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INFORMATION AND BEHAVIOR

Volume 2

Edited by

Brent D. Ruben

•Transaction BooksNew Brunswick (U.S.A.) and Oxford (U.K.)

Contents

List of Figures viiList of Tables viiiAcknowledgments ix

PART I Information and Communication: Theoretical IssuesI. Tel1ing Stories in the Information Age 3

George Gerbner2. How Does Information "Inform"? 13

Lee Dwyer3. The Concept of Information: A Historical

Perspective on Modern Theory and Technology 27Gordon L. Miller

4. Information, Behavior, and Meaning 54DorothyL. Krueger and Nancy L. Harper

5. Computer Science as a Rhetoric 74James W Chesebro

PART II Communication and Information-ProcessingTechnology: Issues and Implications

6. Can We Predict New Technology's Future? 95GeraldC. Stone

7. Telework as a Work-Style Innovation 116Robert E. Kraut

8. Old, New, or High Technology: Channel Selection forCorporate Training 147

Susanna R. Barber, Stephen K. Kwan, andEileen M. Trauth

9. Process and Structure in Computer-MediatedGroup Communication 167

T Andrew FinnPART III Information Processing and Individual Behavior10. Origins, Evolution, and Development of a Systems-Based

Model of Intrapersonal Processes: A Holistic View of Manas Information Processor 197

Deborah Roach Barker, Larry L. Barker, andMargaret Fitch Hauser

II. Cognitive Complexity and Cognitive Backlog inHuman Information Processing 216

Gregory S. Andriate and Michael 1. Beatty12. Humor and Behavior: Therapeutic Aspects of

Comedic Techniques and Other Considerations 226Arthur Asa Berger

13. Attributing Intention to Communication:Information as the Interpretation of Interaction 248

Peter Ehrenhaus

PART IV Interpersonal, Social, and Political Processes14. Media Messages and Information Processing in

Interpersonal Communication: "Generally Speaking" 273Gerald R. Miller

15. The Role of Social Values in Information Policy:The Cases of France and Japan 288

Benjamin J. Bates16. Information Theory and Interpersonal Communication 308

Gloria P Thomas and Gary F.So/dow

PART V Health Information Systems and Processess17. Communication in Health Professional-Lay Encounters:

How Often Does Each Party KnowWhat the Other Wants to Discuss? 329

Dorothy C. Wertz, James R. Sorenson, andTimothy C. Heeren

18. The Chronic Disease Database: First Principles toFuture Directions 343

James F. Fries19. The Role of the Physician Data Query On-Line

Cancer System in Health Information Dissemination 362Gary L. Kreps, Susan M. Hubbard, and Vincent T. Dei/ita

About the Contributors 375

NEPHIS Subject and Citation Index 381Gary Radford and James D. Anderson

Old, New, or High Technology:Channel Selection for Corporate Training

Susanna R. Barber, Stephen K. Kwan,and Eileen M. Trauth

Increasingly. traditional channels of corporate communication andtraining, such as person-to-person and print, are being replaced withcomputer messaging and videotape. There is a growing need to examine the rationalefor choosing one medium over another and this studycompares the information dissemination qualities ofprint , video, andelectronic message systems. The study also examines subject perceptions about six information attributes and compares these attitudeswith subject dispositions to use each channel. Although there appearsto be no significant difference between the three channels in facilitating information recall and decision making, there are differences inuser attitudes toward the three media. Subjects indicate a high disposition toward using video and a low disposition toward electronicmessage systems. Moreover, while subject perceptions about a channel's information attributes may be positive, subject dispositions touse a channel are not necessarily determined by the importance theyplace on information attributes associated with that channel. Thestudy suggests that in order to have employees believe new communication systems are as valuable as they are intended to be, and toincrease the likelihood that they will actually be used, more userorientation to these new information media is required.

The communications revolution is an information revolution, and it isperhaps most keenly felt in the corporate environment. New office auto-

147

148 Information and Behavior, Vol. 2

mation systems, including computer and telephone technologies, havetransformed traditional methods ofdata input, storage, and retrieval (Bair& Siegman, 1982; Panko, 1984; Rice, 1984; Yates, 1982; Zuboff, 1982).Accompanying this revolution in office automation is one which affectshuman communication, person-to-person as well as person-to-machine.Information which was once transferred or dispersed by word-of-mouth orthe written/printed page is now disseminated by telephone wires, computerterminals, and video tapes and discs (Hiltz & Turoff, 1978; Rice, 1980.1984; Rogers & Picot, 1983; Schiller, 1982; Uhlig, Farber & Bair, 1979:Williams, 1982). New communications tools and technologies have alteredthe ways in which we learn new information and apply information already learned (Kerr & Hiltz, 1982; O'Reilly, 1982). What some have calledthe mass information environment (Bowes, 1980), is really an environmentmade up of men, women, and machines, in which new behaviors andattitudes emerge (Rice & Williams, 1984; Williams & Rice, 1983; Williams,Rice & Dordick, 1984), and new avenues of inquiry are needed to assess thesocio-psychological, behavioral, and philosophical impacts of a revolutionwhich quite literally changes our lives (Rice & Rogers, 1984; Thomas &Carrol, 1981).

The flow of information within corporations is a dynamic process, oftenhaving such action-oriented goals as increased knowledge and productivityon the part of employees, and many corporations have developed specialdepartments with the mission ofcommunicating training-related information among employees and/or between management and employees. Corporate training is, itself, a growth industry. In the Boston, Massachusetts,area alone there are an estimated 3,000 people teaching in corporate classrooms (Hirsch, 1982), and most use some form of media in the instructional process. In 1980, General Motors spent more than a billion dollarsto train and inform its employees; AT&T invested more than $750 millionon its training programs (Thomas, 1981), and there were hundreds of organizations in the U.S. using video programs for communication andtraining purposes (Brush, 1981; Dranov, Moore & Hickey, 1980).

Communication and Technological Change in the Work Place

A plethora of literature attests to the importance of communication inthe work place, including the relationship between communication and jobperformance (Anderson & Level, 1980) or profit levels (Nirenberg, 1973;Wright, 1961), managerial perceptions of communication flow (Carl, 1970;Townsend, 1965), the relationship between organizational structures andinformation flow (Galbraith, 1977; Weick, 1969), the role of in-house publications (D'Aprix, 1979; Scholz, 1956), the need for appropriately trained

Channel Selection for Corporate Training 149

communication directors (Shatshat, 1980), the importance of integratingmanagement and communication functions (Porterfield, 1980), and theamount of time people spend communicating in the work place, along withthe types of communication activities that take place (Klemmer andSnyder" 1972).

Related to this body of literature are studies describing the importance ofexamining channel characteristics and user attitudes in managing the communication process (Melcher & Beller, 1967~ Picot, Klingenberg &Kranzle, 1982; Rice & Case, 1983), the impact of telecommunicationssystems on communication patterns and procedures (Johansen, Vallee &Spangler, 1979; Rice, 1982), policy and economic implications of new technologies (Dizzard, 1982;Johnson & Rice, 1984), and the socio-psychological implications of telecommunications (Short, Williams & Christie, 1976).

The Relationship between Communication and Productivity

Another area of concern has been the relationship between communication and increased employee productivity (Downs & Hain, 1982; Gibb,1973~ Gildea and Emanuel, 1980), in particular the impact of new officetechnologies (office automation) on white-collar productivity (Bair, 1979,1980; Culnan & Bair, 1983; Poppel, 1982~ Rice & Bair, 1984). More traditional industrial studies have usually examined productivity of assembly(manufacturing) workers, where actual products could be counted.However, as Culnan and Bair (1983) have pointed out, it is hard to assessincreased productivity based on "products" as intangible as informationtransfer and data input or output.

Although the present study is not intended to measure productivity levels, it can be viewed from the premise that there is a positive correlationbetween increased communication (information) and productivity. For example, the use of appropriate media (training tools) for information transfer may lead to greater acquisition of knowledge applicable to specific jobtasks (actions or decisions). If tasks are then carried out more efficientlyand more accurately, this may itself be a form of higher productivity, sincelow accuracy information acquisition and mistaken actions or decisionsmay be detri mental to the corporation, even to the extent of affectingprofits.

User Attitudes toward Communications Tools

Another consideration in selecting an appropriate training tool is the"user friendliness" of the medium, that is, how comfortable does the perSOn being trained feel about interacting with a particular channel of com-


munication? Person-to-person and written (printed) methods havegenerally met with little resistance, but newer methods such as videotapeprograms or electronic (computer) messages may be perceived as "unfriendly," even "inappropriate" business training media. Attitudes towardnew technologies, then, may affect a trainee's willingness to use a specificcommunication tool, and this perceptual or attitudinal hesitancy may, inturn, inhibit learning.

A seminal field study of cognitive and affective determinants of channelselection for office communication was conducted by Picot, Klingenbergand Kranzle (1982). Picot and his colleagues concluded that while newoffice communications technologies (in this case a teletex system) may beperceived as advantageous to several task-oriented functions, computertechnologies may not always be the most communication-effective substitutes for traditional communication channels, such as face-to-face communication. Affective determinants of channel selection indicated needsfor social interaction and emotional satisfaction that are available onlythrough interpersonal communication channels, not through machinetransmitted messages.

Mediated Instruction

As with the study of television's impact as an instructional medium,recent interest in computers as learning tools has tended to focus moreheavily on their potential use by children rather than by adults (Chen,1984). In 1977 Wilbur Schramm noted that there were nearly 1,000 experimental studies on mediated learning, mostly comparing television or computer assisted instruction with traditional classroom instruction. The bulkof these studies tested pre-school and school age children (Ball and Bogatz,1971) and most experiments involving adult subjects have tested learningof academic, course content rather than business related information(Schramm, 1977). Studies with a closer relationship to corporate traininghave often found that subjects trained with film or computer aids achievedhigher test scores than control groups: were later able to complete theirwork faster and more accurately than subjects taught by demonstration.and needed only half the training time of the control groups taught intraditional classes (Schramm. 1977). This time factor is particularly important in corporate education because the longer employees are taken off-thejob for training, the more time they are unproductive. Time, in otherwords, costs money in terms of lost sales and services.

Experiments conducted to test learning using printed materials have alsofocused primarily on high school and college students rather than on business employees (Schramm, 1977). Those testing adults have found mixed


values for printed materials compared with CRT display (Kozar & Dickson, 1978) and oral communication (Pacilio, 1977). While cumulativeexperimental results tell us something about which media facilitate information recall and time-saving in the training process, they do not provide acomplete picture of newer training tools in the work place, particularly in acorporate managerial context.

Research Problem

With the move away from traditional forms of information dissemination, there is an increasing need to examine the rationale for choosing onegiven communication medium over another. Towards this end, the following experiment was conducted to assess the relationship between communication channel use and information recall, and to evaluate subjectdispositions to using alternative communication channels. Specifically, thestudy was designed to:

1. Compare the effectiveness of three communications media-print, videotape, and computer messaging-as training tools within a corporatesetting.

2. Determine whether knowledge acquisition differs when the same information is transmitted by each of the three different communicationchannels.

3. Define user perceptions of each medium as a corporate training tool inrelation to six information attributes: timeliness, completeness, recall(accessibility), accuracy, form (method of presentation), and relevance(Senn, 1979).

4. Explore subjectiveuser attitudes toward each communication channel.

This study is based on a real-life situation existing in a large computermanufacturing company. Here, mid-level sales managers are trained tomake decisions about the necessity of applying for equipment export licenses to foreign countries which may be perceived as "unfriendly" by theU.S. Government. If a sales manager does not know: (a) when and why it isappropriate to apply for such a license, (b) how to complete the necessarypaperwork, file it with the relevant office, or interface with other corporatedepartments involved in the license application, and (c) keep the customerappraised of the progress of the license review and shipping order, then thesale may be "lost," Such export orders may be worth millions ofdollars sothe speed and accuracy with which a sales person handles the licensingprocedure is a crucial one for the corporation.


Experimental Setting and Subjects

Subjects for the study were 104 MBA students controlling for: (1) similaracademic achievement and aptitude (by comparing mean scores from theirGraduate Management Admission Test results), (2) no previous employment at the corporation, and (3) no computer sales experience. MBAstudents were chosen because of their suitability as surrogate managers(see, for example, Dickson, Senn & Chervany, 1977). Subjects were assigned to groups for interaction with one of the three communicationchannels and a fourth group served as a control. To simulate the real-worldcorporate training agenda, each group of subjects listened to the sameaudio-taped case, which presented them with facts about the sale of computers to a specific foreign country, raised questions about export licensing,and called for decisions to be made. The case was played twice and notetaking was not allowed.

Following the case presentation, each group ofexperimental subjects wasexposed to the same training information, but using a different communication channel: electronic (computer) messaging, videotape, or print. Thelinear videotape program was a production of the corporation's mediadepartment and is currently being used for sales training. Based on atranscript of the videotape, a menu-driven computer message and aprinted document were developed, both using the same wording. The videotape was nine minutes in length, and in order to ensure equal exposuretime to the information, subjects in this channel group were shown thetape twice; the other two groups were given up to 20 minutes to view theirrespective message materials (again, note taking was not allowed). Potentially, then, the three experimental groups had equal exposure time to theinformation. Subjects were then given up to one hour to complete a questionnaire; the control group completed the same questionnaire havingheard only the background case material but not the relevant traininginformation.

Questionnaire Design

One part of the questionnaire sought objective data designed to testwhether the channel used to convey the information has any effect on theamount of information acquired by the end user (receiver). In order tomake the recall task more applicable to a real-world environment, one setofquestions was designed to test straightforward recall of facts presented inthe message, while another set tested understanding of the message contentby asking for information to be applied to a decision setting described inthe case. Data for each channel group were analyzed in three ways: ( 1) by


TABLE 8.1Objective Scores Overall, by Decision Making and by Recall

OVERALLDECISION

RECALLMAKING

Groups N Mean (T Mean (T Mean (I

Electronic Messaging System 24 45.17 3.50 11.42 1.28 33.75 2.57Print 33 44.55 4.0 I 11.03 1.31 33.52 3.33Videotape 30 45.30 2.90 11.17 1.46 34.13 2.32F-ratio (3 Groups) (2.84) 0.41 0.57 0.38Control 17 36.65 4.06 8.18 2.46 28.47 2.81F-ratio (4 Groups) (3,100) 25.49 .... 17.33.... 17.29"·Total Possible 53 13 40

1':50.05:**/1:50.01.

overall scores, (2) by recall and decision scores. and (3) by each particulartest question.,

The other part of the questionnaire sought subjective data designed totest whether there is any significant difference between attitudes about achannel's information attributes and disposition to use that channel. Usingseven-point Likert-type scales. subjects were asked to assess: (I) their relative degree of agreement/disagreement about the use of a given channel inthe context of one of the six information attributes, and (2) the degree ofimportance placed on each of these information attributes, independent ofchannel, for corporate training. In addition, the subjects were required tochoose one of the three communication channels, given (in turn) each ofthe six attributes as the most important feature of the information dissemination situation.

Results

Table I shows that the experimental subjects, on average, scored 16percent higher than the control group on recall and decision making items.The difference verifies the value of the information itself, but does notindicate the influence ofa particular channel in relaying that information.The table also shows that the channel used to convey the information hadno influence on the amount of information received, since there was nosignificant difference on overall mean scores or cumulative recall and decision making scores between channel groups.

However, when mean scores for each of the recall and decision makingquestions were analyzed individually, six of the forty items indicated significantly different scores by channel group, and revealed some interesting


TABLE8.2Mean Scores of Recall Questions That are Significantly Different Among Groups

RECALL QUESTIONS

Groups 16 22 23 32 36 38

Electronic Messaging Systems 0.917 0.583 0.667 0.792 0.917 0.958Print 0.818 0.606 0.758 0.939 0.818 0.909Videotape 1.000 0.267 0.933 0.633 1.000 0.700F-ration (3 Groups) 3.25* 4.60* 3.22* 4.83* 3.25* 4.51*

Question Content16 Sales condition which requires an export license.22 Individual who has responsibility for applying for a license.23 Length of time needed for getting a license.32 Factors influencing the sale of technology abroad.36 Type of technology requiring a license.38 Type of technology requiring a license.

*p.:sO.05.

patterns. Table 2 shows that the videotape group produced extreme scores(highest on three items and lowest on three items); the print group scoreswere evenly distributed, and the electronic messaging group scored in second place on four of the six items. Although it would be inappropriate todraw strong conclusions based on these data (given the finding of no significant differences in recall by channel group), it seems that some types ofinformation may lend themselves differently to specific communicationchannels, consistent with findings of similar research (Picot, Klingenberg& Kranzle, 1982).

Attitudinal Data

While one part of the questionnaire sought objective data on information recall by channel group, the intent of the other part of thequestionnaire was to obtain data on the subjects' perceptions and attitudesabout the three channels. Table 3 indicates perceived information attributes and subject dispositions to use each channel. The subjects' meandispositions towards channel use were significantly different from theirmean scores for a channel's perceived information attributes. A strongdisposition to use a given channel, then, does not necessarily mean that thesubjects responded favorably about the appropriateness ofa given channelvis-a-vis each of the information attributes.

Figure I shows that the overall disposition to use an electronic messagingsystem (E.M.S) is slightly negative, as indicated by the dotted band located


TABLES.3Channel Dispositions and Information Attribute Attitudes

ELECTRONICMESSAGE PRINT VIDEOTAPESYSTEM

Information Attribute Attitudes Mean a Mean fT Mean a

Relevance :;A4 1.06 3AI 1.44 5.77 IA3Completeness 3.26 1.50 3AI UR 4.17 IA8Recall 5.78 1.02 4.77 1.46 4.16 UOAccuracy 3.00 1.54 3.07 1.73 I.R6 1.10Timeliness 5.89 0.85 2.68 1.39 3.76 1.49Form 5.22 1.57 3.98 1.51 4.82 1.33Disposition 3.71 IAI 3.89 U8 539 1.43F-ratio (6.59R) 78.3 I** 18.66** 75.95**

1)~O.05:··I'::~O.OI.

FIGURE 8.1Attribute Rating Versus Disposition to Use Menu-Driven Electronic Messaging

MOST1

6

~ 5<UVl

:x 4zoa..Vl

~ J

2

I I95% C.I. OF ATTRIBUTE

I ( ATTITUDE MEAN

...........................................................................................195 % C.1. OF DISPOSmOf\MEAN....·..· · ·t..· · ···..··..·i· · ·..···~


below the mid-point score of four (neutral/no opinion). In fact, the disposition score for E.M.S. is the lowest of the three channel group scores, perhaps because many of the subjects were unfamiliar with electronicmessaging and would be inherently reluctant to use a medium that is bothnew and complex. It is interesting to note, however, that while the personaldisposition toward use was low, the subjects' perception of the channel'svalue for four of the attributes were quite high. In fact, they were' thehighest of the three channels. Electronic messaging systems are perceivedas valuable when timeliness, recall (accessibility), relevance, and form(method of presentation) are regarded as important considerations of thecommunication situation.

Figure 2 shows the subjects' disposition to use print in comparison withtheir perceptions about this channel's information attributes. There is aslightly higher location of the 95% confidence interval of mean dispositioncompared with E.M.S. In contrast with both electronic messaging andvideotape, attitudes about the use of print as a business communicationchannel tend to be consistent with disposition to use the medium. Of the

FIGURE 8.2Attribute Rating Versus Disposition to Use Print

MOST7

6 95% C.1. OF ATTRIBUTEATTITUDE MEAN

~ 5 I A~ ...) ~~:N C.I. OF DISPOSITIONtil 4

~ · · · 1·..· ·· · · · ···,·..··· ·J

II! 'I I2


six attributes. print is associated least with timeliness and most with recall(accessi biIity).

Figure 3 shows that videotape received the highest disposition scoreamong the three channels: the 95% confidence interval of mean dispositionis above five on the preference scale. However. despite the strong preferencetoward videotape use. there is a strong disassociation with regard to accuracy. perhaps suggesting an inherent distrust of television communication in the business context. Perceptions about three other attributestimeliness. completeness and recall-were also lower than the general disposition toward channel usc. It seems that while subjects were positivelyinclined toward the use of videotape. they were not necessarily sure aboutwhy. Familiarity with this medium may account for its high dispositionscore. yet subjects seem unwilling to assess it as a suitable corporate communication tool.

Figure 4 compares overall mean ratings for the six information attributesby channel. Timeliness. recall (accessibility). and form were most stronglyassociated with electronic messaging systems. The strength of print appears

FIGURE 8.3Attribute Rating Versus Disposition to Use Videotape

MOST7

s __ _ I _ i~~C.I. OF DISPOSITION

~ 5 ·..·················I··..J

~ 4 I I I L 95% C./. OF ATTRIBUTE6 ATTITUDE MEANQ.VI

l:l:! 3

2 I


FIGURE 8.4Mean Attribute Rating by Channel

MOST7

6

~ 5«U(/)

~ "Zoo,(/)

~ 3

2

to lie with accuracy and recall, though for the latter attribute it rankedconsiderably lower than electronic message systems. Videotape ranked thehighest for completeness and relevance. and closely followed E.M.S. withregard to form. The fact that print is the more traditional medium may bereflected by the consistency of its perceived information attribute means.compared with the more extreme attribute means of the "newer" businesstechnologies, E.M.S. and videotape. It might also be suggested that subjectshave fairly stereotypical notions of a channel's information attributes. Forexample. they regard E.M.S. as providing timely. accessible. information ina suitable business format: print is a source of accurate but easily datedinformation: and while videotape portrays information in a relevant andcomplete manner, its association with entertainment rather than factualinformation leads to assessments of inaccuracy. In general, these resultsshow that there is a discrepancy between disposition toward a channel (theextent to which a person liked or disliked using a channel) and perceptionsabout which channel is an appropriate source of information for corporatetraining purposes.

Discussion


Research into new media technologies has been developing rapidly overthe past decade. In fact during this time the communications and businessliterature has seen a veritable explosion of studies concerned with the

1126

19402098

Videotape

56254554033

249

Print

81122196

31160

Electronic MessagingSystems

TABLE 8.4Frequency Count of Channel Choice by Attribute

Finally" subjects were asked to select the channel they would use if one ofthe six information attributes were the most important consideration of thecommunication situation. Table 4 shows a frequency count of channelchoices for individual attributes with print more consistently ranking highest, followed by E.M.S. and then videotape.

This ranking is very different from the one resulting from an analysis ofmean scores on disposition toward each channel (see Table 3) which is:videotape" print" E.M.S. There appears to be a discrepancy" then" betweensubjects" general attitudes toward each of the channels and the one theywould actually choose to use in a given communication situation. Thisdiscrepancy is amplified in further detail by comparing Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 4 reflects attitudes which do not preclude similar attitudes towardall three channels. Figure 5" on the other hand, shows the results of thesubjects being forced to choose only one channel in the context of eachinformation attribute. Subjects were well disposed to using electronic messaging systems when information accessibility (recall) was deemed relevantto the communication situation (Figure 4). However" when accessibility isthe primary and only consideration" E.M.S. is the least likely channel to beused (Figure 5). Furthermore" print far outranks videotape on completeness and E.M.S. supercedes videotape on relevance when actual channel use is in question. Similarities also exist, however. For example" meanchannel disposition and exclusive channel choice by attribute are consistent for print and videotape with regard to accuracy. Print is perceived asthe most accurate source of information; videotape as the least accurate.

Attributes

TimelinessCompletenessAccuracyFormRecallRelevanceTotal


FIGURE 8.5Choice of Channel by Attribute

vi

9°i~LJ

80-

70

f-Z 60:J0U 50>-UZ

40W:J0w

30a:::u,

20

10

adoption and diffusion of office automation systems, the developi ng relationships between communication technologies and organizationalgrowth, and the attitudes of receivers and senders toward new communications channels. What may have been overlooked in the rush to understandthe burgeoning officeautomation environment are the relative advantagesof "old' versus "new" technologies, and the specific functions of new technologies as corporate trai ning tools.

This study has attempted to answer some questions about effective busi-ness communication and training media. Related research has shown thatmediated instruction works as well as, and sometimes better than, traditional methods (demonstration and written instructions), but it has rarelyindicated which medium best facilitates learning in the business setting, anenvironment which often requires the application of learned informationto decision making problems, rather than the simple accumulation ofknowledge. The present study, then, has compared the effectiveness ofthree media-print, video, and electronic messaging-as corporate train-ing tools.


Results show that, overall, there is no significant difference in subjects'ability to recall information disseminated by the three channels, nor doesone of these channels more significantly facilitate decision making types oflearning than another. However, when specific test items are analyzed individually, video and E.M.S. appear to be somewhat erratic informationdisseminators, while print produces the most even results. These latterobservations are only suggested but not confirmed by the present study,and future research might wish to explore these possibilities further.

The present study also explores user perceptions of the three media sinceit is important for corporate trainers to understand employee attitudestoward the communication tools they encounter, and because trainersshould know whether or not employees are inclined to use one mediummore than another. Results indicate that while subjects' perceptions abouta chan nel's attributes often conform to realistic, popular or stereotypicalnotions of value, subjects' dispositions to use a given channel are notnecessarily determined by the importance they place on the attributesassociated with that channel. Perhaps the most drastic discrepancies liewith print-while it ranks behind both E.M.S. and video in terms of information attribute association, when actual use becomes the determiningfactor, print far out-ranks both E.M.S. and video. Print, then, may beperceived as an "old fashioned" business communication tool, but it is alsothe one with which users feel comfortable and familiar, and which theywould most consistently choose to use.

Perceptions and attitudes about communication channels are, of course,important in understanding their use by both senders and receivers ofinformation. For example, training or communication managers may perceive very tangible, rational benefits (such as savings in time and money) inusing a particular communication channel, but its benefits may not beunderstood by information receivers, and emotional attitudes towardchannel use may supercede or even negate hoped-for rational advantages.These findings are consistent with previous theoretical and empirical studies (Johanson, Vallee & Spangler, 1979; Picot, Klingenberg & Kranzle,1982; Rice & Case, 1983; Short, Williams & Christie, 1976).. There are some logical advantages and disadvantages to each of the threechannels under scrutiny here. One point that these three media have incommon is that they facilitate the one-to-many communication process,but they have some important and basic differences. Print is a familiarmedium, it appears to be a trusted source of accurate information, and itcan be referred back to with ease, but it may be perceived as an 4'01dfashioned" communication tool especially in a high technology environment such as a computer firm. Unlike electronic messaging and videotape,it requires no special equipment-related skills on the part of either the


message sender or receiver, and it provides the user with "hard copy" whichis transportable. Two major drawbacks of print, however, are that it is aslow communications medium, i.e., it is a lengthy process to get a messagewritten, typed and/or type-set and distributed, and that once the "hardcopy " is generated, it cannot easily be changed or updated. Although follow-up information can be distributed, there is always the danger that itwill be ignored, mis-filed or lost, rendering the original message incompleteand perhaps obsolete.

Video is also a familiar medium, but it may predominantly be perceivedas a source of entertainment rather than of accurate information, andemployees may be skeptical of its place in a business environment. Videotape programs are also expensive and time-con suming to produce, and ifthe content becomes dated, it cannot be easily updated. For the purposes ofthis study, the program used was a linear as opposed to an interactive one,and it would be interesting to compare user attitudes as well as informationacquisition between interactive video and the other two channels underscrutiny in this study.

Computer (or electronic) messaging is more likely to be a communication medium with which employees are unfamiliar, yet it is perceived as asource of up-to-date, accurate business information. Although the initialhardware investment is high , subsequent use as a form of mail , memo, orreport transmission is relatively inexpensive, and is certainly less timeconsuming and labor intensive than the preparation and delivery of traditional pr inted documentation. Some drawbacks, however, are that it maybe perceived as a complex tool by new users, and like videotape it is not astransportable as a printed page.

Finally, if we examined "new" training tools in the context of improvedemployee productivity (ability to transact bus iness more efficiently), thepresent study suggests that the expense of producing or purchasing newcommunications media may not always be justified, since knowledge acquisition is not necessarily enhanced when newer communication channels are used . However, since new technologies are no less effective trainingtools than traditional media, and since (especially in the long term) theymay offer important, tangible benefits that are not available in other communication channels, communication managers need to concentrate onuser attitudes toward "new" versus "old" channels. As more corporationsadopt new communications media, there will be an increasing need todetermine whether or not employees feel comfortable with these new communication tools: whether they are familiar with their information attributes, and whether they understand when, why and how to use theinformation technologies. In order to have employees believe that newtraining tools are as valuable as they are intended to be, and to increase the


likelihood that they will actually be used, more user orientation to thesenew information channels is required. Since the goal of increased communication among managers and employees is often greater productivityand hence corporate profit, communications media must be understood bytheir users . If they are not , they may inhibit the communication processrather than enhance it.

Notes

The authors would like to thank the Media Communications department, DigitalEquipment Corporation, Merrimack, New Hampshire, for providing the videotapeused in this study. An earlier version of this article was presented in the "Top Four"panel , Instructional Practices Division, at the Annual Conference of the EasternCommunication Association , March 1984.

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