Message Framing Influences Perceptions of Feedback (In)directness

Communication varies in indirectness, influencing the effectiveness of the message as well as interpersonal dynamics. However, this issue was not studied empirically in the feedback literature. Integrating communication indirectness and message framing theories, we propose that whether success and failure feedback are framed as a negation (non-losses, non-gains) or affirmation (gains, losses) affects perceived indirectness. Three studies (N=589) consistently showed that both feedback receivers (Studies 1 and 3) and feedback providers (Study 2) viewed feedback in negation (vs. affirmative) frames as more indirect and communicating the feedback signal (positive, negative) less strongly. Feedback providers utilized more negation frames when attempting to be indirect and delivering failure feedback (Study 2). Further, through influencing perceived positivity in feedback, indirectness has downstream effects on feedback providers’ use of frames (Study 2) and feedback receivers’ reactions (Study 3). This work contributes to our understanding of communication indirectness and its potential implications for feedback effectiveness.