Responsibilization of purchasing health-related commodities: a genre-based multimodal discourse analysis of advertorials on WeChat

Introduction The increasing integration of health communication and commercial promotion on digital platforms has transformed the ways in which health knowledge, consumer identities, and social responsibilities are discursively constructed. This study investigates how hybrid promotional discourse in Chinese social media health advertising combines informational authority with commercial persuasion, focusing on Dingxiang Doctor , a leading Chinese medical-information WeChat account. Methods Drawing on Critical Genre Analysis and Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, this study examines how Dingxiang Doctor 's promotional posts integrate academic genre conventions with multimodal resources to construct authority and credibility. The analysis explores the interaction between linguistic and visual strategies in shaping health-related meanings and consumer subjectivities. Results The findings demonstrate that Dingxiang Doctor 's promotional discourse functions as a hybrid genre that merges health education, expert communication, and advertising practices. The discourse constructs health as both an individual responsibility and a familial obligation by intertwining neoliberal ideas of self-management with Confucian values of family care. Within this framework, urban middle-class women are positioned as autonomous health citizens while simultaneously being represented as caregivers responsible for family well-being. Discussion This study highlights how digital health advertisements strategically organize genre structures and multimodal resources to produce persuasive narratives that align consumerist rationalities with culturally embedded moral expectations. By examining the intersection of discourse, health communication, and gendered subjectivities, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how digital advertising negotiates social values and identities in contemporary Chinese communication environments.