Communication Apprehension and Participation in Videoconferenced Meetings

Communication technologies are becoming increasingly important in organizational communication. However, many users indicate that they are apprehensive about using these new mediums for routine communication. This study draws on media choice theory to assess the impact of communication apprehension and participation on perceptions of task characteristics and media traits. The findings show that user aversion to videoconferencing has a significant impact on perceptions of task and media. A significant interaction was also detected between user apprehension and participation relating to perceptions of communication richness. It was found that perceptions of communication richness vary considerably for the high apprehension group depending on whether they have had recent exposure to the medium.