Companies that use video conferencing could be stuffing up their decision making process.

A new study by Pennsylvania State University claims that videoconferencing distorts interactions in a subtle but important way. Doctors and nurses who attended seminars via videoconference were more likely to be influenced by the charisma of the presenter. However, if they were present they were more likely to base their judgment on the presentation than on the arguments that were used.

Carlos Ferran at Pennsylvania State University and Stephanie Watts at Boston University quizzed 44 medical professionals who took part in early morning medical seminars via business-quality video links, and 99 peers who were in the room with the presenters.

The study appears in the September issue of the journal, Management Science, which we get for the spot the paradigm contest. The researchers suggest that videoconferencing is mentally more challenging than a face-to-face meeting.

This means that participants have less brainpower to process the content of the presentation.