Persuasive language in the subgenre of Persian sales e-mails

•“Introducing the offer” is the most frequent move used by the Iranian makers.•Some new steps may be added in the Cheung's model like “motto”.•Some strategies like “Triggering the action” were used directly and indirectly.•“Culture” is an effective factor in choosing the strategies used by the makers.

This paper aims at classifying and discussing persuasive messages in Persian sales e-mails, based on a move scheme proposed by Cheung comprising 10 major moves and 36 steps. Results of the research showed “introducing the offer” is the most frequent move employed in Persian sales e-mails under study. Besides, new steps “presenting frequently asked questions” and “motto” were found in the data which may be added in the move scheme provided by Cheung, if it is going to be considered cross-linguistically and cross-culturally. In addition, some moves or steps were applied in a twofold manner. Furthermore, the results indicated that culture can be regarded as a factor in choosing the strategies used by the Iranian makers' advertisements.