Perceptions of Organizational Media Richness: Channel Expansion Effects for Electronic and Traditional Media Across Richness Dimensions

Timmerman, C. Erik; Madhavapeddi, S.N.

doi:10.1109/tpc.2007.2000058

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…They further specified types of experience into four categories: (a) experience with a particular channel, (b) experience with a particular topic, (c) experience with a particular communicator, and (d) experience with particular organizational contexts. When testing these four types of experience, empirical studies partially supported this theory (e.g., Timmerman & Madhavapeddi, ), yet experience with the medium has been a predictor of perceived media richness. For example, Ishii's () study on email use among university administrators showed that those who were more experienced with email were more likely to use email, even for equivocal tasks.…”

Section: Media Richness Theorymentioning

confidence: 98%

Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

Ishii

Lyons

Carr

2019

Human Behav and Emerg Tech

151

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Media richness theory was developed in the mid‐1980s in the field of business management and became very popular along with the diffusion of electronic communication media. Despite the popularity, inconsistent results from empirical studies have been the issues with this theory. In addition, the recent advanced communication technology has been raising more challenges towards the original concepts. Thus, we have reviewed the literature in the past decade to illustrate diverse applications and validity of the theory with more recent communication channels. Based on the findings we have also discussed a future of media richness theory.

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Section: Media Richness Theorymentioning

confidence: 98%

Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

Ishii

Lyons

Carr

2019

Human Behav and Emerg Tech

151

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“…By the term channel expansion, we refer to a communicator's ability to rely on knowledge-building experiences to enhance the richness of an otherwise lean communication channel [11]. More specifically, communicators' past experiences with the topic, the modality, the situational context, and the communicative partner, theoretically allows receivers to reduce even more uncertainty surrounding a lean message [6].…”

Section: Theoretical Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Timmerman and Madhavapeddi [11] found that as communicators gain relevant experience and familiarity with each other, they perceive the medium being used to have fewer limitations in richness and to better handle equivocality-reducing, socio-emotional communication. Similarly, others have found that experience with one's partner increased perceptions of the usefulness and personalness of a message sent via lean media [28], [29].…”

Section: Selection Of Literature For Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Relational Familiarity When Interpreting Family Business Communication

Marett

Litchfield

2015

IEEE Trans. Profess. Commun.

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Research problem: This study investigates the difference in perceptions within the family-owned businesses of messages received from family members and outsiders to assess the role that relational familiarity (the amount of prior experience two people share communicating with each other) plays in internal business communication in these settings. Previous research has shown that this relational familiarity-along with experience with the communicative medium, the message topic, and the business context-lead to channel expansion (the ability to reduce uncertainty from a message with limited communicative cues) for business communicators. But the impact of relational familiarity on communication competence and personal biases between family members-which could impact the ability of relational familiarity to achieve its intended goals-has yet to be fully explored. Research questions: (1) Does increased relational familiarity between communicators lead to increased perceptions of message effectiveness and appropriateness in lean media settings? (2) In family business settings where familial biases may be prevalent, is increased relational familiarity linked to perceptions of increased sender likeability and lowered message negativity? Literature review: Channel Expansion Theory, which proposes that communicators can overcome the limitations of a medium by using their personal experience, guides this study. Previous research found that with personal experience with the communicator sending the message, a message receiver can enhance the limited capacity of a medium to convey cues that aid in understanding the message. Four perceptual variables-message effectiveness, message appropriateness, message negativity, sender likeability-result in benefits accrued from channel expansion and relational familiarity, such as reduced uncertainty and equivocality about the message topic. Methodology: A quasiexperimental setting was designed to elicit messages from business co-workers using email. Message senders were instructed to describe the same business problem in order for the recipient to understand the problem and decide how to proceed. Eighty-three family business owners, managers, and employees received one message from a family member belonging to the same business and one message assigned at random from a nonfamily member working elsewhere (a stranger). The 83 message receivers were asked to complete instruments measuring their perceptions of the messages. Results and conclusions: Results suggested that the relational familiarity between communicators played a significant role in improving message effectiveness and message appropriateness. Sender likeability was also enhanced when family members correctly identified the source of the message. The findings suggest that family members can benefit from channel expansion, though not as many members as expected, and that complex problem and task descriptions were communicated using lean media (communication channels that inhibit sending messages infused with communicative cues...

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“…Timmerman and Madhavapeddi's recent examination of Channel Expansion Theory concluded that knowledge-building experiences in a given communication channel were positively related to the user's perceptions of that medium's richness [19]. The authors assert that Channel Expansion Theory adds to socially oriented perspectives by allowing for different perceptions across users.…”

Section: Communication Channel Choice and The Technology Acceptance Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Media Release as a Corporate Communications Tool for Bloggers

Pitt¹,

Parent²,

Steyn³

et al. 2012

IEEE Trans. Profess. Commun.

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This study examines the impact of a new communication tool, the social media release (SMR), on bloggers. Specifically, we seek to determine what factors will influence bloggers' intent to use SMRs or their components. Our global survey of 332 bloggers finds that bloggers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the SMR and the use of SMRs by companies positively affect their decisions to use SMRs now and in the future. We also find that bloggers' current use of SMRs influences their decisions to continue using SMRs. Implications on the use of SMRs as corporate communication tools are discussed.

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Perceptions of Organizational Media Richness: Channel Expansion Effects for Electronic and Traditional Media Across Richness Dimensions

Cited by 37 publications

References 32 publications

Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

The Role of Relational Familiarity When Interpreting Family Business Communication

The Social Media Release as a Corporate Communications Tool for Bloggers

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