ABSTRACT

Baskoro, Agung Bimo. 2017. Illocutionary Acts in Facebook Sale Group. Thesis Department of English,
Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang. Advisors: (1) Maria Hidayati, S.S., M.Pd. (2) Aulia Apriana,
S.S. M.Pd.

Keywords: illocutionary acts, online marketing, facebook sale group

Studies on illocutionary acts have grown significantly in the past decades, but there is a small number of
studies which study about implicitness or intended meaning in digital setting such as online marketing. It
conveys the sellers’ intention and purpose to the customers. In this case, the message is about
persuasive Facebook status by the community of Facebook sale group (FSG). The aim of this research is
to identify types of illocutionary acts from salespeople’s post on FSG and how the customers perceive
the information posted.

To answer the research questions, a descriptive qualitative method is employed. The data related to the
identification of illocutionary acts were obtained from the screenshots of 20 selected posts on the
chosen FSG. Each of the screenshots was then analyzed by referring to five types of illocutionary acts
theory proposed by Searle (1979); they are representatives/assertives, directives, commissives,
expressives, and declarations. To answer the second research question dealing with the
customers’response on the selected posts, a semi-strcutured interview was chosen to obtain the data.
Five students of English Department were randomly selected to volunteer for the interview.

The results of this study show that there were 70 propositions found in FSG posts. The most dominant
type of illocutionary acts was representative acts with 43 propositions. The second type was commisive
acts containing 11 propositions. Then, expressive acts were found in nine propositions. The fourth types
was directive acts containing seven propositions. The last type was declaration with zero proposition.
Most of the posts used representative acts more than the other type of illocutionary acts. It is because
the purpose of posting something in FSG is to give brief information and description about the things
they sell and to attract the customer to buy. In addition, most of the propositions found were in the
form of informing. Moreover, related to the language used in the given posts, all participants view that it
is easy to understand since the words and phrases used are familiar and supported by pictures.
Furthermore, related to the trustworthiness of the information, all participants state that they might
believe the information since it seems to be promising though confirmation is important to do when it
comes to online shopping. Indeed, all selected posts have achieved the felicitous conditions necessary to
create “happy post”, indicated by their success in following the conventional procedures aggreed in the
FSG.

To conclude, this research has revealed that illocutionary acts in the context of FSG are important for
online salespeople to better advertise their business. The felicitous conditions in such a virtual setting
cannot entirely be achieved by depending on the surface information in the post. The concept of
“abuses”, for example, can only be found depending on how well the audience assess the
trustworthiness of the advertisement. The next, future researchers are suggested to further investigate
illocutionary acts in computer-mediated communications.
ABSTRACT

Baskoro, Agung Bimo. 2017. Illocutionary Acts in Facebook Sale Group. Thesis Department of English,
Faculty of Letters, Universitas Negeri Malang. Advisors: (1) Maria Hidayati, S.S., M.Pd. (2) Aulia Apriana,
S.S. M.Pd.

Keywords: illocutionary acts, online marketing, facebook sale group

Studies on illocutionary acts have grown significantly in the past decades, but there is a small number of
studies which study about implicitness or intended meaning in digital setting such as online marketing. It
conveys the sellers’ intention and purpose to the customers. In this case, the message is about
persuasive Facebook status by the community of Facebook sale group (FSG). The aim of this research is
to identify types of illocutionary acts from salespeople’s post on FSG and how the customers perceive
the information posted.

To answer the research questions, a descriptive qualitative method is employed. The data related to the
identification of illocutionary acts were obtained from the screenshots of 20 selected posts on the
chosen FSG. Each of the screenshots was then analyzed by referring to five types of illocutionary acts
theory proposed by Searle (1979); they are representatives/assertives, directives, commissives,
expressives, and declarations. To answer the second research question dealing with the
customers’response on the selected posts, a semi-strcutured interview was chosen to obtain the data.
Five students of English Department were randomly selected to volunteer for the interview.

The results of this study show that there were 70 propositions found in FSG posts. The most dominant
type of illocutionary acts was representative acts with 43 propositions. The second type was commisive
acts containing 11 propositions. Then, expressive acts were found in nine propositions. The fourth types
was directive acts containing seven propositions. The last type was declaration with zero proposition.
Most of the posts used representative acts more than the other type of illocutionary acts. It is because
the purpose of posting something in FSG is to give brief information and description about the things
they sell and to attract the customer to buy. In addition, most of the propositions found were in the
form of informing. Moreover, related to the language used in the given posts, all participants view that it
is easy to understand since the words and phrases used are familiar and supported by pictures.
Furthermore, related to the trustworthiness of the information, all participants state that they might
believe the information since it seems to be promising though confirmation is important to do when it
comes to online shopping. Indeed, all selected posts have achieved the felicitous conditions necessary to
create “happy post”, indicated by their success in following the conventional procedures aggreed in the
FSG.

To conclude, this research has revealed that illocutionary acts in the context of FSG are important for
online salespeople to better advertise their business. The felicitous conditions in such a virtual setting
cannot entirely be achieved by depending on the surface information in the post. The concept of
“abuses”, for example, can only be found depending on how well the audience assess the
trustworthiness of the advertisement. The next, future researchers are suggested to further investigate
illocutionary acts in computer-mediated communications.