1 Introduction

The introduction outlines the intensifying competition within Chinese higher education against the backdrop of globalization and marketization, as well as the growing significance of social media in university brand communication. It highlights the current developmental status and challenges faced by Chinese universities in utilizing social media, and details the purpose and methodology of this study.

2 Literature Review

First, the development of speech act theory is reviewed, tracing from Austin's concept of speech acts to Searle's five categories and indirect speech acts, and then to the theory's application in new media communication, including studies of different speech acts on social media. Next, the emerging research direction of relational behavior is introduced, noting its application in studies of celebrities and brands on social media, but pointing out the scarcity of research on universities' relational behaviors on these platforms. Subsequently, the relationship between identity construction and university brand building is discussed, emphasizing how universities, as institutions, construct identity through discourse to promote brand building. Influenced by the marketization of higher education, universities adopt branding strategies for identity construction, with social media becoming a crucial tool for university brand building. Finally, it is noted that this study will examine the identity construction and brand building of Chinese universities on Weibo from the perspective of pragmatic relational behavior, aiming to fill the research gap in this field from a linguistic perspective.

3 Research Design

The research design is introduced, including the research questions, data collection, and relational behavior coding scheme. The research questions focus on the relational behaviors and discourse strategies employed by Chinese universities in constructing their identities on Weibo. Using the official Weibo account of Zhejiang University as a case study, data collection involved 391 posts from March 2019. The relational behavior coding scheme is based on the concept of corporate brand relational behavior, categorized into two types: promoting university assets and building interpersonal relationships.

4 Analysis and Discussion

An in-depth analysis of the relational behaviors in Zhejiang University's Weibo posts reveals the strategies used to construct its brand image and identity on social media. The study finds that Zhejiang University's relational behaviors on Weibo are primarily divided into two categories: promoting university assets and building interpersonal relationships, with the frequency of the latter significantly surpassing that of the former. In promoting university assets, Zhejiang University constructs its individual self-identity by showcasing university achievements, campus environments, and highlighting stakeholders. Specifically, posts showcasing the campus environment were the most frequent, followed by highlighting stakeholders and showcasing university achievements. These behaviors not only demonstrate Zhejiang University's facilities and academic accomplishments but also reflect its attention to and emphasis on various stakeholder groups.

In building interpersonal relationships, Zhejiang University strengthens interaction and connection with the public through sharing, directive, expressive, and greeting behaviors. Within sharing behaviors, the university disseminates professional knowledge, practical tips, life philosophies, and official announcements, aiming to broaden the public's horizons and provide useful information. Directive behaviors engage followers by soliciting feedback and requesting actions. Expressive behaviors enhance communication with the public by conveying emotions and attitudes. Greeting behaviors foster closer relationships through daily greetings and well-wishes.

Furthermore, the analysis examines Zhejiang University's discourse strategies on social media, including the use of intimate forms of address, internet slang, interactive sentence patterns, online memes and emojis, hashtags and "@" mentions, as well as multimodal semiotic resources. These strategies help Zhejiang University construct a more approachable and interactive brand image on social media, effectively communicating and engaging with its target audience. Through these approaches, Zhejiang University not only showcases its professionalism and authority as an academic institution but also conducts brand building in a more humanized and accessible manner, thereby enhancing its influence and appeal on social media.

5 Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes the case study of Zhejiang University's official Weibo account, discussing the importance of relational behaviors and discourse strategies in the identity construction and brand building of Chinese universities on social media. It also points out the limitations of the study and proposes directions for future research.