Virtual leaders: Can customizing authoritarian and democratic business leader avatars influence altruistic behavior and leadership empowerment perceptions?

Abstract

This study investigated how avatar customization activated leadership styles which may influence subsequent altruistic behavior. Participants (N = 222) engaged in a resource allocation task after customizing avatars that combined their physical self with the traits of democratic or authoritarian business leaders relative to a control condition. Authoritarian condition participants showed decreased altruism than those in the democratic condition. Additionally, participants attributed increased leadership empowerment to their customized avatars but not to themselves. The findings supported the assumption that business leader primes can influence individuals’ behavior and provided initial evidence for how avatar customization can exert priming effects on altruism and social perceptions. Future research avenues for this line of research are further discussed.