Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis investigates the impact of voice search optimization (VSO) on website conversion rates among Finnish marketing companies, focusing on the unique challenges of the Finnish market. As voice search reshapes online information retrieval, it presents opportunities and obstacles for businesses aiming to enhance visibility and conversions. The research problem centers on the limited understanding of VSO’s effectiveness in Finland, particularly due to the linguistic complexities of the Finnish language, with its 15 grammatical cases and compound words, and the country’s high technology adoption, with over 90% smartphone penetration. The theoretical framework integrates search engine optimization (SEO), VSO, and conversion theories, emphasizing their application in Finland’s mobile-first consumer behavior and complex grammar. Using a mixed-methods methodology, data were collected from 11 Finnish marketing professionals through structured interviews in 2024, combining quantitative and qualitative insights analyzed with descriptive statistics and thematic methods. The findings show that VSO is a low priority for Finnish companies, with 90.9% of respondents rating it “not important at all” or “slightly important,” mainly due to limited experience (63.6%), difficulties in measuring impact (27.3%), and linguistic barriers affecting voice search algorithm accuracy. Nevertheless, VSO holds potential to improve conversions through localized strategies tailored to Finland’s technological and linguistic context. The study offers practical recommendations, including enhanced analytics, training, and pilot projects, to promote VSO adoption. It contributes to VSO literature by highlighting Finland-specific challenges, providing a foundation for future research on AI-driven language optimization in complex linguistic markets.
Source: Osuva (University of Vaasa)
Author: Arponen, Janne
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7038416105