This is the digital age, and the advice to executives is clear. Managers need to have a digital mindset; The organizations they run must embrace digital transformation. If you don’t know what ChatGPT is, think of Dan Brown when you hear the word “code,” or dislike the idea of working with cobots, enjoy your retirement. So this festive season what should you gift the executive in your life? Answer: Anything made of paper. Even if your gift recipient never uses it, it can still serve as a useful reminder of where the digital world has its limits.
Recent research underscores the enduring value of this ancient technique, whether in decision making, increasing productivity or winning over customers. Start with decision-making, and a study from Maferima Touré-Tillery of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Lily Wang of Zhejiang University. In one part of their study, the researchers approached strangers and asked them to take a made-up survey. Half the respondents were given a pen and paper to fill out the form; The other half were given an iPad. At the end of the exercise, respondents were asked whether they would like to provide their email address in order to receive information on how to donate. Those who used the paper were very willing to provide their email addresses.
The researchers showed Chinese university students an advertisement for a bookseller at the end of the survey and then asked them to select some of the books being promoted. Those using paper to fill out the questionnaire chose more intellectual books on average than those using a tablet. Researchers speculate that people make better decisions on paper because it looks more consequential than on a pixelated screen. When asked, paper-and-pen respondents were actually more likely than iPad users to believe that their choices were more indicative of their characters. The nib is the nub.
Next, under the right conditions paper can improve productivity. Studies by Vicki Morwitz of Columbia Business School, Yanliu Huang of Drexel University, and Jane Yang of California State University, Fullerton, show that paper calendars stimulate different behaviors than digital calendars. Users of the old-fashioned calendar made more detailed project plans than app watchers, and were more likely to stick to those plans. Simple dimensions start to count. The researchers believe that the ability to see lots of days at once on a paper calendar matters; Mobile-calendar users retain more of their plans if they use the “multi-day view” on their devices.
Third, paper appeals to customers. Researchers in a 2017 study found that people valued the physical version of a product more than the digital immediacy. Buyers were willing to pay more for books and movies that they could only download. Even the sight of someone handling something can help online sales, according to a study last year by Andrea Webb Luangrath and co-authors at the University of Iowa. They found that Instagram posts showing products being touched by hands, such as cups of coffee or smartphones, received more likes than those that were not being held. Similarly, people browsing in a virtual-reality shop were more inclined to buy a T-shirt if they saw their fake hand touching it.
All of this helps to explain why retail catalogs continue to thunder on doormats and jam mailboxes. A new study by Jonathan Zhang of Colorado State University confirms previous findings that consumers who receive paper catalogs as well as emails spend more than those who only receive digital marketing. Mr. Zhang also noted when these catalogs work best—as it turns out, when they’re selling expensive, less functional products, and targeting consumers who do more of their shopping offline. Are.
Technology can bridge the gap between paper and screen, but not completely. Typing will never be as specific as handwriting. Doodle on phone is not that satisfying. And some of analog’s attractions become even more apparent as digital technology becomes more widespread and powerful. Catalogs don’t need to be checked for viruses (though obsessively people wiped them in the early days of Covid-19). As machines get better at generating text, more exams and interview tests may be conducted with pen and paper, just to be sure. Mastery of digital technologies is important. But a sense of touch, authenticity and humanity still matter – and not just on paper.
© 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.
From The Economist, published under license. Original content can be found at www.economist.com
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