When your internet connection goes even slightly awry, the impact on your professional life could be significant

In a world where more interactions are happening on video calls, glitches have become a normal, everyday occurrence. And sure, glitches happen, but they are no big deal, right? At least that’s what Zoom-reliant professionals and casual users told us: Glitches are annoying but harmless. But, as consumer psychologists who study the nuanced and often-overlooked factors that influence everyday judgments and decisions, we weren’t so sure. Might these brief audiovisual interruptions have an unexpected negative effect on our professional and personal lives? We, along with our co-author, Jeff Johnson of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, conducted a series of experiments putting glitches to the test.

• Compared with people who experienced no glitches, those who saw a glitchy video were significantly less supportive of hiring the candidate.
• Audio dropouts were the most problematic

 If you can’t interact with someone in person, video calling is the next best substitute. You can hear, see and react to each other in real time. It feels like you’re sitting together. But when there’s a glitch, this mirage breaks. 

[Jacqueline Rifkin is an assistant professor of marketing at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business. Melanie Brucks is an assistant professor of marketing at Columbia Business School.]