Historically, vignettes used in research can be traced back to appearances from Dr. Peter Rossi’s research on social stratification [11]. Rossi’s later publication systematically laid out the factorial survey approach to study human judgment. The idea is that a person’s description of a vignette could be manipulated by changing its objects, diction, or contexts, therefore providing several variations to study how participants would respond [12]. Since the main component of such factorial surveys are the vignettes, researchers typically break vignettes down into levels and dimensions, which are like values and variables [13].

Vignettes provide specific advantages when seeking human judgment from the detailed reactions and answers from participants, compared to using traditional survey methods. First, the vignette descriptions are concrete and detailed. Though fictive, these descriptions are purposeful and meant to depict realistic events that may even replicate actual real-life situations and contexts. Researchers can carefully tailor the descriptions to fit the scope and needs of their study. Second, participants are not fully aware of the manipulations in the vignettes used to study their judgments. The data gathered from vignettes are arguably less susceptible to social desirability bias. Third, vignettes allow researchers to focus on the specific variables or determinants leading to the human judgments of their participants.

One of the drawbacks of using vignettes in research is that they are traditionally written and presented as text, thus relying on the reading skill, attentiveness, and, at times, the imagination of the participant [2]. However, utilizing technology and the virtualization of vignettes circumvents these drawbacks, and allows the scenario to be presented in a virtual space or world with visual and auditory cues. Video vignettes specifically provide multimodal benefits related to the study compared to other vignette types. Although video vignettes can be costly as they require hiring actors and recording, they are still less costly than having in-person experiments [14]. Most modern technology has video capabilities, so participants can access the videos on most handheld devices with internet access, including cellphones and tablets. The videos can also be replayed and paused according to the users’ preferences. Furthermore, video vignettes can present scenarios that may normally be difficult to describe or be misinterpreted in a written vignette [14,15]. Video vignettes can provide visual, aural, and emotional cues for the viewers [16]. Video methods can also capture human movement and presentation. This enables a viewer to see social cues, gestures, mannerisms, and effects more clearly than they would reading a passage or interpreting a picture [17,18]. Video vignettes also provide visual representation of the leaders’ mannerisms and attire, whose attributes are portrayed by an actor, rather than being meticulously described. Participants are all viewing the same videos with less room for interpretation, as compared to a written or pictorial vignette. In addition, participants can utilize their observation skills to make judgments [15]. The use of video vignettes also has potential for measuring the outcomes of interventions across different populations [9]. More importantly, a video vignette may be useful for relaying information that would be otherwise too difficult or overt to express in a written text.

Some other specific benefits that video vignettes provide are higher fidelity and media richness compared to alternative approaches such as traditional observations or surveys with written vignettes [19]. Higher fidelity refers to the multimedia approach video vignettes employ to create a more engaging experience for participants. When compared to text-based descriptions in written vignettes or surveys that maintain an equivalent level of clarity and description, participants can experience less fatigue watching and listening to a video and are therefore less likely misinterpret the events [20].

Additionally, video vignettes provide advantages to people with language and cultural differences. Participants whose primary language or cultural background is different from that of the text may not understand certain words, colloquial phrases, or the context being applied. A video vignette can effectively communicate more detailed information by incorporating elements such as setting, body language, nonverbal gestures, and tone [21].

Media richness refers to how different media can impact the depth of comprehension and facilitate effective communication. The media richness theory proposes that various communication media vary in their ability to facilitate changes in viewers’ understanding [22]. Video vignettes offer higher levels of richness, which better facilitate changes in their viewers’ understanding.

Given the potential impact workplace leaders have on the internal and external outcomes of their organization, it is important to understand what impacts the perceptions others have about workplace leaders. What is related to a leader being perceived more favorably and as more effective? Other researchers have also sought to understand this concept of favorable perceptions of leaders. In one example, a cross-cultural study across 40 countries, managers selected the most important leadership competencies required for organizational success as resourcefulness, change management, and relationship management [23]. However, other characteristics may also influence people’s perceptions of successful leadership, which may not be as clearly tied to business performance. Gender expression (i.e., how one exhibits their gender through their appearance and behavior) is a lesser explored trait [24] that may play a role in how a leader is perceived.

Existing research on gender-related expectations towards leaders has focused on female leaders. For example, female leaders who demonstrate agentic leadership who were rated as less likable and less effective than agentic male leaders [25]. The role congruity theory suggests that these unfavorable perceptions towards female leaders may be motivated by a perceived incongruency between female gender roles and the stereotypically masculine leader role [26,27,28,29].

2.1. Gender Expression in Leaders