PROJECT 2

PERSONNEL RECRUITING 

James Van Scotter, Prashant Palvia,
David Allen, Robert Otondo
University of Memphis

Proposed Grant $149,990

Abstract:
Communication is a key element in the success of the Navy's recruiting efforts. Effective communication depends on the use of media appropriate for the task. Media Richness Theory (MRT) holds that media that are capable of communicating more detailed information or a larger volume of data within a given amount of time are "richer" media. Researchers suggest the

use of richer media reduces uncertainty and ambiguity and facilitates communication accuracy. Media richness may be especially important in the recruiting function, because people usually do not like to make important decisions, such as deciding to join the Navy, without clear, unambiguous information. This principle is embodied in the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), which posits that a person's knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes influence his or her intentions and behavior. This theory predicts that people will be more likely to act when they have accurate, timely, and unambiguous information. By helping to reduce a receiver's uncertainty and ambiguity, media characteristics, such as richness, can be expected to result in greater knowledge, and stronger beliefs, attitudes, and intentions.

Research shows that media richness is associated with the choice of effective media by organizational members, but there is no direct evidence that richness actually reduces receiver uncertainty or ambiguity. Research is needed to examine these outcomes and to determine the relationships between media richness and receiver's knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward joining the Navy. The study has three main objectives. Each objective addresses one or more basic issues in communications theory and examines their implications for selecting media to support Navy recruiting. The objectives are:

· to develop an integrated model describing the ways media characteristics influence communication associated with decision-making processes,
· to test the influence of media characteristics on communication process outcomes experienced by receivers, and
· to test the influence of communication process outcomes on the receiver's attitudes and intentions. 

Basic research related to the above objectives includes: extending Media Research Theory by linking it to the Theory of Reasoned Action; determining how media richness is related to the constructs of receiver's uncertainty, ambiguity, and equivocality; determining the linkage of media choices to effectiveness measures such as accuracy and satisfaction; and determining how media richness is related to process outcomes such as attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Finally, the results of this basic research can be applied in the context of the Navy to help improve its media choices in its recruitment efforts