The Influence of Communication Modality on the “Saying-Is-Believing” Effect

In communication, people adjust their information expression based on the audience's attitude toward a topic, which is known as the audience-tuning effect. This effect also leads individuals to develop memory biases favoring the audience's attitude, a process termed the "saying-is-believing" (SIB) effect. This study validates the SIB effect using a classical paradigm based on shared reality theory. Additionally, it explores the impact of different communication modalities on the SIB effect, considering the information dissemination context in the internet era and the unique characteristic of "visual anonymity" in online communication compared to offline communication. A two-factor mixed experimental design with 2 (audience's attitude: positive, negative) × 2 (communication modality: online, offline) was employed. The following results were found: (1) The SIB effect exists, meaning that people adjust their descriptions and recalls based on the audience's attitude. (2) Communication modality and the audience's attitude interactively influence the SIB effect, with a greater deviation in description and recall valence when the audience's attitude is negative (positive) in online (offline) compared to offline (online) communication. In summary, online communication is more likely to generate negative information than offline communication. This study enriches and expands the research field of the SIB effect, filling the gap in cross-media comparisons within this field. Moreover, it further enhances individuals' understanding of online and offline communication modalities, which has certain guiding significance for enhancing work and learning effectiveness, improving the internet environment, and supporting enterprise management. Future research can further subdivide communication modalities, improve the classical paradigm to make it more practical, and incorporate neural technologies to delve deeper into the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of the SIB effect.