The Impact of Client Response Time and Message Processing Fluency on Staff Auditor Judgment

Abstract

SUMMARY Staff auditors frequently email clients to conduct evidence inquiry. However, little research has examined how characteristics of email communication impact auditors’ assessments of evidence. We experimentally investigate whether two characteristics of email communication, client response time and message processing fluency, influence auditors’ judgments. We find that auditor skepticism is reduced when the client provides a more fluent email response compared with a less fluent response in a moderate response time. In addition, auditor skepticism is reduced when the client provides a more fluent email response in a moderate response time versus in an immediate response time. Our results suggest that if client management takes their time to respond to an auditor’s email, then this may reduce auditor skepticism, especially if the client composes a fluent response. These findings have audit quality implications because the same client information provided via email can be perceived differently depending on other client communication characteristics.