Improving managerial communication: the role of regulatory fit

The experiments presented here examine how managers and executives could improve the effectiveness of their (negative) written communications by incorporating the concept of fit into their message framing. By applying regulatory focus theory, the authors suggest that outcome-based fit between the message and the recipient or within a message leads to more favorable organizational behavior. Experiment 1 showed that employees retain greater feelings of psychological empowerment when they receive a written refusal that is framed in terms that match (versus mismatch) their current regulatory focus. Experiment 2 demonstrated that employees are willing to work more additional hours when they receive a written communication in which the framing of the message and request match, compared to when there is a mismatch. Management implications for designing successful written managerial communications are discussed.