience in Fashion Blogging” examines the world of blogging—and how successful blogging doesn’t require professional experience in a given field. This article was published in the Oxford University Press’s Journal of Consumer Research, an interdisciplinary journal that has focused on consumer education since 1985. While the content of the article explores the average consumer’s ability to gain a mass audience without experience, the authors clearly created this content with experience—which they demonstrate extensively. This article is a perfect example of the prevalence of the official style in research-based content. In this critique, I will examine textual evidence of the official style within the article, and consider the audience in order to come to the conclusion that the official style is an integral part of effectively reporting research.
I first offer readability statistics as concrete proof that this article exemplifies the official style:
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Average Words per Sentence
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24.3
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Flesch Kincaid Grade Level
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15.35
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SMOG Index
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16.21
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Note: these findings are from the 1,045-word excerpt of the article that I analyzed.
The reading grade level of this article is 15.35, which suggests that only people who’ve had at least three years of education beyond high school have a chance of understanding the content. The elevated reading level combined with the lengthy sentences is an automatic indicator of official style.
The official style is abundant in this article, most obviously in the diction of the authors. One of the trademarks of the official style is an elevated vocabulary, which is found throughout the article. The heightened vocabulary also contributes to the prevalence of the verbose strategy, yet another signifier of official style, in the article. Many sentences are at least twice as long as they need to be to convert a message. For example, the authors’ definition of the megaphone effect is more wordy than it needs to be:
The megaphone effect, as treated here, is specific: it occurs when ordinary consumers, defined as individuals lacking professional experience and not holding and institutional or family position, post to the web about consumption and acquire a mass audience for these posts. (41 words)
I offer a more concise yet equally effective alternative:
the megaphone effect occurs when an ordinary consumer’s blog attracts a large audience. (13 words)
The alternate sentence communicates the meaning of the megaphone in much fewer and equally understandable words, in a more conversational style. The definition of the megaphone effect is not the only example of the verbose strategy and elevated diction in this article. The following quote is yet another of many the lengthy sentences:
We document 10 other fashion bloggers, ordinary consumers all, who built a sizable audience for their blogs, and we argue that a theory of cultural capital, revised and updated to reflect possibilities inherent in online consumer behavior, can provide an explanation for their success. (44 words)
I once again offer a shorter alternative:
We analyze 10 more successful fashion bloggers and argue that a modernized theory of cultural capital explains their success. (19 words)
The verbose sentences and heightened vocabulary are staples of the official style, and this article is dripping with them.
Another indicator of the official style in this article is the use of passive voice. Official style favors passive voice, which makes the writing impersonal and allows the authors to make statements without claiming responsibility for them. For example, the authors write: “one could label the phenomenon electronic word of mouth and call these bloggers opinion leaders or market mavens.” Beginning such a statement with the phrase “one could” takes attention away from the authors, and makes the statement sound much more general. I also found that nominalization, the changing of a verb or adjective into a noun, went hand in hand with passive voice in this article. For example, the authors write: “we offer a sociological explanation of this process that centers on taste judgments and the accumulation of cultural capital (Bourdieu 1984, 1986), buttressed by an application of Goffman’s (1959) analysis of social action…” The bolded words are nominalized, which allows for more passive voice and also adds to the length of the sentence. Were the two nominalized nouns still verbs, (ie. explain, apply) the article would employ active rather than passive voice. However, the use of passive voice allows the authors to make statements more detached from opinion. This strategy is prevalent in the article and is another sign of the official style.
The official style doesn’t quite seem to match the content of this article. Why write in a style that requires some advanced linguistic experience while analyzing success despite a lack of success? The key is in the analyzing. This article presents research, and that means the official style is the way to go—but why? My first reaction was that the stiff, official style did not make sense for an article about the average consumer. However, the fact that this article was published in an academic journal suggests that the target audience probably does not, like the subject of the article, consist of average consumers that lack experience. The audience has taken the action to browse through an academic journal, which suggests that the audience is interested in pursuing knowledge regarding a certain field; therefore classifying the audience not as unexperienced consumers, but as individuals seeking experience in the form of knowledge. Whether the audience consists of students of marketing, experts in consumerism, or bloggers looking to improve their content, it can safely be assumed that they found this article expecting formal research—and that means the official style. In the pursuit of knowledge and in academic writing, the official style is common and even expected. If the audience were to seek out academic writing and find casual, conversational writing, chances are they would consider the writing to be of less merit.
The official style is clear in this article, but why should it be expected in research-based writing? It’s credibility. The background of this article is credible enough: the authors are all professors of marketing at universities, and the Journal of Consumer Research is kept by Oxford University, which is a prestigious institution. The journal is reportedly academic rather than managerial, and all submissions go through an editorial board. This means that the article has met certain stylistic requirements. However, the credibility of the authors and the publication don’t necessarily matter if it isn’t also reflected in the writing. If you compare the alternative sentences I offered earlier to their original form, the original sentences sound much more informed. As a consumer, if I was looking at research, I would trust the original sentences much more than my more concise alternatives. Why? It sounds like the authors know what they’re talking about. In order to be thorough and exaggeratedly clear, researchers use the official style. We expect the official style, and if it isn’t there, it just doesn’t sound credible. Therefore, the authors’ use of the official style in conveying consumer research makes sense; it helps to establish ethos, their credibility as researchers. Without the official style, research becomes less clearly credible, and more work has to be done to insure the validity of content.
After examining the official style within the article, breaking down the audience and the background of the publication platform, and exploring the connection between the official style and credibility, I have come to the conclusion that the official style is an integral part of research-based content. Published in the Oxford University Press’s Journal of Consumer Research, “The Megaphone Effect: Taste and Audience in Fashion Blogging” exemplifies the value of the official style in reporting research. This article, like all research-based content, is more credible when written in the official style. Without the formal, exact nature of the official style, credibility is challenged. It’s safe to say that research-based content and the official style go hand in hand.
Rachel Bernard
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