Behavior Toward E-Communication Tools: A New Theoretical Model Based on Evolution Theory

Kock, Ned

doi:10.28945/2426

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Compensatory adaptation theory (Kock, 1998(Kock, , 1999(Kock, , 2001a(Kock, , 2001b has been developed in part to explain the inconsistent findings discussed in the previous section, and in part to provide an alternative theory that could overcome the limitations of the social presence and media richness theories. Compensatory adaptation theory argues that electronic communication media in general offer certain advantages, such as that of allowing for asynchronous and distributed group interaction, and at the same time, pose obstacles for communication in groups.…”

Section: Compensatory Adaptation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The principle states that individuals who choose to use electronic communication tools experience increased cognitive effort and communication ambiguity proportionally to the degree to which the tools suppress elements that are present in faceto-face communication (e.g., synchronicity, ability to convey/perceive non-verbal communication cues). The principle is task independent, that is, it applies to all collaborative tasks, even though it acknowledges that the link is less noticeable in tasks that do not involve intense communication which are seen as tasks that involve little knowledge sharing among collaborators (Kock, 2001b).…”

Section: The Media Naturalness Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compensatory adaptation theory argues that users of electronic communication tools present two common patterns of reaction toward those tools. Firstly, users of electronic communication tools in general perceive those tools as creating communication media that pose cognitive obstacles to communication when compared with the face-to-face medium (Kock, 2001a(Kock, , 2001b, as proposed by the media naturalness principle discussed above. That is, even though electronic communication tools may reduce or eliminate physical obstacles to face-to-face communicationfor example, e-mail and instant messaging allow people to communicate instantly over long distances -they also increase the cognitive effort required to communicate information and knowledge.…”

Section: Compensatory Adaptation Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Compensatory Adaptation to Media Obstacles

Kock

2005

Information Resources Management Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Past research on electronic communication media suggests that those media pose obstacles to communication in collaborative tasks when compared with the face-to-face medium. Yet, past research also points at mixed findings in connection with the quality of the outcomes of collaborative tasks, generally suggesting that the use of electronic communication media has no negative effect on those outcomes. A new theoretical framework building on human evolution theory, called compensatory adaptation theory, has been proposed to explain these contradictory findings. This study provides a review and test of compensatory adaptation theory. It investigates the impact of the use of an electronic communication medium on 20 business process redesign dyads involving managers and professionals at a large defense contractor, with a focus on cognitive effort, communication ambiguity, message preparation, fluency, and task outcome quality. The study suggests that even though the use of electronic communication media seemed to increase cognitive effort and communication ambiguity, it had a neutral impact on task outcome quality. These results appear to be an outcome of compensatory adaptation, whereby the members of the dyads interacting through the electronic communication medium modified their behavior in order to compensate for the obstacles posed by the medium, which is suggested by a decrease in fluency and an increase in message preparation. The results generally support predictions based on compensatory adaptation theory.

show abstract

Section: Compensatory Adaptation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Media Naturalness Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Compensatory Adaptation Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation