People lie more often when sending text messages than in any other forms of communication, according to a new research.
David Xu, assistant professor in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University, is lead author of the study, which compares the level of deceit people will use in a variety of media, from text messages to face-to-face interactions.
The study involved 170 students from the Sauder School performing mock stock transactions in one of four ways: face-to-face, or by video, audio or text chatting.
Researchers promised cash awards of up to 50 dollars to increase participants’ involvement in the role play.
Brokers were promised increased cash rewards for more stock sales, while buyers were told their cash reward would depend on the yet-to-be-determined value of the stock.
{{/usCountry}}Brokers were promised increased cash rewards for more stock sales, while buyers were told their cash reward would depend on the yet-to-be-determined value of the stock.
{{/usCountry}}The brokers were given inside knowledge that the stock was rigged to lose half of its value. Buyers were only informed of this fact after the mock sales transaction and were asked to report whether the brokers had employed deceit to sell their stock.
The authors then analysed which forms of communication led to more deception. They found that buyers who received information via text messages were 95 percent more likely to report deception than if they had interacted via video, 31 percent more likely to report deception when compared to face-to-face, and 18 percent more likely if the interaction was via audio chat.
The fact that people were less likely to lie via video than in person was surprising, Xu said, but makes sense given the so-called spotlight effect, where a person feels they’re being watched more closely on video than face-to-face.
Xu said this kind of research has implications for consumers to avoid problems such as online fraud, and for businesses looking to promote trust and build a good image, Xu said.
The study will appear in the March edition of the Journal of Business Ethics.