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Perceptions of Warmth and Competence Conveyed by Hard Sell and Soft Sell Voices: A Cross-Cultural Study

Fabrice Desmarais et al.

Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising2025https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2025.2468479article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.41

Abstract

We assess the reactions of Generation Z consumers to hard and soft sell vocal styles in two countries (France and New Zealand) to understand whether the association of warmth and competence personality traits differs across countries. Results reveal commonalities and differences that advertisers should take into consideration when designing advertising vocal strategies. In both countries, the soft sell vocal style conveyed significantly more warmth than the hard sell style. Our study also reveals differences between countries with French participants having a clear preference for soft sell voices, which they rated very high in both warmth and competence, whereas participants from New Zealand found the hard sell voices significantly more competent than French participants did.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2025.2468479

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@article{fabrice2025,
  title        = {{Perceptions of Warmth and Competence Conveyed by Hard Sell and Soft Sell Voices: A Cross-Cultural Study}},
  author       = {Fabrice Desmarais et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2025.2468479},
}

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Perceptions of Warmth and Competence Conveyed by Hard Sell and Soft Sell Voices: A Cross-Cultural Study

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Evidence weight

0.41

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.25 × 0.4 = 0.10
M · momentum0.55 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.