Electronic mail, social presence and information richness

The research study described measures the media richness of one communication medium, electronic mail (E-mail), by comparing the extent of use of E-mail in the job to the levels of uncertainty and equivocality present in the job. The major findings of the study are (1) E-mail is moderately rich rather than low rich as would be predicted by the definition of richness and the objective characteristics of electronic mail, and (2) when E-mail is used as a `complementary medium´ it is not generally perceived to be richer than when it is used alone