Content area
Full Text
Media richness theory predicts that managers, driven by the instrumental goal of task efficiency, choose media based on the match up of message equivocality and media richness. This study proposes that relational and self-presentational goals are also relevant in manager-subordinate interactions, particularly when messages differ in valence, and investigated 107 managers in Hong Kong. Findings with respect to traditional media show (a) media richness theory holds when messages are positive, (b) self-presentational goals are the most powerful predictor of media choice when messages are negative, (c) relational goals have some impact on managers' media choice, and (d) complexity is a sensitive predictor of media choice. Thus, media richness theory can be improved by incorporating a broader consideration of relevant interaction goals and the constructs of message valence and complexity.
Keywords: media richness theory; communicative goals; message valence; task complexity; manager-subordinate communication
Media richness theory (MRT) is one of the most widely studied models of media choice in management communication and has received mixed results over the years (e.g., Mennecke, Valacich, & Wheeler, 2000). In an attempt to improve this theory, the current study proposes and tests a conceptual expansion by replacing the original instrumental goal with multiple goals as the base of managers' media choice for task accomplishment.
MRT AND MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATIVE GOALS
Assuming the rationality of human behavior as striving for efficiency and effectiveness, MTR focuses on media richness as the basis for managers' choice of media for communicative tasks. The richness of a medium depends on (a) the availability of instant feedback; (b) the use of multiple cues, such as physical presence, voice inflection, body gestures, and graphic symbols, and so forth; (c) the use of natural language for conveying a broad set of concepts and ideas; and (d) the personal focus of the medium. The more a medium displays these attributes, the richer it is. Otherwise, it is leaner. Face to face is the "richest" medium because it has the capacity for immediate feedback, carries multiple cues, and uses natural language. A few common media have been ordered from the richest to the leanest as face to face, telephone, personal written text (letters, notes, memos), formal written text (documents, bulletins), and formal numeric text (computer output, statistical reports) (Daft &...