Avatar-Based Advertising in Second Life: The Role of Presence and Attractiveness of Virtual Spokespersons
Seung-A Annie JinDepartment of Communication at Boston College
Justin BolebruchBoston College
Abstract:Avatar-based, three-dimensional, virtual environments such as Second Life, the most popular and fastest growing environment, offer a promising corporate communication channel for brand marketing, advergaming, and interactive advertising. Drawing on presence literature, this study examines the effects of the presence (versus absence) of spokes-avatars that provide product information and consumers' multimodal interactions with these spokes-avatars on improvements in the consumers' product involvement, attitude toward the product, and enjoyment of the online shopping...