Technological or Social Utility? Unraveling Explanations of Email, Vmail, and Fax Use

Abstract Individuals who have ready access to three new communication media— email, vmail, and fax—may elect to use only one medium, or two or more in combination. Users make choices based on evaluations of the utility of each medium for their communication tasks (a function of the types of work they perform). Individuals may assess technological characteristics to evaluate the technological utility of each medium. However, since communication media require multiple users, individuals also may be expected to assess characteristics of the user community to evaluate the social utility of each medium. Social utility may be influenced by people's perceptions of the existence of a critical mass of media users, and by the social influence of their peers and superiors. This study finds that perceptions of the technological and social utility of email, vmail, and fax are relatively independent of the types of work people perform. Social utility explains media usage somewhat better than technological utility, exce...

[1]  C. Steinfield,et al.  A Social Information Processing Model of Media Use in Organizations , 1987 .

[2]  Shoshana Zuboff.  In the Age of the Smart Machine , 1988 .

[3]  N. L. Reinsch,et al.  Voice Mail Versus Conventional Channels: A Cost Minimization Analysis of Individuals' Preferences , 1990 .

[4]  R. Rice,et al.  Attitudes toward New Organizational Technology: Network Proximity as a Mechanism for Social Information Processing. , 1991 .

[5]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Toward a “Critical Mass” Theory of Interactive Media , 1987 .

[6]  R. Rice.  Computer-Mediated Communication and Organizational Innovation , 1987 .

[7]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Productivity enhancement from computer-mediated communication: a systems contingency approach , 1988, CACM.

[8]  Ronald E. Rice,et al.  Access to, usage of, and outcomes from an electronic messaging system , 1988, TOIS.

[9]  Peter A. Todd,et al.  Perceived Usefulness, Ease of Use, and Usage of Information Technology: A Replication , 1992, MIS Q..

[10]  S. R. Hiltz,et al.  Experiments in group decision making: Communication process and outcome in face-to-face versus computerized conferences. , 1986 .

[11]  J. Webster,et al.  Flow in Computer-Mediated Communication , 1992 .

[12]  Tora K. Bikson,et al.  Evolving electronic communication networks: an empirical assessment , 1986, CSCW '86.

[13]  C. Steinfield,et al.  A Social Influence Model of Technology use , 1990 .

[14]  Robert W. Zmud,et al.  An Attribute Space for Organizational Communication Channels , 1990, Inf. Syst. Res..

[15]  Starr Roxanne Hiltz,et al.  Network Nation: Human Communication Via Computer , 1979 .

[16]  Ronald E. Rice,et al.  Electronic Message Systems in the University: A Description of Use and Utility , 1983 .

[17]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[18]  R. Rice,et al.  Electronic Emotion , 1987 .

[19]  Raymond R. Panko,et al.  Managerial Communication Patterns , 1992 .

[20]  James D. Thompson.  Organizations in Action , 1967 .

[21]  Janet Fulk,et al.  Organizational Colleagues, Media Richness, and Electronic Mail , 1991 .

[22]  P. Attewell.  Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning: The Case of Business Computing , 1992 .

[23]  Douglas E. Shook,et al.  RELATIONSHIPS OF JOB CATEGORIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS TO USE OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC MAIL: A META-ANALYSIS AND EXTENSION* , 1990 .

[24]  M. Markus.  Electronic Mail as the Medium of Managerial Choice , 1994 .

[25]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[26]  Howard B. Lee,et al.  A first course in factor analysis , 1973 .

[27]  T. Abel,et al.  Mind, Self, and Society , 1934 .

[28]  Ronald E. Rice,et al.  Voice messaging, coordination, and communication , 1990 .

[29]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Message Equivocality, Media Selection, and Manager Performance: Implications for Information Systems , 1987, MIS Q..

[30]  August E. Grant,et al.  Individual and network influences on the adoption and perceived outcomes of electronic messaging , 1990 .

[31]  Mary J. Culnan,et al.  The dimensions of accessibility to online information: implications for implementing office information systems , 1984, TOIS.

[32]  Tora K. Bikson,et al.  The interplay of work group structures and computer support , 1990 .

[33]  C. Steinfield,et al.  On the Role of Theory in Research on Information Technologies in Organizations , 1987 .

[34]  E. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations , 1962 .

[35]  Janet Fulk,et al.  Emerging Theories of Communication in Organizations , 1991 .

[36]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication , 1986 .

[37]  Michael L. Tushman,et al.  Information Processing as an Integrating Concept in Organizational Design. , 1978 .

[38]  L. Zucker.  The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. , 1977 .

[39]  P. Berger,et al.  Social Construction of Reality , 1991, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.

[40]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) , 2017 .

[41]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design , 1986 .

[42]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[43]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[44]  R. Daft,et al.  Understanding Managers' Media Choices: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective , 1990 .

[45]  L. Zucker.  Institutional Theories of Organization , 1987 .

[46]  Thomas J. Allen,et al.  Managing the flow of technology: technology transfer and the dissemination of technological informat , 1977 .

[47]  Ronald E. Rice,et al.  Usage and Outcomes of Electronic Messaging at an R&D Organization: Situational Constraints, Job Level, and Media Awareness , 1989 .

[48]  J. Pfeffer,et al.  A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. , 1978, Administrative science quarterly.

[49]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Why CSCW applications fail: problems in the adoption of interdependent work tools , 1990, CSCW '90.

[50]  E. Hanushek.  Statistical methods for social scientists , 1977 .

[51]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action , 1986 .

[52]  Nancy C. Goodwin,et al.  Functionality and usability , 1987, CACM.

[53]  R. Daft,et al.  Information Richness. A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design , 1983 .

[54]  Everett M. Rogers,et al.  Communication Technology: The New Media in Society , 1986 .