The pursuit of trust in ad hoc virtual teams: how much electronic portrayal is too much?

This study develops and tests the concept of electronic portrayal in synchronous computer-mediated communication of ad hoc virtual teams. Electronic portrayal is the extent to which a communication system portrays the true identity of its users. A theoretical model is developed based upon which it is hypothesized that increased information available due to electronic portrayal will impact trust in ad hoc virtual teams. An experiment is conducted to test the model by manipulating the graphical identification of users of a system as well as the rehearsability of the system. Rehearsability is the extent to which users can reread and edit their messages before submitting them to the synchronous communication system. The results show that the combination of both factors – identification and rehearsability – impacts trust among team members. Specifically, partial electronic portrayal (only one form of true-to-life representation) has the most positive impact on trust. This effect is moderated by communication-related variables such as self-disclosure, impressions and virtual co-presence. The implication of these results is that too much true identity information negatively impacts trust. This research provides theoretical and practical contributions for understanding the importance of identification and rehearsability in synchronous group communication.