From Nike to Google and Volkswagen, many main manufacturers have employed voice-over narration – by which details about a model or product is conveyed by a number of off-screen voices – in tv commercials and product launch movies. This observe has spilled over into the net realm as video platforms corresponding to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram have spiked in reputation up to now few years.
However, regardless of the ubiquity of video advertising, there was little analysis into the affect of the narrator voice on client persuasion. In our examine, printed within the Journal of Marketing Research, Hannah H. Chang, Anirban Mukherjee and I examine whether or not the quantity of narrating voices in a video can play a job in serving to firms seize the eye of customers in immediately’s crowded and aggressive market.
Analysing Kickstarter movies
Video advertising sometimes visually depicts a featured product, with a number of off-screen narrators discussing its options and advantages. For occasion, in Apple’s video introducing the AirPods Max, two narrators sequentially describe the product’s huge vary of options. Another video by the model that accompanied the launch of the MacBook Pro includes a voice-over by only a single narrator.
Upon people’ preliminary publicity to such movies, does the quantity of narrating voices have an effect on customers’ consideration and processing of the content material and their subsequent behaviour? If so, is this impact disruptive or facilitative?
We examined these questions in a collection of research, together with one which leveraged knowledge composed of advertising movies discovered on the net crowdfunding platform Kickstarter – an necessary avenue to drive the adoption of new merchandise. The platform is a self-contained market, housing not solely a complete description of advertising communications messages directed at customers but additionally an in depth account of consequential client behaviour.
On Kickstarter and different crowdfunding retailers, a video that options the product is among the many first components potential clients see on a undertaking web page, making it necessary for buyer conversion. Indeed, prior research notice that almost all of Kickstarter initiatives (between 80 and 86 %) embrace product movies.
Using machine studying, textual content mining and pure language processing, we analysed over 11,000 Kickstarter crowdfunding movies and greater than 3.6 million buyer transactions value US$382 million in pledged funding.
Our outcomes present that having extra voices narrate a product message is related to improved undertaking outcomes. On common, the presence of an extra voice was related to elevating about US$12,795 extra in undertaking funding (a 39 % improve), attaining the help of 118 extra undertaking backers (a 38 % improve), and boosting the chance of funding success by 1.6 %.
The voice numerosity impact
We counsel that in preliminary publicity to a advertising video, listening to completely different voices successively narrate a message may be extra persuasive than when a single voice delivers that very same message. When a brand new narrator’s voice carries on a persuasive message, the change in voice can assist maintain customers’ consideration and their processing of the subsequent piece of the spoken message, which could not be processed in any other case.
We name this phenomenon the voice numerosity impact. Prior research have proven {that a} change in voice can involuntarily seize a person’s consideration, even when there are different visible or auditory duties competing for his or her consciousness. The human mind is naturally predisposed to take care of the human voice – infants can recognise this even earlier than they perceive language. It prompts distinct areas within the mind, shortly attracts consideration and evokes speedy and better processing.
However, sure components can weaken this phenomenon. We discovered that the voice numerosity impact is mediated by customers’ cognitive responses and bandwidth to course of the content material. Once a recipient’s consideration is obtained, they have to allocate processing assets for the attentional benefit to translate into better persuasive affect.
Based on our findings, we advise that the voice numerosity impact is extra distinguished when customers have better alternative and talent to course of the message, and weaker when competing components stop this from occurring. Examples embrace the narrator talking too shortly or if the recipient should take care of different distractions.
Implications for video advertising
Our analysis has clear strategic potential and vital financial implications in immediately’s crowded advertising ecosystem, the place video reigns supreme. Current trade observe prizes a transparent talking voice that conveys each authority and relatability. However, it has but to think about how the quantity of narrating voices can enhance the success of video-based advertising initiatives.
We suggest that entrepreneurs, advertising practitioners and product managers think about the quantity and sort of voice-overs when designing communications. Beyond the realm of client advertising, these findings will also be utilized to political promoting to steer or sway potential voters.
For extra difficult-to-comprehend product messages (e.g. these stated at a comparatively quick fee of three phrases per second), it could be more practical to make use of only one narrator. Otherwise, it could be worthwhile for the video to function a number of narrators to leverage the voice numerosity impact. This cannot solely improve the extent to which customers are influenced by a message, but additionally their willingness to pay for the goal product.
https://information.insead.edu/advertising/more-more-positive-effect-multiple-narrating-voices
