Avatar-Based Advertising in Second Life: The Role of Presence and Attractiveness of Virtual Spokespersons
Seung-A Annie Jin and Justin Bolebruch
Boston College
Abstract
Avatar-based, three-dimensional, virtual environments such as Second Life, the most popular and fastest growing environment, offer a promising corporate communication channel for brand marketing, advergaming, and interactive advertising. Drawing on presence literature, this study examines the effects of the presence (versus absence) of spokes-avatars that provide product information and consumers' multimodal interactions with these spokes-avatars on improvements in the consumers' product involvement, attitude toward the product, and enjoyment of the online shopping experience. In addition, this study investigates the effects of spokes-avatars' physical characteristics in terms of humanness (versus non-humanness) on consumers' evaluation of their physical attractiveness and the information value of the advertisement message. A path analysis reveals a mediating role of spokes-avatars' physical attractiveness.
Keywords: avatars, advergames, multimodal interaction, virtual shopping, e-commerce.
Introduction
Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world created by Linden Labs, is the most popular and fastest growing virtual world on the Internet. According to the detailed economic statistics collected and last updated by Linden Labs in August 2009, Second Life's "population" is approximately 1.77 million users who spend as much as Linden$656,000 (in-world customer spending in Linden dollars) per day (Second Life 2009). The e-commerce generated by Second Life is not limited to inside the platform itself; its in-game currency (the Linden dollar) fluctuates with the U.S. dollar, and virtual residents can participate in online auctions for virtual land through eBay. In addition to in-world Linden dollar profits, some Second Life entrepreneurs have earned in excess of US$1 million annually (Au 2009). These figures suggest that Second Life subscribers have attained critical mass and become a powerful force in e-commerce, advergaming, and marketing communication. Thus, in addition to being an entertainment platform for online gaming and social networking, Second Life is a bustling den of e-commerce.
Prior research shows that a recommendation agent in an e-commerce setting significantly enhances the consumer experience (Askoy et al. 2006; Holzwarth, Janiszewski, and Neumann 2006; Jin 2009a). Marketers can combine the social experience of a physical store with the avatar-based recommendation systems made possible by World Wide Web technology (Jin 2009a). An avatar, a computer-generated visual representation of a user, can be customized to fit any desired appearance (Holzwarth, Janiszewski, and Neumann 2006; Jin 2009a). In Second Life for example, consumers navigate and view the three-dimensional (3D) environment through their own personalized avatars. Such avatar-based 3D virtual environments offer promise as a corporate communication channel for brand marketing and interactive advertising, in the sense that companies can design and create spokes-avatars and sales avatars that represent their brand and product.
In this study, we examine the effects of different characteristics manifested by a company's spokes-avatar. Jordan (1999) shows that an avatar conveys a stable virtual identity, such that consumers come to recognize their own personal virtual identity, as well as the identities of companies or brands, through the use of and interaction with avatars. The appearance and actions of avatars therefore have clear implications for influencing consumer experiences, especially in settings such as Second Life. Kang and Yang (2006) also claim that the purpose of avatars is to reveal a specific identity in virtual environments, which ultimately encourages satisfactory interactions among the virtual actors. In the current experiment, the spokes-avatar serves as an interactive advertiser in an advergame, with the goal of determining the effects of different spokes-avatar appearances and actions on the consumer experience, including their evaluations of online shopping assistants and advertising messages. We designed the avatars as recommendation agents that would interact with participants in a virtual retail store, inside the Second Life virtual world of Second Life. We use Apple's iPhoneTM as the target product, because of its relative newness in the market at the time of our data collection. Therefore, the participants (i.e., iPhone non-users) generally view new and salient product information. To examine whether avatar-presented marketing information might be more effective than messages presented without avatars, we consider the following key research questions:
RQ1: How effective are avatars as sources of interactive advertising?
RQ2: How does the phenomenon of "presence" relate to advertising and consumer research in virtual environments?
Literature Review
Presence
Biocca (1997) and Lombard and Ditton (1997) demonstrate that feelings of presence rest at the heart of all mediated experiences. Almost all media forms entail a certain level of presence, felt by the media users, and increased feelings of presence often lead to more vivid and immersive experiences. Presence thus has become pivotal to theories about advanced human-computer interfaces (HCI) and computer-mediated communication (CMC), such as 3D computer or video games (Jin 2009b; Jin and Park 2009), virtual reality (VR) systems (Biocca 1997; Lombard and Ditton 1997), and robotics (Lee et al. 2006). The concept of presence also has great practical relevance for designing and evaluating media products and computer interfaces in entertainment, telecommunications, education, and health care (Lee 2004). Studies pertaining to the concept of presence in advertising, marketing, and consumer research have been fairly limited though, and insufficient empirical studies support the importance of the concept.
Lee (2004, p. 32) defines presence as "a psychological state in which virtual objects are experienced as actual objects." This definition offers significance for research on interactive advertising in immersive 3D virtual worlds, because the possibilities offered by virtual worlds make consumers' reactions to the high levels of presence central to our understanding, and thus potential enhancement of the consumer experience inside such worlds. Creating a sense of presence also may require what Schneiderman (1998) demonstrates as central to the effectiveness of a user interface, that is, the ability to facilitate the transmission of information to the user. Huizingh (2000) also reveals that the promise of e-commerce depends on users' interaction with 3D virtual worlds that use graphic representations to mimic the real world. Because establishing presence is linked to the "social experience," marketers should choose spokes-avatar characteristics that reflect those of effective real-world salespeople and select modalities to convey their advertising message that mimic those of the real world. Walsh and Pawlowski (2002) argue that virtual reality can address the limitations of Web-based e-commerce and expand the range of current e-commerce possibilities. Virtual worlds also have great potential to challenge physical stores in terms of core offerings; for example, current e-commerce may offer unlimited selection and advanced recommendation systems, but it cannot recreate the social setting that defines brick-and-mortar stores, whereas virtual reality could recreate the social aspects of retail stores. Thus, the ability to create social presence should determine the success of virtual settings.
Jarvenpaa and Todd (1997) show that factors such as convenience, enjoyment, and quality assurance play crucial roles in defining an ordinary shopping mall. Because online stores in the virtual world often attempt to replicate physical malls, we expect that these characteristics should have influence in online virtual stores as well. For example, enjoyment in both offline and online shopping situations is critical. If virtual worlds such as Second Life want to create an optimal consumer experience and customer satisfaction, they must establish a sense of presence first.
H1: People who receive an advertising message from a physically present spokes-avatar enjoy the online shopping inside Second Life more than do those who receive the advertisement without encountering a spokes-avatar.
H2: The presence of a spokes-avatar in Second Life improves product involvement, such that the level of product involvement (a) increases among consumers after they receive the message from the spokes-avatar but (b) does not differ significantly when consumers receive a basic message without a spokes-avatar.
H3: The presence of a spokes-avatar in Second Life improves attitude toward the product, such that attitude toward the product (a) is significantly more positive after consumers receive a message from a spokes-avatar but (b) does not differ significantly when consumers receive a basic message without a spokes-avatar.
Avatars as Recommendation Agents
An important aspect of traditional e-commerce is its high degree of personalization, which enables the implementation of sophisticated decision aids designed to assist customers in making their purchase decisions (Alba and Lynch 1997). Virtual online worlds thus extend the possibilities of e-commerce beyond those of traditional marketing, because in virtual settings, marketers can design and implement complex avatars as recommendation agents.
The characteristics of the shopping medium differ in virtual online worlds, but we still ground our study on research into how shoppers make purchasing decisions and investigate the unique processes that may influence these purchases. Häubl and Trifts (2000) claim that consumers tend to rely on an electronic agent's recommendations to reduce the effort required to process the vast product information usually present in online shopping environments. Simon (1955) reveals that most decisions are consistent with the notion of bounded rationality, in that decision makers seek some satisfactory level of achievement. Payne, Bettman, and Johnson (1992) find that decision makers tend to construct their preferences on the spot, when they are prompted to make a purchase decision; they typically do not have preformed strategies with respect to shopping goals. Yet considering the reliance of many online shoppers on recommendation agents and the strong influence of the online environment on purchasing decisions, we suggest a link still is missing in our understanding what the influences on consumer behaviors in 3D virtual worlds.
A key factor to consider in researching interactive advertising in 3D virtual worlds is the unique relationship between recommendation agents and the consumers they try to assist. Recommendation agents increase the quality of information available to shoppers, but Häubl and Trifts (2000) find limited data about whether the agent's recommendations actually help consumers make correct purchasing decisions. Therefore, for this study, the variable of manipulation must be the agent's characteristics, not the agent's decision-making model. We consider the following research question:
RQ3: What physical dimensions of spokes-avatars influence interactive advertising when shoppers encounter spokes-avatars that represent real-world organizations (e.g., Apple)?
Physical Attributes (Humanness and Physical Attractiveness) of Spokes-Avatars
Virtual worlds such as Second Life attract a unique consumer profile: Most consumers have very little online shopping experience, such that the majority of virtual consumers are "inexperienced" (Jin 2009a). This situation creates a problem for marketers attempting to persuade their audience with advertising messages. Cacioppo and Petty (1985) note that heuristics, peripheral cues, and other processes, such as the physical attractiveness of a spokesperson, can determine the persuasive effect of an advertising message when consumers lack domain knowledge. Bull and Rumsey (1988) also show that in the natural world, people generally rely heavily on information provided by visible, physical cues when they form impressions of others. Rauh, Polonsky, and Buck (2004) export this notion to the 3D virtual world and note that because avatars provide visible representations of a person in an interface, evaluations based on their physical appearances may get transferred. Many characteristics of an avatar seem likely to influence consumers' perceptions.
Researchers find that users infer character traits from the behavior and appearance of avatars. For example, avatars that are human-like and clearly gendered (as opposed to androgynous) appear more attractive and credible. Donath (2007) shows that in an audio-only conversation, the addition of an avatar whose head and eye movements match the conversation flow increases users' perception of their virtual partners' trustworthiness and friendliness. Nowak and Rauh (2005) also find that anthropomorphism significantly influences perception of avatars. More anthropomorphic avatars seem more attractive and more credible, and people are more likely to choose to be represented by them. Thus, most people prefer human avatars that are physically attractive. Prior research also suggests that physical attractiveness mediates the attribution and persuasion process (Abel and Watters 2005; Archer 1993). Thus, we test for the mediating effect of physical attractiveness on the persuasion process in avatar-based interactive advertising.
H4: The physical attractiveness of the spokes-avatar mediates the effects of the spokes-avatars' humanness (versus non-humanness) on the perceived information value of the advertising message.
In summary, we employ several key independent and dependent variables in our study. The main independent variables are (1) the presence (versus absence) of spokes-avatars and (2) the physical characteristics (humanness vs. non-humanness) of those spokes-avatars. As dependent variables, we consider (1) consumers' enjoyment of the online shopping experience, (2) consumers' product involvement, (3) consumers' attitude toward the product, (4) the spokes-avatar's physical attractiveness, and (5) the informative value of the advertisement. We provide a full description of the indicators of these variables in Appendix 4.
Method
Design
For our study, we use a pretest-posttest control group design with three conditions: (1) the control condition in which participants listen to an iPhone advertisement (for the full script of the fictional iPhone advertisement, please see Appendix 1) but do not see any Apple spokes-avatar in the virtual store in Second Life; (2) the first treatment condition, in which participants hear the advertisement message from a human spokes-avatar; and (3) a second treatment condition in which participants hear the advertisement message from a non-human spokes-avatar.
The participants-116 college students (62 women and 54 men) taking communication courses at Boston College-encountered an Apple's spokes-avatar in the virtual Apple store in Second Life. For their voluntary participation, they received no monetary compensation. The participants considered the key manipulations, namely, the iPhone advertisement (Appendix 1) and the Apple spokes-avatar (please see Appendices 2 and 3 for snapshots of the Second Life experimental conditions).
Procedure
Before engaging with the interactive advertising in the virtual store, participants answered the following manipulation check: Which of the following best describes the spokes-avatar in the Apple store? (No Avatar; Human Avatar; Non-Human Avatar).
The onsite experimental data collection began when participants entered a lab equipped with computers with Second Life preinstalled. The experimenter asked them to complete a pretest questionnaire online, listen to the Apple spokes-avatar inside the virtual Apple store in Second Life, and then complete a posttest questionnaire online. We provide the questionnaire items for dependent measures in Appendix 4.
To test the between-subjects comparisons regarding consumers' enjoyment of the online shopping experience, we use an independent-samples t-test. The hypotheses regarding changes in product involvement and attitude toward the product require a paired-samples t-test for the within-subject comparisons. Finally, we analyze the data regarding the mediating role of the spokes-avatar's physical attractiveness with path analysis.
Results
Hypothesis 1: Enjoyment of Online Shopping Experience
In hypothesis 1, we predicted that participants in the treatment conditions (physically present spokes-avatar, whether human or non-human) would perceive the online shopping experience inside Second Life as more entertaining than those in the control condition, who listened to the iPhone advertisement without encountering an Apple spokes-avatar (absence of the spokes-avatar). We conduct an independent samples t-test to determine the effects of the presence (versus absence) of the multi-modal interaction with the Apple spokes-avatar on consumers' enjoyment. Participants exposed to the advertisement messages by a spokes-avatar perceived the online shopping experience as more entertaining (M = 4.39, SD = 1.33) than those who only heard the messages, without the presence of a spokes-avatar (M = 2.79, SD = 1.01; t = 4.69, p < .01), as we show in Table 1. Thus, we find support for hypothesis 1.
Hypothesis 2: Product Involvement
Before we test hypothesis 2, we conducted a one-way ANOVA to determine if the pretest scores differ across treatment groups, using the level of product involvement as the dependent variable. This ANOVA is not significant (F (1, 115) = 1.47, p = n.s.), so the random assignment appears viable; there is no significant difference between the control condition and the treatment conditions in their pretest scores for product involvement.
The paired sample t-tests of the within-group comparison enable us to evaluate the effects of the presence of the Apple spokes-avatar in Second Life on any changes in product involvement. For all participants who listened to an iPhone advertisement conveyed by an Apple spokes-avatar, their mean product involvement score after encountering the spokes-avatar inside Second Life is significantly higher (M = 4.59, SD = 1.36) than their mean score before encountering the spokes-avatar (M = 4.24, SD = 1.40; t (98) = 3.74, p < .01), in support of hypothesis 2a. Participants in the control group who listened to the iPhone advertisement but saw no Apple spokes-avatar, the mean product involvement scores are not significantly different after they play Second Life (M = 4.84, SD = 1.21) than they were before entering Second Life (M = 4.69, SD = 1.34; t(16) = 1.33, p = .20). Thus, we also find support for hypothesis 2b. The results appear in Table 1.
Hypothesis 3: Attitude toward the Product
We again conducted an initial one-way ANOVA to evaluate whether the pretest scores differ significantly across the groups, using attitude toward the product as the dependent variable. The ANOVA results are not significant (F (1, 115) = 2.26, p = n.s.), which indicates the random assignment is successful, and there was no significant difference between the control condition and the treatment conditions in their pretest scores for attitude toward the product.
As we show in Table 1, for all participants who listened to an iPhone advertisement conveyed by an Apple spokes-avatar, the paired samples t-test indicates significantly higher mean scores for the attitude toward the product measure after they played Second Life (M = 5.31, SD = 1.15) compared with before (M = 4.90, SD = 1.39; t (98) = 3.65, p = .00), in support of hypothesis 3a. In contrast, participants in the control group show no significant differences in attitude toward the product, according to the paired samples t-test, after (M = 5.57, SD = 1.17) or (M = 5.43, SD = 1.16; t(16) = 1.65, p = .52) they played Second life, which supports hypothesis 3b.
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and t-Test Results
| Dependent Variables | Means and Standard Deviations | t | |
| Enjoyment of online-shopping | Control
2.79 (1.01) |
Treatment
4.39 (1.33) |
4.69** |
| Product involvement | Before interaction
4.24 (1.49) |
After interaction
4.59 (1.36) |
3.74** |
| Attitude toward the product | Before interaction
4.90 (1.39) |
After interaction
5.31 (1.15) |
3.65** |
| Physical attractiveness of the spokes-avatar | Human spokes-avatar4.11
(1.30) |
Non-human
spokes-avatar 2.23 (1.12) |
6.58** |
| Information value of the advertisement | Human spokes-avatar 5.02 (1,11) |
Non-human
spokes-avatar 4.55 (1.22) |
2.01* |
| Notes: Standard deviations are in parentheses.
** p < .01. * p < .05. |
|||
Hypothesis 4: Mediating Effects of the Spokes-Avatar's Physical Attractiveness
The results of an independent-samples t-test indicate that Second Life players perceive human spokes-avatars as more attractive (M = 4.11, SD = 1.30) than non-human spokes-avatars (M = 2.23, SD = 1.12; t (97) = 6.58, p < .01). Second Life players who interact with a human spokes-avatar also perceive the iPhone advertisement as more informative (M = 5.02, SD = 1.11) than those who interact with non-human spokes-avatars (M = 4.55, SD = 1.22; t (97) = 2.01, p < .05).
To test the mediating role played by the physical attractiveness of the spokes-avatar, we conduct a path analysis. According to Baron and Kenny (1986), we must meet five criteria to prove mediation: The independent factor (type of spokes-avatar; dummy coded 0 for non-human and 1 for human) should have a significant effect on the mediator (physical attractiveness of the spokes-avatar; β = .57, p < .01). The mediating variable (physical attractiveness) also must have a significant effect on the dependent variable (information value of the advertisement message; β = .27, p <. 01). As a third criterion, when the dependent variable is regressed on the independent variable without the mediating variable, the independent factor should have a significant effect on the dependent variable (β = .20, p < .05). When both the independent and the mediating variables serve as predictors for a multiple regression analysis, the effect of the mediator on the dependent variables should remain statistically significant (β = .23, p < .05). Finally, when the dependent variable is regressed both on the independent and mediating variables, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variables should decline and become insignificant (β = .07, p = n.s). Through this analysis, we find support for hypotheis 4; in Figure 1, we depict the mediating effect of physcial attractiveness on consumers' evaluations of the information value of the advertising message.
Figure 1. Path Diagram of Mediation Analysis
Notes: The number inside parentheses is the standardized coefficient when we regress the dependent variable on the independent variable alone, without including the mediating variable (physical attractiveness) in the equations. We dummy code the independent variable (0 non-human versus 1 human spokes-avatar).
*p < .05.
**p < .01.
Discussion
In this study, we empirically examine and confirm that avatar-based advertising in Second Life can contribute to increase product involvement and positive attitudes toward a product. The results of paired sample t-tests in our pretest-posttest within-subjects comparison reveal that exposure to the audio-visual advertisements that are conveyed by a company's spokes-avatar in a virtual retail store inside Second Life improves product involvement and promotes a positive brand attitude. Our participants report significantly higher scores on these measures after they heard from the physically present Apple spokes-avatar about the key features of the iPhone compared with their scores before the experiment. However, participants in the control condition, without the presence of the Apple spokes-avatar, do not change their product involvement or attitudes toward the product. In general, we thus provide empirical evidence about the potential of virtual spokes-avatars as interactive advertising tools that have positive effects on consumers' product evaluations and the online shopping experiences in virtual environments. With regard to modality effects, these results also offer empirical support for the importance of multiple modalities in advertising; advertising messages conveyed through multimodal 3D spokes-avatars are more effective in terms of improving product involvement and attitude toward the product than is mere exposure to unimodal audio messages.
In addition to testing the overall effects of avatar-based interactive advertising in Second Life on consumers' product involvement and attitude, we investigate the effects of the different physical characteristics of spokes-avatars on consumers' evaluations. The participants perceive human-like spokes-avatars as more attractive, and players who interact with a human-like spokes-avatar perceive the iPhone advertisement as more informative than those who interact with a non-human spokes-avatar. However, gender matching between consumers and spokes-avatars does not have any significant effects on the dependent variables in our study. The data also support the mediating role of the perceived physical attractiveness of a salesperson on consumers' evaluations of advertisement messages.
Theoretically, we introduce the concept of presence to marketing and consumer behavior research as a conceptual link between two streams of research (presence and consumer behavior in marketing). The success of 3D worlds partially depends on the ability of marketers to create an enhanced sense of presence among consumers. Therefore, this line of research has great potential to offer innovative insights into interactive advertising that may deviate from a general understanding of how spokespeople persuade in traditional marketing contexts.
Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research
This study offers valuable theoretical and practical implications, but it also suffers some limitations that merit attention. Participants in our study were not heavy users of Second Life; rather, we invited them to a lab setting and asked them to play with avatars the authors had prepared prior to the experiment. Instead of employing real users who voluntarily signed up and reside inside Second Life, we used an inexperienced sample, which limits the generalizability of our findings. Additional research should observe the actual shopping behaviors of heavy users and real residents in Second Life.
Furthermore, we only use one brand and one of its products. To increase the external validity of our findings, follow-up studies should examine several brands and a variety of product categories. We used iPhone non-users as participants and measured their attitudes toward and familiarity with the brand (Apple) and product (iPhone) as pre-experimental measures to detect possible covariates and rule out confounding effects of prior attitudes and experiences. Researchers should exert even greater control over these factors by using fictitious brands instead of a real-world organization and its products.
We also recommend that research continue to address the importance of source credibility in avatar-based advertising in 3D virtual environments. Consumer trust and credibility represent key elements of success in online environments and other new media settings. Further studies might apply credibility literature to consumer experiences in new media environments and thereby identify factors that influence consumer trust and source credibility inside 3D virtual environments. Designing and developing a credible source, such as a competent and trustworthy recommendation agent, may influence positive consumer attitudinal and behavioral changes. Follow-up studies also should identify the physical dimensions of virtual avatars (e.g., anthropomorphism, gender) that most affect perceived source credibility in virtual environments.
Our findings reflect the specific experimental avatar, not the general concept of humanness or attractiveness, which further limits our study's external validity. Follow-up studies could use a 2 (humanness: human versus non-human) × 2 (physical attractiveness: attractive versus ugly) between-subjects factorial design experiment to elucidate potential interaction effects between the two factors, as well as address the possible confounding effects of attractive human avatars versus unattractive, non-human avatars.
Finally, we focus on the variation in the physical dimensions of spokes-avatars, which represent non-player characters; we do not consider any manipulations of the player's own avatar. The use of avatars or computer-generated visual representations of media users is increasing in e-commerce and various virtual social environments (Nowak and Rauh 2005); therefore, additional research should note players' choices when they create avatars for themselves, as well as focus on the effects of their choices on their enjoyment and evaluation of their experiences within 3D virtual environments. In addition to their humanness and gender, researchers could manipulate various attributes of the avatars, such as their ethnicity, as manifested by eye color, hair color, and skin color, to examine the effects of ethnicity matching or perceived similarity between spokes-avatars and online shoppers on consumer behaviors.
References
Abel, Millicent H. and Heather Watters (2005), "Attributions of Guilt and Punishment as Functions of Physical Attractiveness and Smiling," Journal of Social Psychology, 145 (6), 687-702.
Alba, Joseph and John Lynch (1997), "Interactive Home Shopping: Consumer, Retailer, and Manufacturer Incentives to Participate in Electronic Marketplaces," Journal of Marketing, 61 (July), 38-53.
Archer, Victoria E. (1993), "Who Ever Said Looks Are Everything? Mediating Effects of Physical Attractiveness for Elderly Patients," Dissertation Abstracts International, 53 (10), 5433.
Askoy, Lerzan, Paul N. Bloom, Nicholas H. Lurie, and Bruce Cooil (2006), "Should Recommendation Agents Think like People?" Journal of Service Research, 8 (4), 297-315.
Au, Wagner J. (2009), "Top Second Life Entrepreneur Cashing Out US $ 1.7 Million Yearly: Furnishing, Events Management Among Top Earners," http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/03/million.html (accessed August 11, 2009).
Baron, Reuben M. and David A. Kenny (1986), "The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
Biocca, Frank (1997), "The Cyborg's Dilemma: Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3, http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/biocca2.html (accessed August 31, 2009).
Bull, Ray and Nichola Rumsey (1988), The Social Psychology of Facial Appearance. New York: Springer-Verlag Publishing.
Cacioppo, John T. and Richard E. Petty (1985), "Physiological Responses and Advertising Effects: Is the Cup Half Full or Half Empty?" Psychology & Marketing, 2 (2), 115-126.
Donath, Judith (2007), "Virtually Trustworthy," Science, 317 (5834), 53-54.
Häubl, Gerald and Valerie Trifts (2000), "Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping Environments: The Effects of Interactive Decision Aids," Marketing Science, 19 (1), 4-21.
Holzwarth, Martin, Chris Janiszewski, and Marcus M. Neumann (2006), "The Influence of Avatars on Online Consumer Shopping Behavior," Journal of Marketing, 70, 19-36.
Huizingh, Elko K. R. E. (2000), "The Content and Design of Web Sites: An Empirical Study," Information & Management, 37 (3), 123-134.
Jarvenpaa, Sirkka L. and Peter A. Todd (1997), "Consumer Reactions to Electronic Shopping on the World Wide Web," Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1 (2), 59-88.
Jin, Seung-A Annie (2009a), "The Roles of Modality Richness and Involvement in Shopping Behavior in 3D Virtual Stores," Journal of Interactive Marketing, 23 (3), 234-246.
--- (2009b), "Modality Effects in Second Life: The Mediating Role of Social Presence and the Moderating Role of Product Involvement," CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2008.0273 (accessed August 31, 2009)
--- and Namkee Park (2009), "Parasocial Interaction with My Avatar: Effects of Interdependent Self-Construal and the Mediating Role of Self-Presence in an Avatar-Based Console Game, Wii," CyberPsychology & Behavior,12, http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cpb.2008.0289 (accessed August 31, 2009)
Jordan, Tim (1999), Cyber Power: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet. New York: Routledge.
Kang, Hye-Seung and Hee-Dong Yang (2006), "The Visual Characteristics of Avatars in Computer-Mediated Communication: Comparison of Internet Relay Chat and Instant Messenger as of 2003," International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64, 1173-1183.
Lee, Kwanmin (2004), "Presence, Explicated," Communication Theory, 14 (1), 27-50.
---, Wei Peng, Seung-A Annie Jin, and Chang Yan (2006), "Can Robots Manifest Personality?: An Empirical Test of Personality Recognition, Social Responses, and Social Presence in Human-Robot Interaction," Journal of Communication, 56 (4), 754-772.
Lombard, Matthew and Theresa Ditton (1997), "At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3 (2), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html (accessed August 31, 2009).
Nowak, Kristine L. and Christian Rauh (2005), "The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11 (1), 153-178.
Payne, John W., James R. Bettman, and Eric J. Johnson (1992), "Behavioral Decision Research: A Constructive Processing Perspective," Annual Review of Psychology, 43, 87-131.
Rauh, Christine, Maxim Polonsky, and Ross Buck (2004), "Cooperation at First Move: Trust, Emotional Expressiveness and Avatars in the Prisoner's Dilemma Game," poster presented at ISRE 2004-Conference of the International Society for the Research on Emotions, New York.
Schneiderman, Ben (1998), Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Second Life (2009), "Economic Statistics," http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php (accessed August 11, 2009).
Simon, Herbert (1955), "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69, 99-118.
Walsh, Kenneth and Suzanne Pawlowski (2002), "Virtual Reality: A Technology in Need of IS Research," Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 8, 297-313.
Appendix 1. iPhone Advertisement Script
Hello, welcome to the Apple store in Second Life! My name is Mike (Christine) and I am here to tell you about Apple's most exciting new product-the iPhone.
The iPhone has four key areas that make it such an amazing product. The first is its function as a phone. The iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply tapping a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log.
It also automatically syncs all your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet service. And it lets you select and listen to voice mail messages in whatever order you want-just like e-mail.
The iPhone also functions as an iPod! iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy your content-including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies-on a beautiful 3.5-inch display.
It allows you to sync the content from the iTunes library on your PC or Mac and access it all with the touch of a finger.
You can search the Internet with the iPhone as well. iPhone features a rich HTML email client and Safari-the most advanced Web browser ever on a portable device-which automatically syncs bookmarks from your PC or Mac.
Safari also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! searches. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a Web page while downloading your e-mail in the background over Wi-Fi or EDGE.
The iPhone also has some amazing features that puts it on the cutting edge of high technology! The iPhone introduces the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse, the most advanced software ever engineered, and true state-of-the-art technology that will change the way you think about a phone.
Appendix 2. Male Participant Interacting With Human Male Avatar
(Humanness × Matched gender condition)
Appendix 3. Female Participant Interacting With Non-Human Female Avatar
(Non-humanness × Matched gender condition)
Appendix 4. Questionnaire Items
Spokes-Avatar Attractiveness (seven-point Likert scale) (physical attraction dimension of consumers' social responses to Apple's spokes-avatar) (α = .96).
In my opinion, the virtual Apple spokes-avatar is (attractive) (beautiful) (good looking)
Enjoyment of Online Shopping Inside Second Life (seven-point Likert scale) (α = .94)
I find online shopping inside the Second Life entertaining.
I like online shopping inside the Second Life.
Online shopping inside the Second Life is fun to use.
Information Value of iPhone Advertisement (seven-point Likert scale) (α = .71)
The information offered is (useful), (sufficient).
Product Involvement (seven-point Likert scale) (α = .82)
For me iPhone is (important), (fun), (relevant).
Attitude Toward the Product (seven-point Likert scale) (α = .90)
I find the Apple's iPhone (useful) (agreeable) (favorable).
About the Authors
Seung-A Annie Jin (Ph. D., Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Boston College. Her research revolves around the social psychological effects of new media and interactive communication technologies (e.g., 3D virtual reality, video/computer games, robotics, haptics) in e-commerce and e-health. Her work has been published and is in press in Journal of Communication, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Health Psychology, CyberPsychology & Behavior, and Journal of Game Industry and Culture, among others. E-mail:seunga.jin.1@bc.edu.
Justin Bolebruch is a graduate of Boston College, where he studied communication and computer science. His research has focused on the impact of communication technology on e-commerce and the workplace. E-mail:justin.bolebruch@gmail.com.
