I have no theory to offer you, but verbal communication is ephemeral, whereas written information is more concrete because we can go back to it and parse the meaning.

Thanks. That was an aspect I considered, along with how our culture is very text-driven (contracts, research write-ups, textbooks, …). If there is nothing more to put a name to it, then at least we explored (and maybe opened up a little area for future research).

Psychological research suggests that people tend to give more weight to written information over oral communication. This phenomenon can be explained through concepts like the 'authority of the written word' and cognitive biases. From a cognitive psychology perspective, written text is often perceived as more formal, reliable, and permanent, which increases trust. Children, for example, tend to trust written information more as they develop literacy skills.

Yes, that's what I'm seeing and hoping to strengthen by pointing to research. Unfortunately, "authority of the written word" leads to hits within religious research, (though perhaps I've been unlucky so far). Cognitive bias already helps a few steps further, many thanks!