Access to, Usage of, and Outcomes from an Electronic Messaging System

Abstract

This study examines relationships among perceived accessibility to an electronic messaging system (EMS), computer-monitored and reported usage of the system by approximately 100 employees of one division of an aerospace firm, user's job type, perceived appropriateness of the EMS, and reported outcomes such as changes in effectiveness and use of paper-based media. Greater accessibility resulted in more usage and reported increases in effectiveness. Physical distance to a terminal affects the associations of other aspects of accessibility with usage and has a greater influence on these associations earlier in one's adoption process. Differences in job type showed statistically significant associations with usage, independent of the influence of accessibility. Computer-monitored and reported usage measures were only moderately correlated and were differentially associated with the access measures and with the two outcomes. The article ends by discussing implications for implementation and evaluation of computer-based communication systems, theories of media characteristics and information value, and methodological issues in using computer-monitored usage data. © 1988, ACM. All rights reserved.