annef's blog

I chose to review the article “The ‘New’ Virtual Consumer: Exploring the Experiences of New Users” by Lyle R. Wetsch.

I chose this article because it discusses the experiences of new users for software such as Second Life.  Not only would this be an introduction for myself, due to the fact that I have never used a program such as Second Life, but it would also give me a preview as to what my students may experience if I would choose to use Second Life in my business education curriculum.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the experiences of first time users of Second Life and how businesses can use this information to gauge their marketing techniques within the software.  The author created a study using business students from an internet marketing course and monitored their experiences in Second Life, starting with the creation of an avatar.  Students were required to use a weekly blog to describe their experiences within the software.  The author also created his own avatar to monitor students.  Students were encouraged to use Second Life as they normally would, not focusing only on the business/marketing aspect.  The results showed a variety of mixed emotions and experiences of the students during their Second Life experiences.  It showed that past experiences in gaming software makes the use of similar software much easier.  The participants did have mostly positive experiences when experimenting with company based avatars and products.

A similar activity could be used in a marketing education, introduction to marketing course.  Students could use avatars to review different marketing techniques they experience while in Second Life. Taken a step further, you could also assign specific marketing techniques to individual students in order to gain better classroom discussion.

Companies could use a similar technique by having employees in the marketing department create avatars and monitor other users impressions of the company’s marketing techniques without the users being aware.  This would allow for a more honest opinion of the user and more opinions.

I found this research to be extremely valuable.  The author was able to identify challenges the students faced, which would help him with implementation techniques if he chose to conduct the course again in the future.  I also found the idea of the students’ blogs as the monitoring to be genius because it allowed more for self-expression. 

Wetsch, L. (November 2008). The “New” Virtual Consumer: Exploring the Experiences of New Users. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, Vol. 1. No. 2.