In today’s technology-driven society, we are frequently exposed to visual and auditory prompts to take action, purchase goods, and consume media through screens, smartphones, virtual assistants, and voice-enabled speakers. But are all these messages of equal value?

Research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business suggests that we’re more positive towards verbal recommendations than written recommendations.

The researchers conducted multiple experiments in which the same information was presented to participants in various forms, including computer-generated audio resembling a smart speaker, to simulate real-world scenarios. They found that the recommendations for products such as brownies, blenders, and beer were more effective when delivered via audio rather than text.

Auditory power

While the effect wasn’t huge, it was nonetheless strong enough to demonstrate a consistent boost. The researchers weren’t able to pinpoint why, but argue that it might be due to the seemingly ephemeral nature of sound that prompts us to act before the information drifts into the ether.

The researchers examined the assumption that auditory recommendations were more effective by conducting a study where a recommendation was presented visually, with each word disappearing shortly after it appeared, and found that the subjects were just as likely to follow the recommendation as when it was delivered via audio.

This suggests that companies might want to consider focusing on auditory search results, which can be transmitted via a Google Home or Alexa speaker, instead of spending a lot on placing their products at the top of visual Google search results.

The literature also suggests that the source of an auditory message is crucial and authentic human voices are considered more competent and intelligent than computer-generated ones.

Paralinguistic cues

“The reason for that is because of the paralinguistic cues in a human voice, like intonation and pitch and volume,” the researchers explain. “These convey this uniquely human capacity for thinking and feeling.”

Although participants viewed human voices as more intelligent, they found messages delivered by artificial voices more persuasive than written messages.

It should be noted that these findings have limitations. The experiments used short and simple messages, so the results may not apply to longer and more complex spoken messages. Additionally, message form is not the only factor that influences decision-making. Furthermore, the time-sensitive nature of recommendations must be considered, as decisions were made shortly after receiving the information in these experiments.

“There are very few things in psychology that last beyond the immediate context in which a stimulus occurs,” the researchers explain. “Here you hear something and are given a chance to act on it; the information is salient and is useful at that moment. Later on, the information is less salient, so therefore also less influential.”

It remains uncertain if the same decision would be made if more time were given for consideration. However, this study offers insights into the relationship between consuming information, whether through listening to a podcast or reading a newspaper, and evaluating options when making purchasing decisions.