Examining media effectiveness across cultures and national borders: A review and multilevel framework

Abstract

We explore the ways that perceptions of media effectiveness are affected by the societal culture, organizational culture, occupational (professional) culture, individual characteristics, and technology acceptance. This is an important subject to explore, as communication is essential to organizational functioning. The continuous drive for communication to individuals in different national and organizational situations around the world, due in part to globalization, leads us to ask: which medium is perceived as the most effective for each of the tasks a manager may be called upon to perform, particularly in different cultures? In other words, is the receiver getting the message that we intend, when the receiver is not in the same situation (societal, organizational, professional, etc.) as the sender? There are contexts of shared values, rules, and experiences that affect communication; words do not have the same meaning and value across languages and cultures (Macnamara, 2004). This means that the message sent from one context may not be the message received in another. If we are not communicating the messages we intend, then our method of communicating may be efficient, but it is certainly not effective. However, there is little research on the effectiveness of media types. We develop a framework highlighting the intersection of variables salient to effectiveness: societal, organizational, and occupational culture, individual characteristics, and technology the sender? In the conclusion, we suggest future work that might be appropriate, given the increasing interest in global communication.