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

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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.

Highlights

► Studies the impact of avatar and its users’ similarity on perceived identifiability. ► Tests the veracity of the model using 124 subjects. ► Results have implications for virtual team management.

Introduction

Virtual teams offer several advantages over their traditional face-to-face counterparts. For instance, in order to enhance the depth of information access and task performance effectiveness, virtual teams overcome space and time constraints which particularly limit their collocated face-to-face counterparts (McGrath & Hollingshead, 1994). They make managerial communication more efficient; reduce the expense and difficulty related to distributed work (Galegher & Kraut, 1994).

While both researchers and practitioners have acknowledged the advantages of using virtual teams, these teams also face some unique challenges. They are often formed on a temporary basis where members of the team might be characterized by high degree of anonymity or unfamiliarity (Driskell, Radtke, & Salas, 2003). This has been shown as a hindrance for organizations in effectively utilizing the expertise of individuals in such teams for delivering quality services and products (Iacono & Weisband, 1997). When the team membership is typified by anonymity, the lack of identify associated with any particular individual may lead the members to doubt the individual’s expertise (Dennis, 1996). Moreover, extant research suggests that individuals working in anonymous groups believe that their group’s decision are less effective, and are often less satisfied as compared to members of teams meetings face to face (Reinig and Mejias, 2004, Valacich et al., 1992). Deindividuation theory suggests that anonymous computer-mediated communication, where participants lose their sense of individual identity, is vulnerable to hostile or unethical behaviors (Diener, 1980). This is due to the reduction in their sense of self-awareness and lack of control over their own behavior, which eventually triggers impulses that under normal circumstance would be restricted (Wicklund, 1975). Thus, in order to prevent problems arising due to anonymous communication, individuals supervising virtual teams would prefer team members to be identifiable. Knowledge of the identity of a particular source enhances the source credibility and accountability (Rains, 2007). Therefore, identifiability within a virtual team is crucial for effective functioning of the team.

One way to emphasize the identity salience in virtual teams is through the use of avatars. The term ‘avatar’, which is derived from Sanskrit language, refers to the temporary human or animal body that a deity assumes (Damer, Gold, & de Bruin, 1999). However, in the virtual world, the avatar refers to “perceptible digital representation whose behaviors reflect those executed, typically in real time, by a specific human being” (Bailenson & Blascovich, 2004). Previous research on avatars has shown that it is an effective tool for revealing the identity of individuals in the cyberspace (Belise & Bodur, 2010); nonetheless, the mechanism thorough which avatar might reflect or enhance the identity of an individual hasn’t been explored. Since users have a great deal of alternatives to customize their avatars in a way that suit their needs (Ducheneaut, 2009, Lee and Shin, 2004), simply using an avatar may not completely reveal the true identity of a person. Thus, it is imperative that in order to enhance the identifiability (the extent to which a user can be identified) of an individual, avatars should actually reflect the people using them. Consistent with this line of reasoning, we argue that individuals will perceive themselves to be identifiable in virtual teams if their avatars are similar to themselves.

To this end, the primary purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that higher the perceived similarity of an avatar user with his/her avatar, higher will be the identifiability of the avatar user. This research has implications for virtual teams whose members are anonymous and perform their task using avatars. Rest of the manuscript is organized as follows: After presenting related works from literature, we elaborate on the experimental methods used in the study. We then present and discuss our results and findings. Finally, we highlight the implications of the study, acknowledge the limitations and draw conclusions based on our results.

Section snippets

Related work

The rapid growth in use of internet has given rise to a number of shared virtual world spaces, such as CitySpace, ActiveWorlds, and Second Life (Kumar, Chhugani, Kim, et al., 2008). Initially deemed as environments exclusively meant for play, virtual worlds now have earned a strong reputation within business and educational context for their applicability in distributed collaboration, virtual teamwork, and real-time simulation (Schultze & Orlikowski, 2010).

Research on the use of avatars is

Sample and procedures

A web based questionnaire was utilized to collect data for this study. Requests for participation in an interactive problem solving group activity were sent to 250 Second Life users. The survey questionnaire was hosted online on a third party website where no personally identifiable data was collected from any of the respondents. As suggested by Dillman (1978), we explained the focus of the study to the respondents emphasizing the importance of their participation and confidentiality of their

Results and discussion

The results are summarized in Table 1 and Table 2. Reported statistics include composite reliability, Cronbach alpha, average variance extracted, square root of average variance extracted, and factor loadings for the measurement model.

Following Chin (1998), bootstrapping was performed to test the statistical significance of the path coefficient. Bootstrapping is a non-parametric bootstrapping technique for estimating the precision of the PLS estimates. In general, it provides an estimate of the

Limitations and future research

Few limitations of the study should be acknowledged in order to interpret its findings effectively. First, while there are several virtual communities, our focus in this study was on Second Life (SL). Thus, the results in the study have a limited generalizability. Second, the data for the study were collected exclusively using a web-based survey. Therefore, a possibility that results might have been affected due to common method variance exists. Finally, as the sample had a fair mix of males

Conclusion

As the use of avatars becomes more common, there is a need for scholars to explore the dynamics underlying avatar selection and its application in virtual teams. Previous research on use of avatars in virtual teams has mainly focused on criterion such as decision effectiveness, team performance (e.g., Andres, 2002, Schmidt et al., 2001, Warkentin et al., 1997). In this study, we focused on perceived similarity of avatar user with their avatar in context of Second Life, and our results confirmed

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