Linguistic elements of conversational human voice in online brand communication: Manipulations and perceptions

•Conversational human voice (CHV) is commonly adopted in online brand communication.•The operationalization of CHV in previous research differs substantially.•The perception of CHV depends on the linguistic elements used in a brand message.•The taxonomy of linguistic elements is valuable for researc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business research 2021-08, Vol.132, p.124-135
Main Authors: Liebrecht, Christine, Tsaousi, Christina, van Hooijdonk, Charlotte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brand communication
Brand identity
Communication style
Conversational human voice
Linguistic elements
Social media
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Summary:•Conversational human voice (CHV) is commonly adopted in online brand communication.•The operationalization of CHV in previous research differs substantially.•The perception of CHV depends on the linguistic elements used in a brand message.•The taxonomy of linguistic elements is valuable for researchers and practitioners. The conversational human voice (CHV) is an extensively studied and adopted communication style in online brand communication. However, in previous research the way in which CHV is operationalized differs considerably: the type and the number of linguistic elements used to establish a sense of CHV in online brand messages varies. Moreover, it is still unknown how CHV operationalizations contribute to consumers’ perceptions of CHV, which consequently could affect their evaluation regarding the message and the brand. In this paper, we addressed these issues by conducting an integrative literature review and a perception experiment, and consequently present a taxonomy of linguistic elements related to message personalization, informal speech, and invitational rhetoric that can be used to operationalize CHV systematically in future studies in online brand communication. Directions for future research and managerial implications are discussed.
ISSN:0148-2963
1873-7978
DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.050