Revisiting media richness theory for today and future

Abstract

Media richness theory was developed in the mid‐1980s in the field of business management and became very popular along with the diffusion of electronic communication media. Despite the popularity, inconsistent results from empirical studies have been the issues with this theory. In addition, the recent advanced communication technology has been raising more challenges towards the original concepts. Thus, we have reviewed the literature in the past decade to illustrate diverse applications and validity of the theory with more recent communication channels. Based on the findings we have also discussed a future of media richness theory.

Complexity and Simplicity in Doctor–Patient Email Consultations

“…Media richness theory was introduced in 1986 (Daft & Lengel, 1986); it is a framework used to rank and evaluate the richness of certain communication media, including email. It is useful to distinguish, like Ishii, Lyons, and Carr (2019), between earlier versions of media richness theory (e.g. Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987), which were objectivist and understood media such as email as inherently "lean" as opposed to the richness of face-to-face communication, and later forms of media richness theory which also incorporated subjective experience and social influence such as organizational culture in interpreting a medium's potential (Carlson & Zmud, 1999).…”

Acceptability of real-time video counselling compared to other behavioural interventions for smoking cessation in rural and remote areas

“…Benefits of video counselling compared to other behavioural interventions such as telephone counselling and written materials include that video counselling allows counsellors to respond to the client’s verbal and non-verbal cues. The Media Richness theory ( Ishii et al, 2019 ) conceptualises that real-time video counselling would rank highly as a rich mode of communication because it provides virtual face-to-face support. The advisors are able to respond to non-verbal cues which may increase therapeutic alliance.…”

Applicants’ pre-test reactions towards video interviews: the role of expected chances to demonstrate potential and to use nonverbal cues

“…Media richness is defined as "the ability of information to change understanding within a time interval" (Daft & Lengel, 1986, p. 560) and depends on the availability of immediate feedback (i.e., possibility to ask questions and to make corrections), multiple cues (i.e., number of social cues available), language variety (i.e., the range of meaning that can be conveyed), and personal focus (i.e., personal feelings and emotions can be expressed, Daft et al, 1987). According to Media Richness Theory, despite giant leaps in the development of video conferencing technologies, video conferencing is still behind on face-to-face interactions in terms of media richness (Dennis & Kinney, 1998;Ishii et al, 2019). For example, in video conferencing, verbal communication may be hindered by time lags and other connection failures leading to less fluent communication exchanges, which may prevent fluent turn taking between communicating parties (Powers et al, 2011;Wegge, 2006).…”