The Effect of Anticipated Future Interaction and Initial Impression Valence on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

Prior research on social information processing theory (SIPT; Walther, 1992) has established the anticipation of future interaction (AFI) as a motivator of online relationship development (Walther, 1994). The present study tests the proposition that, although initial development may be the product of AFI, continued development occurs as a function of the valence of the impression formed in the initial interaction (Sunnafrank, 1986). An experiment with a 2 (AFI versus No AFI) x 2 (positive versus negative impression) x 2 (time) design was conducted to assess this proposition along five relational communication dimensions. Results from four of the tests revealed support for the prediction. The implications of the results for SIPT and the study of online relational communication are discussed.