9.4 From Clark and Pinch, 1988: 128
P: now ’oo can use . all the four of ’em, 0.7 fer the purposes of
the advertisement, 0.9 theh’ve got tuh be cleared cheaply an’ quickly. 0.3 ’oo can use all the four of ’em, 0.5 twenty three
pounds w’th, 0.4 at less than three fifty raise an ’arm [Many audience members raise hands.]
0.8
P: Anyone else? 0.5 now as- 0.3
Now listen Rick ][To PC]
0.5 P:
the first eighteen people wi’ their ’and in the air, 0. will yuh please step forward. … now look
0.6 P:
give every one o’these people wi’ ]
their ’ands up in the air a ][To PC]
carrier ]
0.4 P:
Ah’m givin’ out eighteen carriers an’ that’s it
Note that after soliciting expression of interest the pitcher asks his assistant to hand out a carrier to each person with a raised hand. Obviously the implica-
tion is that these carriers will be used to hold the goods being sold; acceptance of the carrier thus establishes a strong obligation to see through the sale and
make a purchase. But to minimise the likelihood of anyone rejecting the car- rier, the pitcher simply instructs his assistant to hand them out. The audience
is not offered a choice as to whether they want a carrier or not. This minimises the likelihood of anyone rejecting a carrier, which would constitute a weak-
ening of the obligation eventually to make a purchase.
The pitcher’s sales strategy is premised on the assumption that goods do not sell themselves; some discursive intervention is necessary. Clark and Pinch’s research
shows that the verbal strategies of the market pitchers seem remarkably success- ful in ensuring that audience members buy the goods on offer. But this is not to
say that the audience members are being duped, or that they are acting foolishly. People would not buy the goods unless they were convinced that they were
getting value for their money. They can always walk away, and at any moment. Indeed, as Clark and Pinch show, although the audience members may not be as
familiar with the practices of market selling as the traders, they are nonetheless active participants in this sales encounter. But the traders do have important
resources by which to manage the audience’s interpretations of the value of the goods contrasting the actual price with an alleged value; and to encourage
purchase-implicative actions asking interested parties to raise their hands; and to engender purchase-obligative orientations handing out bags; and to anticipate
and defuse potential hostility from disgruntled customers the use of humour. These and other interactional resources allow pitchers some control over the
purchasing decisions of their audience, and the outcome of their sales patter.
192 CONVERSATION ANALYSIS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
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