The Effects of Communication Mode Richness and Risk Priming on Auditors’ Skeptical Judgment and Action

This study examines the effects of communication mode richness (video versus audio) and risk priming (present versus absent) on auditors’ skeptical judgment and action following client inquiries. Auditors make inquiries with clients, and auditor assessments of risk drive audit testing decisions. As audit work increasingly shifts to remote settings, technological advances have expanded the range of communication modes available to auditors. This study investigates how risk priming interacts with communication mode richness on auditor skeptical judgment and action. Using a 2x2 between-subjects design (video or audio; risk prime or not), undergraduate and graduate accounting students served as proxies for junior-level auditors. Participants conducted an audit inquiry regarding a potential overvaluation of inventory to simulate a real-world audit scenario. While the ANOVA models are not significant, the results revealed a significant interaction between communication mode and risk priming on the perceived plausibility of client responses and a marginally significant interaction between communication mode and risk priming on the perceived truthfulness of the client responses. Risk priming had no significant effect on participants in the video condition, and in the audio condition, there was weak evidence that the client was perceived more favorably with risk priming. Additionally, auditors in the video condition performed more audit work (by purchasing additional information) compared to those in the audio condition, indicating that richer communication modes can prompt auditors to seek more evidence.