Usability of Language Features of Emails for Detecting Misrepresentations

The study experimentally examines the usability of a participant’s writing style in email inquiries for fraud (misrepresentation) risk assessment by determining whether auditors can detect appropriate language-based risk factors in an email. The results suggest risk factors are present in emails, but auditors fail to use them for risk assessment. For example, shorter emails arouse skepticism when, in fact, this language feature is an insignificant risk factor. More fitting linguistic-based risk factors are lack of specifics and overuse of qualitative descriptions. Guidance may improve auditors’ recognition of appropriate linguistic-based risk factors in email text. Alternatively, risk factors may be too vague to perceive, suggesting a need for techniques to strengthen them in an email inquiry.