Impact of similarity between avatar and their users on their perceived identifiability: Evidence from virtual teams in Second Life platform

Authors:
Vishal Midha;Ankur Nandedkar
Affiliations:
The University of Texas-Pan American, 1201 W. University Dr., Edinburg, TX 78539, United States;Cameron University, 2800 West Gore Blvd., Lawton, OK 73505, United States
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2012

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Abstract

Research on the application of avatars in the virtual teams is growing. In this study, we examined the effect of perceived similarity of an avatar user with his/her avatar on the perceptions of his/her identifiability within a virtual team. The study utilized a sample of 124 users actively involved in Second Life, a virtual world platform. Results of structural equation modeling utilizing the partial least squares method corroborate the hypothesis. An important contribution of this research is to inform practitioners about the critical role that users' similarity with the avatar plays in enhancing their identifiability. We draw conclusions based on the result and identify some important avenues for future research.