Sequences of Information and
Communication Technology Use
Keri K. Stephens
Jan-Oddvar Sørnes
Ronald E. Rice
Larry D. Browning
Alf Steinar Sætre
Background
“communication efficiency may rest on
sequences or combination of media rather than
isolated choices about a discrete ICT” (Walther
& Parks, 2002, p. 534)
Yet, our communication theories typically only
consider discrete ICT use
(a few mentions in Pieterson’s thesis)
Background
Media Use Patterns:
Discrete
 Simultaneous (multitasking)
 Sequential
 Follow up
 Combinations/Patterns

Background
Some mention of prior research on multiple
media channels in Pieterson’s thesis:
US: 22% used multiple channels during
last service encounter with government org

Canada: 1.9 channels to obtain last used
service

Background
Pieterson results:
 some sequences due to “habit”, such as
Internet then phone
Most multiple channels in last two service
contacts were same:
 web – web 77%; phone – phone 69%; post
– post 43%; front desk – front desk 28%
But:
 phone – email 52%; phone – front desk
40%
Hypotheses & RQs
Discrete ICT use
Uses & Gratifications & empirical work by
Flanagin & Metzger (2001)
 10 motivations
 With 1 identified through interviews, grouped
into five reasons

Hypotheses & RQs
Sequential ICT use
Media richness (multiple cues, timely)
 Information theory (redundancy)
 Cost minimization (access, error, delays,
media transformations)

Hypotheses & RQs
Sequential ICT use
Why do people use sequences?
 Do reasons vary by sequence?
 Look at the follow-up medium more closely

Method

N = 66 managerial and professional knowledge
workers, diverse industries, all expert ICT
users, from 64 organizations in variety
of industries

In-depth interviews, transcribed (2500 pages)
“walk me through your typical day”
“how do you use ICTs in your daily work”
“how do you learn new job-related info”



Method



Content analysis of interview data
Used NVivo
4,448 sentences or qualifying units of analysis
(out of 24,152 sentences)
– coded into ICT used & reason for use
– coded 328 mentions of sequences
– acceptable inter-coder reliabilities (.92
sentence; .93 ICT; .79 use)
Method
Most frequent coded:






FTF
Email (sending or receiving)
Web (online access, searching)
Computer (offline applications, software)
Paper
Telephone
Discrete ICT Use
Discrete ICT Use





Web most frequently used (37%), followed by email
(20%), FtF (14%), the computer (8%), paper (6%),
and telephone (6.2%)
Across all ICTs, information purposes are the most
frequently stated reasons (63%) to use ICTs
Web the most frequently used ICT (41%) to get
information
FtF used most frequently to persuade (46%)
Computer used most frequently to document (48%)
Discrete ICT Use
10 discrete media associated with five reasons
(chi-sq = 998, p<.001)
Separately significant:
 Information: web more frequent; FTF and computer
less frequent, than expected
 Persuasion: FTF and telephone more; Web, email,
paper, intranet less
 Documentation: email, computer, intranet, database
more; web, FTF, telephone less
 Social: FTF more; Web less

Sequential ICT Use

Most frequent sequences: Web then FtF (N = 47),
Computer then Web (N= 31), FtF then email
(N = 26), and Web then Computer (N = 25)

ICT most frequently used second in a sequence
is FtF (N = 74), followed by email (N = 62)

The six ICTs used second that are mentioned most
frequently are the same six mentioned discretely,
yet the frequency order differs
Sequential ICT Use
What reasons do organizational members
give for using ICT sequences?
ICTs by Information, persuasion,
documentation: chi-sq =98.9, p<.001
Separately significant:
 Persuasion: FTF-email more frequent;
computer-Web less frequent than expected
 Documentation: computer-Web more;
Web-FTF less

Sequential ICT Use
Created two ratio-level measures, normalized
for number of codes per interview
 Percentage of mentions of each of five major
reason categories
 Percentage of mentions of sequential ICT use

Regression on % sequential use: R2adj. = .10
 Either information, or persuasion (-.82)
 Persuasion only remaining significant individual
predictor β =.26, p < .05

Sequential ICT
Use – Follow-up ICT

Follow-up ICT by reasons significant:
chi-sq = 60, p<.001
Separately significant:
 Documentation: Web more frequent; paper
less frequent than expected
Patterns of Sequential ICT Use

Used first-second ICT pair matrix

Entered into hierarchical clustering

Plotted in Multidimensional scaling
Classification of
Follow-up ICT Use
Results from Hierarchical Cluster Analysis
Connecting
with Others
Personal
Textual
Linking
Auditory
Linking
Textual
Personal
No instance
found
Textual
Auditory
Examples from Transcripts
Most frequent: Web – FTF
• Preparing for FTF meeting
• Primarily information, then persuasion
• Used web to gather information and prepare, such
as from customer’s web site, to be more credible
Second most frequent: computer-web
• Individual work
• Documentation, information; ex: prepare ppt, search
web for specific information
Discussion
Supported Flanagin & Metzger’s (2001) work
 People trying to persuade are more likely to
use sequences of ICTs
 The Web is used as a preparation step, and
this use works well in the complex process of
establishing source credibility
 Reinforcement of message in a textual ICT
appears to be a persuasive strategy
 When paper & email are used 2,nd the
persuasion reasons for this use are more
than when they are used 1st.

Discussion
Media Richness Theory and Information
(uncertainty) Theory:
Expand number of cues, redundancy, reduce
errors
 Web followed by FTF (needed cues, reduce
errors)
 FTF followed by email (documentation, reduce
errors; commitments, organize information)

Discussion
Media Richness Theory
As discrete ICTs, used least frequently
for persuasion:
Web (15%)
 Email (14%)
 Paper (7%)

Classifying ICTs
& Linking to Theory

ICTs found in the textual personal quadrant,
paper and computer, used less frequently than
the other four ICTs

Suggests that ICT sequence are used to
link people

Media trait theories & social influences both
matter and work together when considering
sequential use
Classifying ICTs
& Linking to Theory
1st Consider if others need to be involved
 Degree of connection with others dimension
 Social influence (Fulk et al., 1990), &
structurational views
2nd Consider characteristics of textual or auditory
 Degree of availability of auditory information
 Media trait perspectives
(Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986)
Thank You! Questions?
Complete Reference:
Stephens, K., Sørnes, J. O., Rice, R. E., &
Browning, L. (2008). Discrete, sequential, and
follow-up use of information and communication
technology by advanced ICT users.
Management Communication Quarterly,
22(2), 197-231.