Amir Greenstein is a lecturer and researcher in marketing and entrepreneurship at Northeastern University in Boston and VU in Amsterdam. Writes on Twitter about @ AmirGrinstein behavioral research.
Anna Schechterman is an Organizational Consultant, Executive Coach and Teacher at Northeastern University in Boston. yanashechterman.com
AMLK: Summary of the study in 4 sentences
The research question: How does authentic communication affect relationship building, success in attracting investors and increasing the number of followers?
Research process: In 4 text analysis experiments, the degree of authenticity of the message was examined using language processing technology, and compared to the response of the recipients.
Conclusions: There is a high correlation between authentic messages and a positive effect on the recipient of the message, both in interpersonal communication and in virtual communication.
Some provisions: Using high language and self-glorification are not effective in creating trust. To do this, it is better to allow yourself to transmit vulnerability
First impression is built in seconds. We evaluate a person on the basis of external appearance and facial expressions, and immediately decide if he or she interests us and if they seem credible to us. Much has been researched and written about the fact that initial impression is more affected by how people speak versus what they say. The “how” consists of tone of voice, intonation, speed, accent, body language and the like, while the “what” are the words themselves.
It is known that “what” has a relatively small weight in the formation of a first impression, since our mind is wired that it takes a few words to develop a position. Previous studies have found that the effectiveness of salespeople is determined within 20 seconds of presenting a topic. Experts can predict a couple’s chances of divorce just by watching a brief argument between them, and just 6 minutes for a speed dating conversation is enough to decide if they want to continue dating.
Recently, however, a study was published that found that there is another significant element that positively affects the initial impression in diverse interpersonal-authentic interactions. The study, published this year in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science by researchers Markowitz, Kochaki, Gino and others from five universities in the US and England, found that authentic verbal communication is interesting and a positive predictor of interpersonal relationships, inspiring lectures and entrepreneurial success. .
Index of Verbal Authenticity
Authenticity is the ability of people to present themselves in a real way and express freely and naturally feelings, motivations and preferences. It is common to think that an authentic person is a whole person with himself and lives a meaningful life resulting from his decision to live that way.
A positive correlation has also been found in the past between authenticity and the feeling of well-being and mental well-being (Well-Being). A person can be experienced as authentic even without being perceived as telling the truth. The best-known example is President Donald Trump, who despite his tendency to lie often is perceived as authentic because of his spontaneity, lack of filters and boundaries.
The researchers examined how words convey an authentic message and how they affect message recipients in physical and virtual communication. To do this, they conducted four experiments of analyzing verbal texts, using language processing technologies (Natural Language Processing).
The first experiment took place online. The experiment involved 588 people who had a conversation in a chat room for 7-10 minutes. Participants were asked to share with each other what is the one thing they would like to change about themselves. The researchers recorded the conversations and analyzed the texts using technology that measures the degree of authenticity of a text and gives an elaborate score according to the index of verbal authenticity.
At the end of the conversation, participants filled out a questionnaire about their conversation partner, how much they felt affection, closeness and connection to them. When the researchers compared the results of the questionnaires to the authenticity indices they found that the index of authenticity predicted the opinion. In conversations in which high authenticity was measured, participants were positively evaluated and vice versa.
In the second experiment, the researchers analyzed using the same technology 2,655 Ted lectures recorded between 2006-2018. The analysis yielded for each lecture a score in the index of verbal authenticity. The researchers compared the index and the impact of each lecture by measuring the amount of views and comments (positive and negative) and found a positive correlation between the level of authenticity and influence. The higher the lecture received a score in the index of authenticity, the higher the impact was measured and vice versa.
Authenticity in the shark cage
In the third experiment, the researchers conducted a text analysis of entrepreneurs who asked them to invest in their idea as part of the shark reality show (Shark Tank). The researchers analyzed all the entrepreneurs’ presentations over 10 seasons, between the years 2009-2019 using transcription and the use of language processing technology.
Here, too, the researchers found that the likelihood of winning an investment increased as the verbal authenticity index increased. The “sharks” connected to the authenticity of the entrepreneurs, and this influenced their willingness to invest in the ventures. It was further found that politeness conveyed authenticity, while high financial language and inflated self-presentation diminished the sense of authenticity.
Moreover, the researchers were even able to identify specific words that were positively correlated with authenticity: “thousands”, “little bit”, “united” and “grew”. In contrast, the words “lot”, “of the world” (worlds) and “the least” (least) whose correlation to authenticity was found to be negative.
The series of research experiments shows that beyond the “how” the message is conveyed, language itself is also a tool for conveying an effective authentic message that yields positive results in conversation, lectures, fundraising for business ventures and the influence of politicians on Twitter followers. The finding also connects to studies on building trust, where it was found that the fastest way to create trust in an initial encounter is actually the ability to transmit vulnerability. It has also been found that using high language and inflated self-presentation are not effective in creating trust, on the contrary.