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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Organizational Media Affordances: Operationalization and Associations with Media Use

Ronald E. RiceSandra K. EvansJessica VitakJeffrey W. TreemAnu SivunenKaty E. Pearce

subject

Linguistics and LanguageOperationalizationKnowledge managementConceptualizationbusiness.industryCommunication05 social sciences050801 communication & media studiesLanguage and Linguistics0508 media and communicationsInformation and Communications TechnologyMedia use0502 economics and businessSurvey data collectionOrganizational communicationICTSAffordancePsychologybusiness050203 business & management

description

The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in organizational contexts. However, almost no research operationalizes affordances, limiting comparisons and programmatic research. This article briefly reviews conceptualizations and possibilities of affordances in general and for media, then introduces the concept of organizational media affordances as organizational resources. Analysis of survey data from a large Nordic media organization identified six reliable and valid organizational media affordances: pervasiveness, editability, self-presentation, searchability, visibility, and awareness. Eight media scales based on frequency of use of 10 media within each of three organization levels were differentially associated with these affordances. The conceptualization, measurement approach, and results from this study provide the foundation for considerable future organizational communication and ICT research.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2017-01-17Journal of Communication
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12273