The media equation: how people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places
Realism is not all! User engagement with task-related interface characters
Interacting with Computers
Social reactions toward people vs. computers: How mere lables shape interactions
Computers in Human Behavior
Deception in cyberspace: A comparison of text-only vs. avatar-supported medium
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
My avatar, my self: Virtual harm and attachment
Ethics and Information Technology
Identity formation, learning styles and trust in virtual worlds
ACM SIGMIS Database
Second life®: a guide to your virtual world
Second life®: a guide to your virtual world
Journal of Management Information Systems
Recommendation Agents for Electronic Commerce: Effects of Explanation Facilities on Trusting Beliefs
Journal of Management Information Systems
Virtual worlds - past, present, and future: New directions in social computing
Decision Support Systems
Information Systems Research
Measurement of rapport-expectation with a robot
Proceedings of the 8th ACM/IEEE international conference on Human-robot interaction
Impact of Flow and Brand Equity in 3D Virtual Worlds
Journal of Database Management
Co-creation and Collaboration in a Virtual World: A 3D Visualization Design Project in Second Life
Journal of Database Management
Empirical Comparison of 3-D Virtual World and Face-to-Face Classroom for Higher Education
Journal of Database Management
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Virtual worlds e.g., Second Life, where users interact and form relationships with other users' virtual identities represented by avatars i.e., human-avatar relationships, are increasingly influential in today's businesses and society. Nevertheless, the sustainability and impact of virtual worlds depend largely on the closeness of human-avatar relationships. This study investigates the antecedents of the closeness of such relationships. The authors conceptualize human-avatar relationship closeness as composed of interaction frequency, activity diversity, and relational influence. They identify its antecedents perceived needs fulfillment, relationship irreplaceableness, and resource investment by extending Rusbult's investment model of interpersonal relationship commitment to the domain of human-computer interaction. The authors test the hypotheses through an online survey of Second Life users and find that 1 resource investment is positively associated with all three human-avatar relationship closeness dimensions; 2 needs fulfillment is positively associated with interaction frequency and relational influence; and 3 relationship irreplaceableness is positively associated with relational influence.