SEE YOU THERE? THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS IN COORDINATING FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS

Abstract

Unlike previous empirical studies which focused on exploring specific practices and real-life contexts in social coordination, this study sets out to understand social coordination with concepts and theories in the field of communication studies. Established media theories such as the media richness theory and social presence theory were used to form a research model and address questions regarding the role of communication channels in the process and outcome of coordinating a face-to-face meeting – a form of social coordination. Following the research framework, an online experiment was conducted to compare differences between lean and rich communication channels (i.e. text versus face-to-face) and the time-order of multiple channels used (i.e. text then face-to-face versus face-to-face then text) in influencing one’s informational and social perceptions, as well as attitude and behavioural intentions towards a coordinated meet-up. The study found that the richer communication channel does directly lead to greater feelings of connectedness to the interlocutor during meet-up coordination and a better attitude towards the meet-up. Informational and social factors were also found to be significant predictors of one’s attitude and behavioural intentions towards a meet-up. On the other hand, the different time-order of two channels did not really affect meet-up coordination at all, except that when the richer channel was used later, there was greater perceived connectedness to the other party. Ultimately, this study provides insights into the role of communication channels during social coordination and advances understanding regarding the outcome of social coordination.