Varieties of Social Influence: The Role of Utility and Norms in the Success of a New Communication Medium

Robert E. Kraut, Ronald E. Rice, Colleen Cool and Robert S. Fish
Additional contact information
Robert E. Kraut: Human Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
Ronald E. Rice: School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1071
Colleen Cool: Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College/CUNY, Flushing, New York 11367
Robert S. Fish: Matshushita Information Technology Labs, 2 Research Way, 3rd floor, Princeton, New Jersey 08504

Organization Science, 1998, vol. 9, issue 4, 437-453

Abstract: This natural experiment investigates the introduction and use of a pair of competing video telephone systems in a company over a period of 18 months. Both quantitative, time-series analyses and in-depth interviews demonstrate that employees adopted and used the video systems for both utility and normative reasons. Consistent with utility explanations, people in the most communication-intensive jobs were the most likely to use video telephony. Consistent with social influence explanations, people used a particular system more when more people in general were using it and when more people in their work group were using it. There were two conceptually distinct, but empirically entangled, types of social influence. First, use by other people changed the objective benefits and costs associated with using the systems, and thus their utility. Second, use by others changed the normative environment surrounding the new technology. Both utility and normative influences were stronger in one's primary work group. Implementers, users, and researchers should consider both utility and normative factors influencing both the success and failure of new organizational communication systems.

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Social Networks; Diffusion of Innovations; New Communication Media; Social Influences; Critical Mass; Network Externalities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:9:y:1998:i:4:p:437-453

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