No abstract

Whenever consumers interact with technological devices connected to the internet, they disclose information about themselves. The rapid diffusion of voice technology is shifting the way consumers interact with technological devices from typing or clicking to speaking. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of how this occurring shift from manual to oral communication with technology affects information disclosure. It first considers verbal disclosure and provides a conceptual framework that explicates how voice technology can influence consumers’ propensity to reveal information about themselves through semantic content disclosed voluntarily. It then considers non-verbal disclosure and provides an analysis of how voice technology enables the collection of information revealed rather unintentionally through vocal paralanguage and ambient sound. The article offers testable propositions and poses open research questions that can serve as impetus for future research. Additionally, it provides insights to marketers for how to navigate voice technology as a source of consumer information and to policymakers for how to better protect consumer privacy in interactions with voice technology.