Article Information
“Virtual Worlds Research: Consumer Behavior in Virtual Worlds”
November 2008
On the Relationship between My Avatar and Myself
By
Paul R. Messinger, School of Business, University of Alberta;
Xin Ge, School of Business, University of Northern British Columbia;
Eleni Stroulia, Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta;
Kelly Lyons, Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto;
Kristen Smirnov, and Michael Bone, School of Business, University of Alberta
Why did you select this article (approx. 50-75 words)?
Being exposed to Second Life during this class and another class that I took 2 years I am interested in the relationship between the avatar and the person who creates them. I have noticed significant thought goes into this selection and their is usually a full story about the reasoning behind the creation of the avatar. I wanted to further read about what others say about the relationship between the user and their avatar.
Provide a one paragraph summary of the article. Do not copy the abstract.
The purpose and research for this article asked the question if through their avatars, people project images of themselves that are similar to or dramatically different from their real-world images.
The research method that was used was a survey that could be accessed by people in the Second Life world. It was located on a certain island and people could come up to the billboard and access the survey. They received Linden dollars for compensation for their time. The researchers also used a totally randomized way of searching SL users and asking them participate in the survey to ensure they had a random and fair sample.
Their finding showed that on the basis of multiple dimensions of attractiveness that the avatars were more attractive than their users. On multiple dimensions of similarity including age and height the majority kept their avatars similar to their physical bodies. Overall the results found that people base their avatars around themselves however some enhancements are made.
Give an example of how you may use the ideas in this presentation in the business education classroom. Be specific with the content area, etc.
I think using a Second Life type simulation could be used to communicate and hold class in a virtual environment but also could be used to teach business and set up a virtual business around the same ideas of real life business.
Give an example of how the ideas in this presentation may transfer to the business/industry/health care environment.
I have heard for health care people using Second Life and creating avatars that can walk if they are wheel chair bound in real life. Also, real business market to the users of Second Life.
What is your opinion of this research
After reading about the findings of the article I think the research is pretty accurate and if I participated in the program I would probably base my avatar around the same ideas that most others use. I think it is very interesting to also read research about how others approach avatars and how they create them.