Contextualizing Media Choice Using Genre Analysis

Riemer, Kai; Filius, Stefanie

Abstract
Value creation is increasingly organized in virtualized settings requiring effectivecomputer-mediated communication. While media choice has been a topic ofinterest in Information Systems for some time, corresponding media choicetheories exhibit a range of shortcomings with regard to applicability in context.Since the theories try to generalize across social contexts, their key constructs arerather abstract and underspecified with regard to application. Against thisbackdrop we present an approach for contextualizing media choice using genreanalysis. Genre analysis aims at identifying communication patterns (genres) insocial communities (e. g. teams) as a structured overview of existing teamcommunication. By juxtaposing requirements of the identified genres and mediacharacteristics, we are able to propose a new set of media for improving teamcommunication. We illustrate the application of our approach with a case example.

Keywords
Media choice; Genre analysis; Communication analysis; Virtualization; Teamwork; Virtual teams