156 Understanding Rational Decision Making
Spoken vs. Written Messages
In most cases, spoken information is more attention getting, memorable, and persuasive than printed
information. For example, employees are more likely to attend to and comply with voice warn-
ings than with print warnings.^109 Job seekers are more likely to attend to spoken testimonials on
recruitment websites than to print testimonials presented via photographs and text on the same
websites.^110 They also fi nd spoken testimonials to be more credible.
In a test of audience recall, TV commercials were compared to specially matched print adver-tisements that used an image from the commercial as the pictorial component of the ad and the
verbatim audio script of the commercial as the ad copy. Audience recall was 81% for the TV ads
versus 56% for the print ads. Recall of the main message point was 75% for the TV ads versus 39%
for the print ads. The study’s authors hypothesized that the superior performance of the TV com-
mercials was due to the fact that they were more attention getting.^111
Even attention-getting TV commercials are susceptible to “wear out” and are likely to be ignoredwhen they are repeated too often.^112 Similarly, professors’ lectures are likely to be ignored if the
students listening to them already possess too much prior knowledge about the lecturer’s topic.^113
The Linguistic Style of the Powerful
The linguistic style in which a message is written or spoken can infl uence the amount of attention
the audience gives it. In an often-cited study of speech styles, sociologist Bonnie Erickson and three
colleagues fi rst identifi ed the linguistic cues that indicate the social status and power of speakers.
They found the “powerless” style includes frequent use of linguistic features such as intensifi ers
(e.g., very , really ), hedges (e.g., probably , I think ), hesitation forms (e.g., uh, and uh ), and question-
ing intonations, whereas the “powerful” style is marked by less frequent use of these features. The
researchers then asked 152 undergraduates to listen to or read the testimony of a witness who used
either a powerful or a powerless style to deliver the same substantive evidence. Both the listeners
and readers of the testimony delivered in the powerful style paid greater attention to it than the
listeners or readers of the testimony delivered in the powerless style.^114
Expressive Nonverbal Behaviors
Certain types of nonverbal behaviors are also more attention getting than others. Vocal variety—
including variations in tempo, pitch, intensity, and tone quality—increases listeners’ attention to
speech and improves their comprehension of the speaker’s message.^115 Words spoken clearly and
with feeling are also more likely to be persuasive than those spoken in a monotone.^116
Faster speech is more attention getting as well. A test of listeners’ attention varied a broad-cast ad announcer’s speech rate as he made an announcement. Increases in his speech rate led
listeners to attend to the announcement more carefully and thereby enhanced their processing
of it.^117 Other studies confi rm that listeners pay more attention to and better comprehend mes-
sages that are delivered at rates 25% or 50% faster than normal conversational rates, which range
from 100 to 150 words per minute.^118 However, more complex and diffi cult information must
be spoken at a slower pace in order to avoid harming comprehension.
Expressive movements and gestures can also be attention getting. In a comparison of expressiveand unexpressive nonverbal styles, undergraduates watched a video of a graduate student speaking
against a ban on fraternities and sororities at a nearby college. The graduate student delivered her
arguments either in an expressive or unexpressive nonverbal style. When the graduate student spoke
using an expressive nonverbal style, she maintained constant eye contact with her audience, made
appropriate hand and head gestures, made many facial expressions, and varied her tone of voice.