The Ape that Used E-Mail: Understanding E-Communication Behavior Through Evolution Theory

This article reviews theoretical research on e-communication behavior, identifying two main types of theories – technological and social. This review provides the rationale for developing a new theory, based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, that is neither technological nor social. Three theoretical principles are developed from evolution theory: media naturalness, innate schema similarity, and learned schema variety. The article concludes by illustrating how the theoretical principles can be used as a basis for developing a simple predictive model in the context of an online broker.