Media richness theory argues that performance improves when team members use “richer” media for equivocal tasks. Virtually all research on media richness theory has focused on perceptions: surveys of individuals’beliefs about media rather than investigating actual performance with richer versus leaner media. This experiment studied the effects of media richness on decision making in two-person teams (all male, all female, and mixed gender) using one form of “new media” (computer-mediated communication). Participants took longer to make decisions with computer-mediated communication. Matching richness to task equivocality only resulted in better performance for the all-female teams, likely because females are more sensitive to nonverbal communication and more affected by its absence in computer-mediated communication. For remaining teams, using richer face-to-face communication did not improve performance to a greater extent for more equivocal than less equivocal tasks. Results support media richness theory only for all-female teams.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Beach, L. R. , & Mitchell, T. R. (1978). A contingency model for the selection of decision strategies. Academy of Management Review, 3, 439-449.
2.
Briton, N. J. , & Hall, J. A. (1995). Beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication. Sex Roles, 32, 79-90.
3.
Burgoon, J. K. , & Dillman, L. (1995). Gender, immediacy, and nonverbal communication. In P. J. Kalbfleisch & M. J. Cody (Eds.), Gender, power and communication in human relationships (pp. 63-81). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
4.
Carli, L. L. (1984, July). Sex differences in task behaviors, social behaviors and influence as a function of sex composition of dyads and instructions to compete or cooperate. Dissertation Abstracts International, 45(1-B), 401.
5.
Chapanis, A. (1988). Interactive human communication. In I. Grief (Ed.), Computer-supported cooperative work: A book of readings (pp. 127-142). San Mateo, CA: Kaufmann.
6.
Christie, B. (1985). Human factors of information technology in the office. New York: John Wiley.
7.
Clausen, H. (1991). Electronic mail as a tool for the information professional. The Electronic Library, 9(2), 73-84.
8.
Copernicus . (1998). The testosterone rush: A study of senior marketing executives’ decision-making & management styles [On-line]. Available: http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/about/docs/press4.htm
9.
Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571.
10.
Daft, R. L. , Lengel, R. H., & Trevino, L. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance. MIS Quarterly, 11, 355-366.
11.
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, 16, 207-224.
12.
Daft, R. L. , & Wiginton, J. C. (1979). Language and organization. Academy of Management Review, 4, 179-191.
13.
Dennis, A. R. (1996). Information exchange and use in small group decision making. Small Group Research, 27, 532-550.
14.
Dennis, A. R. , & Kinney, S. T. (1998, May). Testing media richness theory in the new media: The effect of cues, feedback and task equivocality. Information Systems Research, 9, 30-33.
15.
Downs, C. W. , & Hazen, M. D. (1977). A factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 14, 63-73.
16.
Eagly, A. H. , & Chaiken, S. (1984). Cognitive theories of persuasion. Advanced Experimental Social Psychology, 17, 268-359.
17.
Eakins, B. W. , & Eakins, R. G. (1978). Sex differences in human communication. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
18.
El-Shinnawy, M. , & Markus, M. (1992). Media richness theory and new communication media: A study of voice mail and electronic mail. Proceedings of the international conference on information systems (pp. 91-105).
19.
Fishman, P. M. (1983). Interaction: The work women do. In B. Thorne, C. Kramarae, & N. Henley (Eds.), Language, gender, and society (pp. 89-102). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
20.
Fowler, G. D. , & Wacketbarth, M. E. (1980). Audio teleconferencing versus face-to-face conferencing: A synthesis of the literature. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 44, 236-252.
21.
Fulk, J. (1993). Social construction of communication technology. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 921-950.
22.
Fulk, J. , & Collins-Jarvis, L. (in press). Wired meetings: Technological mediation of organizational gatherings. In F. Jablin & L. Putnam (Eds.), New handbook of organizational communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
Galegher, J. , & Kraut, R. (1990). Technology for intellectual teamwork: Perspectives on research and design. In J. Galegher, R. Kraut, & C. Egido (Eds.), Intellectual teamwork. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
24.
Graddol, D. , & Swann, J. (1989). Gender voices. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
25.
Gregory, M. Y. (1997). Gender differences: An examination of computer-mediated communication. Annual meeting of the Southern States Communication Association, Savannah, GA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 410 604).
26.
Grint, K. (1992). Sniffers, lurkers, actor networkers: Computer-mediated communications as a technical fix. In J. Beynon & H. Mackay (Eds.), Technological literacy and the curriculum. London: Falmer Press.
Hecht, M. (1978). The conceptualization and measurement of interpersonal communication satisfaction. Human Communication Research, 4, 253-264.
29.
Herring, S. C. (1993). Gender and democracy in computer-mediated communication. Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line], 3(2). Available: http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/v3n293.htm
30.
Hiltz, S. R. , Johnson, K., & Turoff, M. (1981). The quality of group decision making in face-to-face versus computerized conferences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Toronto, Canada.
31.
Hiltz, S. R. , & Turoff, M. (1978). The network nation: Human communication via computer. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
32.
Hirschman, L. (1973). Female-male differences in conversational interaction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, San Diego.
33.
Hoskins, C. (1983). Psychometrics in nursing research: Construction of an interpersonal conflict scale. Research in Nursing and Health, 6, 75-83.
34.
Johansen, R. , Vallee, J., & Spangler, K. (1979). Electronic meetings: Technological alternatives and social choices. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
35.
Karma, I. (1994). Setting up your own network. Green Teacher, 37, 26-28.
36.
Kerr, E. , & Hiltz, S. (1982). Computer-mediated communication systems. New York: Academic Press.
37.
Kette, G. , & Konecni, V. J. (1995). Communication channels and gender differences in decoding and integration of cues in legal decision making. In G. Davies & S. Lloyd-Bostock (Eds.), Psychology, law and criminal justice. International developments in research and practice (pp. 314-326). Berlin: de Gruyter.
38.
Kiesler, S. , Seigel, J., & McGuire, T. W. (1984). Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication. American Psychologist, 39, 1123-1134.
39.
Kinney, S. T. , & Panko, R. (1996). Project teams: Profiles and member perceptions. Implications for group support system research and products. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
40.
Kinney, S. T. , & Watson, R., (1992). The effect of medium and task on dyadic communication. Proceedings of international conference on information systems (pp. 107-117). Dallas, TX.
41.
Kirk, R. E. (1968). Experimental design: Procedures for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
42.
LaFrance, M. , & Henley, N. M. (1994). On oppressing hypotheses: Or differences in nonverbal sensitivity revisited. In H. L. Radtke & H. J. Stam (Eds.), Power/gender: Social relations in theory and practice (pp. 287-311). London: Sage Ltd.
43.
Lee, A. (1994). Electronic mail as a medium for rich communication: An empirical investigation using hermeneutic interpretation. MIS Quarterly, 18, 143-157.
44.
Lengel, R. H. , & Daft, R. L. (1988). The selection of communication media as an executive skill. The Academy of Management Executive, 2, 225-232.
45.
Maguire. T. (1999, January). Gender cues impact marketers. American demographics [On-line]. Available: http://www.demographics.com/publications/ad/99_ad/9901_ad/ad990105g.htm
46.
Mason, R. (1994). Computer conferencing and the open university. The CTISS File, 17, 5-7.
47.
McConnell-Ginet, S. (1975). Our father tongue: Essays in linguistic politics. Diacritics, 4, 44-50.
48.
McLaughlin, M. L. , Cody, M. J., Kane, M. L., & Robey, C. S. (1981). Sex differences in story receipt and story sequencing behaviors in dyadic conversations. Human Communication Research, 7, 99-116.
49.
Monge, P. R. , McSween, C., & Wyer, J. (1989). A profile of meetings in corporate America: Results of the 3M meeting effectiveness study. Los Angeles: Annenberg School of Communications, University of Southern California.
50.
Neuman, D. (1991). Naturalistic inquiry and the Perseus Project. Computers and Humanity, 25(4), 239-246.
51.
Panko, R. , & Kinney, S. T. (1995a). Meeting profiles: Size, duration, and location. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 1002-1011). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
52.
Panko, R. , & Kinney, S. T. (1995b). Working relationships: Assessing the need for media to support close personal relationships at work. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the annual Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 24-33). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
53.
Payne, J. W. (1982). Contingent decision behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 382-402.
54.
Peltz, J. (1999, January 18). Women tout work technology. PC World Online [On-line]. Available: http://www2.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,9362,00.html
55.
Petty, R. E. , & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion. New York/Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
56.
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.
57.
Rhodes, N., & Wood, W. (1990). [Sequences of interaction among males and females in task groups]. Unpublished raw data.
58.
Rice, R. E. (1984). The new media: Communication, research, and technology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
59.
Rice, R. E. (1987). Computer-mediated communication and organizational innovation. Journal of Communication, 37, 65-94.
60.
Rice, R. E. (1992). Task analyzability, use of new media, and effectiveness: A multi-site exploration of media richness. Organization Science, 3, 475-500.
61.
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.
62.
Short, J. A. , Williams, F., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York: John Wiley.
63.
Siegel, J. , Dubrovsky, V., Kiesler, S., & McGuire. T. W. (1983). Group processes in computer-mediated communication. Organizational Behavior and Human Processes, 37, 157-187.
64.
Spangler, L. (1995). Gender-specific nonverbal communication: Impact for speaker effectiveness. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 6, 409-419.
65.
Stasser, G. (1992). Information salience and the discovery of hidden profiles by decision-making groups: A “thought experiment.”Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 52, 156-181.
66.
Tannen, D. (1990). Gender differences in topical coherence: Creating involvement in best friends’ talk. Discourse Processes, 13(1), 73-90.
67.
Thomas, H. , & Williams, E. (1975). The University of Quebec audio conferencing system: An analysis of user’s attitudes (Paper P/75190/TH). London: Communications Studies Group.
68.
Trevino, L. , Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1990). Understanding managers’media choices: A symbolic interactionist perspective. In J. Fulk & C. W. Steinfield (Eds.), Organizations and communication technology (pp. 71-95). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
69.
Tyran, C. K. , Dennis, A. R., Vogel, D. R., & Nunamaker, J. F., Jr. (1992). The application of electronic meeting systems to support strategic management. MIS Quarterly, 16, 313-334.
70.
Valacich, J. S. , Mennecke, B. E., Wachter, R. M., & Wheeler, B. C. (1994). Extensions to media richness theory: A test of the task-media fit hypothesis. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the annual Hawaiian international conference on system sciences (pp. 11-20). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.
71.
Vallee, J. , Johansen, R., Lipinski, Spangler, K., & Wilson, T. (1978). Group communications through computers. Vol. 3: Report R-35. Menlo Park, CA: Institute for the Future.
72.
Walther, J. B. (1992). Interpersonal effects in computer-mediated interaction. Communication Research, 19(1), 52-90.
73.
Walther, J. B. , & Burgoon, J. K. (1992). Relational communication in computer-mediated interaction. Human Communication Research, 19(1), 50-88.
74.
Watson, R. , DeSanctis, G., & Poole, M. S. (1988). Using a GDSS to facilitate group consensus: Some intended and unintended consequences. MIS Quarterly, 12, 463-478.
75.
Wichman, H. (1970). Effects of isolation and communication on cooperation in a two-person game. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 114-120.
76.
Williams, E. (1977). Experimental comparisons of face-to-face and meditated communication: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 963-976.
77.
Yates, J. , & Orlikowski, W. (1992). Genres of organizational communication: A structurational approach to studying communication and media. Academy of Management Review, 20, 299-326.
78.
Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269-274.
