Washington, Sep 9 (IANS): People who follow corporate social media accounts that present a human voice are more likely to have a positive view of the company, a survey has found.

The researchers found evidence that the impact of consumers' exposure to a company's social media activities is strengthened by the level of "human voice" in the online communication of companies.

This results in a positive effect on a company's reputation.

"This study shows the importance for a company to communicate in a human-like way for establishing the best relationships with consumers,” said Corne Dijkmans from NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

"We show positive effects of communication style on perception of corporate reputation which - in turn - plays an important role in the achievement of business objectives,” Dijkmans added.

Over the course of two years, the researchers surveyed 3,531 Netherlands residents.

Previous studies have found correlational evidence of consumer's exposure to corporation's social media.

This study is the first to demonstrate causal evidence for a positive effect on corporate reputation of consumers' exposure to a company's social media activities, and the crucial role of a company's "online human voice" in these activities.

The findings were published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.