Applying Expectancy-Violations Theory to Online Documentation
http://www.stc.org/ConfProceed/1993/PDFs/Pg211.pdf

Chiu, Yu-Kwong
STC Proceedings
1993

Abstract:

A person usually expects another person to behave according to accepted norms, but how does a person respond to a message that violates his/her expectations? One theory dealing with violations of expectations is Burgeon and Hale's (1) nonverbal expectancy-violations theory. This theory posits that, under certain circumstances, violations of social norms and expectations may be an effective strategy for communicators to achieve the intended communication purpose. Although the expectancy-violations theory focuses on expectations for nonverbal behavior, such as gaze and conversational distance (2), I believe that this theory can also apply to expectations for humancomputer interaction.