Persuasion in spanish online discourse of wine producers and its localisation into english

Abstract

Wine tourism has become a key driver of regional economic growth (López-Guzmán et al., 2010), particularly in areas with a strong cultural and oenological heritage like Andalusia. In this context, the digital presence of wineries plays a decisive role in shaping visitors’ perceptions and encouraging both tourism and consumption (Perišić Prodan et al. 2024; Ibañez Rodríguez 2020). This study examines the persuasive discourse employed on the websites of wine producers from Cádiz, focusing on their Spanish originals and English versions, in order to explore how persuasive discourse and linguistic and audiovisual strategies influence the international projection of wine tourism. The study adopts a RQDA (Atlast.Ti) approach and analyses the Home section of 103 websites (52 in Spanish, 33 localised into English and 18 machine-translated into English) of wine producers of Cádiz. We established a code set of five persuasion categories (CREDIBILITY, SUSTAINABILITY, EMOTION, PERSISTENCE, and MEDIA) to conduct our analysis. The results show that persuasive discourse in Spanish websites strongly relies on MEDIA and strategies to promote trust; to a lesser extent, resilience and emotion; and, in a few cases, sustainability. Wine companies try to construct a discourse that projects them as credible agents emphasizing tradition, experience, prestige, reliability and uniqueness of their product or land. Findings suggest that persuasive discourse is achieved in Spanish, but localised versions in English contains a number of pitfalls and omissions (according to the MQM core error model) that work against the goal of persuasion. This failure becomes more prominent in machine-translated websites. This research contributes to the discussion on how translation mediates between local heritage and global audiences in the field of wine tourism. Results point out that, when companies neglect localisation or leave their content solely in hands of machine translation, they are losing control over their brand, reputation, and trustworthiness in globalised contexts. These findings have implications not only for translation studies but also for professionals and actors who seek to enhance the visibility of wine regions in international markets.