Channel Selection and Effective Communication for Managerial Decision Making

New office technologies provide a range of alternatives to traditional channels for corporate communications. This paper exploresthe effectiveness of print, electronic messaging, and videotape along both objective and subjective dimensions. While electronic messaging and videotape were not found to improve significantly over print either the recall of information or the quality of decisions made based on it, some interesting patterns were observed. The use of electronic messaging resulted in improved recall of information. Videotape tended toward the extremes: It was either the most or the least effective in disseminating information for learning. Subjects' attitudes about the influence of each channel on the quality of information were contrasted with the disposition toward use. In general, subjects had positive attitudes toward both electronic messaging and videotape. When asked about the likelihood of choosing a particular channel, given emphasis on certain information attributes, however, subjects consistently. preferred print. These results suggest that both the communication context and user preconceptions must be taken into account when planning for the introduction of new technologies.