A Review of Virtual Impression Management Behaviors and Outcomes

Abstract

Over the past half century, virtual interactions have become a mainstay of contemporary organizations, whether leveraged for formal job interviews or day-to-day communication. Despite this central role, there is a lack of a holistic understanding of how employees make and manage impressions in these virtual contexts. In this article, we review, organize, and evaluate the state of the growing body of cross-disciplinary research on virtual impression management. We develop a guiding theoretical framework that identifies three categories of virtual impression management behavior (verbal, nonverbal, and meta behavior) that meaningfully alter impressions, and the conditions under which these outcomes vary. Through considering this body of research as a whole, we highlight that virtual interactions are quite rich when it comes to creating impressions. By illustrating where virtual impression management research has concentrated thus far, our review enables us to conclude by offering an agenda for future research on virtual impression management.