Understanding information acquisition behavior is increasingly important because the amount of and access to information is growing at a staggering pace. Combining the media and source selection literature, we hypothesize that both task routineness and source accessibility influence media selection. The hypotheses are tested in an experiment where subjects selected among media to acquire the requisite information for a strategic task. Results show an interaction effect of task routineness and source accessibility on media selection. The implications of this effect and directions for future research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arrow, K. J. (1973). The limits of organization. New York: Norton.
2.
Axley, S. (1984). Managerial and organizational communication in terms of the conduit metaphor. Academy of Management Review, 9, 428-437.
3.
Bell, D. (1979). The social framework of the information society. In M. Dertovzos & J. Moses (Eds.), The computer age: A twenty year view (pp. 163-211). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4.
Choo, C. W. (1994). Perception and use of information sources by chief executives in environmental scanning. Library and Information Sciences Research, 16, 23-40.
5.
Culnan, M. J. (1983). Environmental scanning: The effects of task complexity and source accessibility on information gathering behavior. Decision Sciences, 14, 194-206.
6.
Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to managerial behavior and organizational design. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 6, pp. 191-233). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
7.
Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571.
8.
Daft, R. L. , & Macintosh, N. B. (1981). A tentative exploration into the amount and equivocality of information processing in organizational work units. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, 207-224.
9.
Fuld, L. M. (1995). The new competitor intelligence. New York: Wiley.
10.
Galbraith, J. R. (1973). Designing complex organizations. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
11.
Gerstenberger, P. G. , & Allen, T. J. (1968). Criteria used by research and development engineers in the selection of an information source. Journal of Applied Psychology, 52(4), 272-279.
12.
Hogarth, R. M. (1987). Judgment and choice: The psychology of decision (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
13.
Huber, G. P. (1990). A theory of the effects of advanced information technologies on organizational design, intelligence, and decision making. Academy of Management Review, 15, 47-71.
14.
Jones, J. W. , Saunders, C., & McLeod, R., Jr. (1993). Media usage and velocity in executive information acquisition: An exploratory study. European Journal of Information Systems, 2(4), 260-272.
15.
Lengel, R. , & Daft, R. (1988). The selection of communication media as an executive skill. Academy of Management Executive, 2, 225-232.
16.
Markus, M. L. (1994). Electronic mail as the medium of managerial choice. Organization Science, 5, 502-527.
17.
McKinnon, S. M. , & Bruns, W. J. (1992). The information mosaic. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
18.
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. New York: Harper & Row.
19.
Nikilanta, S. , & Scamell, R. W. (1990). The effect of information sources and communication channels on the diffusion of innovation in a data base development environment. Management Science, 36, 24-39.
20.
O'Reilly, C. R. (1978). The intentional distortion of information in organizational communication: A laboratory and field investigation. Human Relations, 31, 173-193.
21.
O'Reilly, C. R. (1982). Variations in decision makers' use of information sources: The impact of quality and accessibility of information. Academy of Management Journal, 25, 756-771.
22.
O'Reilly, C. R. (1983). The use of information in organizational decision making: A model and some propositions. In B. Staw & L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 5, pp. 103-139). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
23.
Petty, R. E. , & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion. New York: Springer-Verlag.
24.
Reinsch, N. L. , & Beswick, R. W. (1990). Voice mail versus conventional channels: A cost minimization analysis of individuals' preferences. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 801-816.
25.
Rice, R. E. (1992). Task analyzability, use of new media, and effectiveness: A multi-site exploration of media richness. Organization Science, 3, 475-500.
26.
Rice, R. E. , & Shook, D. E. (1990). Relationships of job categories and organizational levels to use of communication channels, including electronic mail: A meta-analysis and extension. Journal of Management Studies, 27, 195-229.
27.
Russ, G. S. , Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1990). Media selection and managerial characteristics in organizational communications. Management Communication Quarterly, 4, 151-175.
28.
Saunders, C. , & Jones, J. W. (1990). Temporal sequences in information acquisition for decision making: A focus on source and medium. Academy of Management Review, 15, 29-46.
29.
Schmitz, J. , & Fulk, J. (1991). Organizational colleagues, information richness, and electronic mail: A test of the social influence model of technology use. Communication Research, 18, 487-523.
30.
Trevino, L. K. , Lengel, R. H., & Daft, R. L. (1987). Media symbolism, media richness, and media choice in organizations: A symbolic interactionist perspective. Communication Research, 14, 553-574.
31.
Trevino, L. K. , Lengel, R. H., Bodensteiner, W., Gerloff, E., & Muir, N. K. (1990). The richness imperative and cognitive style: The role of individual differences in media choice behavior. Management Communication Quarterly, 4, 176-197.
32.
Weick, K. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
