Background
Media richness theory was introduced in 1984 by Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel. It was originally developed primarily to describe and evaluate communication mediums within organizations. It is based on information processing theory and how managers and organizations exchange information. The goal of media richness theory is to cope with communication challenges facing organizations, such as unclear or confusing messages, or conflicting interpretations of messages. Since it was first introduced, media richness theory has been a widely studied communication theory, and the original authors have written several additional articles on the topic, including a study in which they describe media richness and the ability to select appropriate media as an executive skill.
Other communication scholars have tested the theory in order to improve it, and more recently media richness theory has been retroactively adapted to include new media communication mediums, such as improved video and online conferencing. Although media richness theory relates to media use, rather than media choice, empirical studies of the theory have often studied what medium a manager would chose to communicate over, and not the effects of media use.
Since its introduction, media richness theory has been applied to contexts outside of organizational and business communication (See "Application" section).
Read more about this topic: Media Richness Theory
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