Appealing to Emotion in Communication Strategies: The Case of Spanish Universities on Instagram

Abstract

This article analyses the emotions conveyed by Spanish universities through their Instagram profiles at the start of the 2024/2025 academic year. The beginning of the academic year marks a pivotal moment of first contact between universities and incoming students; as such, it is particularly relevant to examine the communication strategies employed at this time. The research adopted an integrated methodology, combining rhetorical analysis and digital discourse analysis with semi-structured interviews conducted with communication professionals from four universities: the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Complutense University of Madrid, University of Salamanca, and University of Seville. The findings indicate that these institutions adopt a multimodal discourse — incorporating text, images, and videos — and a multiplatform approach, utilising their websites and other social media platforms, such as TikTok. The universities aim to construct an ethos of internationalisation and evoke emotions such as pride, belonging, and nostalgia among students. The findings also indicate that university communication professionals intentionally evoke emotions in their digital communications, such as on Instagram, to attract attention and foster engagement among their audiences. Nevertheless, despite these efforts, interaction levels remain low. In other words, although emotional appeal proves effective, it remains insufficient to establish a deeper connection with online student audiences.