Argumentation and Agency for Building Ethos in an Italian Bank’s Institutional Website

Abstract

When arguing on their ability to have a positive impact on others (i.e. agency) in their institutional websites, banks can build their ethos appealing to the possibly conflicting arguments of competence (e.g. making profit) and benevolence (e.g. helping people), addressing multiple text stakeholders bearing different interests. Our explorative case-study investigates whether and how the biggest Italian bank reconciles the conflict between competence and benevolence by integrating the analysis of argumentation with that of agency.