Relational Control and Interactive Media Choice in Technology-Mediated Communication Situations

The study develops a framework to examine the communication goals of interacting partners and how these affect media choice. The study hypothesizes that in communication situations when the relational dimension of communication goals is competitive, relational control would affect media choice. Personal interviews were conducted among a nonrandom sample of 70 persons. The respondents were presented with different communication situations and asked if and why they would select one mode of communication over another. A content analysis of the responses supported the main argument of the study that in situations of relational competitiveness relational control would be a significant factor affecting media choice.