Media Choice Theories Research Articles

Media multiplicity and collaborative innovation with suppliers: evidence from China

PurposeBased on media choice theories and real option theory, this study aims to explore the role of communication media portfolio in achieving collaborative innovation with suppliers.Design/methodology/approachUsing data of the Study of Competitiveness, Technology and Firm Linkages 2002 collected by the World Bank and the Enterprise Survey Organization of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, this study employed logit model to test the hypotheses. Moreover, some robustness analyses were conducted.FindingsThis study suggests that media multiplicity increases the probability for a firm to achieve collaborative innovation with suppliers on the basis of real option theory. Furthermore, distance from the suppliers and relationship formality make media multiplicity further important in collaborative innovation with suppliers.Originality/valueThrough investing how communication media portfolio affecting collaborative innovation with suppliers and the contingency factors, this study complements existing studies just concentrating on supplier capabilities, relationships with suppliers and characteristics of supplier network. Moreover, this study contributes in the information system field by exploring the role of media portfolio rather than individual media.

Organizational media choice in performance feedback: a multifaceted approach

AbstractThis study was designed to examine media choice in performance feedback, an organizational communication process that has been overlooked in the literature. Specifically, we adopted a multifaceted approach and examined how contextual variables in feedback, variables identified from media choice theories, and individual differences in media perception influenced selection of a medium to communicate performance information. A policy‐capturing survey was administered to 178 full‐time employees in Hong Kong. Participants read feedback scenarios and provided media preference ratings of face‐to‐face, telephone, electronic mail, and written communication. Results showed that the three facets jointly influenced media choice. Given that communication quality is partly determined by the medium selected, the present work sheds light on the understanding of initiation process in performance feedback.

Exploring the Enterprise Value of Wikis through Media Choice Theories

Wikis are quickly emerging as a new corporate medium for communication and collaboration. They allow dispersed groups of collaborators to asynchronously engage in persistent conversations, the result of which is stored on a common server as a single, shared truth. To gauge the enterprise value of wikis, the authors draw on Media Choice Theories (MCTs) as an evaluation framework. MCTs reveal core capabilities of communication media and their fit with the communication task. Based on the evaluation, the authors argue that wikis are equivalent or superior to existing asynchronous communication media in key characteristics. Additionally argued is the notion that wiki technology challenges some of the held beliefs of existing media choice theories, as wikis introduce media characteristics not previously envisioned. The authors thus predict a promising future for wiki use in enterprises.

Factors Influencing Media Choice For Interact With Their Students among Lectures of Two Academic Institutions: Case of Iran

The aim of this paper is to report the findings on the impact of communication technology as channels on interaction between academic staff and their students, conducted at an Iranian higher learning institution. study focused on media choice and it attempted to determine the communication channels most used by academic staffs in interacting with their students and the reasons they chose these channels. It also intended to find out whether there was a significant relationship between communication channels most used by academic staffs and their perception of media richness. The results revealed that though there is the existence of new communication technologies such as the internet which offers faster and cheaper facilities, Face-to-Face communication is the most used and preferred communication channel by academic staffs in interacting with their students. In addition there was significant relationship between communication channel most used by respondents and their perception of media richness and social presence. That’s why with the higher level of social presence, their level of experience with a channel increases. The findings of this study extend two of the most widely investigated media choice theories: Media Richness Theory (MRT) and Social Presence Theory (SPT).

Media use in long‐distance friendships

New media such as email and mobile phones have made it easier to maintain relationships over distances. The present paper examines which media people use to maintain long-distance friendships. The main focus lies on the comparison of email and phone. Media choice theories like media richness theory assume that media can be classified according to their richness, and that people choose the medium which fits best to the affordances of a specific task. The phone as richer medium should be preferred over email in the case of maintenance of long-distance friendships because it is easier to express emotions and to give immediate feedback via phone than via email. Email is an asynchronous medium and communication via email is therefore independent of space and time. Therefore, it can also be argued that email is preferred over the phone because it makes it easier to communicate across different work schedules or even time-zones. In two studies (Study 1 conducted in the Netherlands, Study 2 conducted in Germany) media use in long-distance friendships was measured. Across both studies, email was the most frequently used medium. In Study 1, an interesting asymmetric influence of closeness of the friendship emerged. The closer the friendship, the more emails were written in total, but the less the relative use of email. Instead, the percentage of phone calls increased. Study 2 aimed to replicate and explain this finding and assessed also the content of the phone call or emails. Whereas the intimateness of the emails did not change with increased closeness of the friendship, the intimateness of the phone calls increased with increasing closeness of the friendship. This result indicates that people use email primarily for staying in touch, whereas important personal matters are still discussed on the phone.