Global differences in applicant reactions to virtual interview synchronicity

Abstract

Advances in employment assessment technology have increasingly enabled employers to recruit from around the world by allowing interviewees to respond to live or pre-recorded video or text prompts live or via asynchronous video recordings. Despite their greater scheduling convenience, asynchronous virtual interviews decrease applicants’ ability to engage in impression management and relationship building and therefore may negatively impact applicant reactions compared to their synchronous counterparts. Further, national culture has the potential to influence reactions to virtual interview synchronicity. Previous research has yielded mixed results, with some studies suggesting that culture can moderate how applicants react to selection tests and some finding little or no effect. Drawing from applicant reactions and media richness theories, we integrate Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to investigate the role of national culture in applicant reactions to virtual interview synchronicity in a sample of 644,905 virtual interviewees from 46 countries. Overall, our findings demonstrate that, though they rated both highly, interviewees around the world were generally more satisfied with synchronous virtual interviews and found them to be more effective than asynchronous virtual interviews. Three dimensions of national culture—uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence—had small to medium moderating effects on these relationships.