Case Study: DO AVATARS DREAM ABOUT VIRTUAL SHEEP?

When he ventures online, he's a muscular, bronzed, 23-year-old surfer. But, after a few hours chilling in the virtual world of The Sims 4, it's time for this shy, 110-pound student to get back to work. Sound weird? It's not. He is one of the more than one billion people worldwide who inhabit a virtual world in digital form. Welcome to the world of avatars! In the years since virtual worlds came into being, marketers have been working to understand how the time people spend in virtual worlds influences the way they learn about brands and whether it impacts their relationship with the brand in the real world. In The Sims 4 and other sites, users create an avatar to represent themselves online. Some people create avatars that look a lot like them in the real world, but many residents choose avatars that represent the person they would like to be, fantasy creatures, or even individuals of the opposite gender. With these alternate personalities they go out and explore virtual worlds. So what does this mean to marketers?

A lot more than some pixels on a computer screen. Avatars interact with real brands in these virtual worlds. They can purchase products such as jeans for their avatars, and they can attend events such as concerts or lectures. Marketers can gain insights about how consumers learn about brands by analyzing the behavior of their avatars in virtual settings. But it's not just virtual worlds that want to understand how to make money from the legions of avatars out there. Web site designers and developers also realize the importance of avatars that interact with visitors on corporate Web sites. Several companies such as Sitepal offer software applications that design avatars to greet and guide visitors. Some of these avatars take the form of famous people, including rock stars, actors, and historical figures. Sitepal can even help a company to set up an avatar-powered testimonial page where satisfied customers can "talk" to potential customers visiting the company's site. Research suggests that avatars might increase users' satisfaction with the Web sites and affect purchases.

Apparel brands continue to experiment with the use of avatars to help customers have a better online experience in determining the right fit for clothing. Start-up company Fitle has developed a three-dimensional system that will enable a consumer to create an avatar with a virtual representation of their body that is close to 99 percent accurate. Their system is being designed to interface with the catalogs of 250 partner brands that would allow users to "try on" clothing and create virtual wardrobes. The impact on how consumers would learn about different brands of clothing and their fit seems like a potential game-changer for the apparel industry. Organizations and educators are continuing to explore the impact of avatars and virtual worlds. Companies can host their business meetings online and encourage employees to develop their own avatars when they attend the meetings. Several university presidents have even held online forums with students and create avatars to discuss current issues of concern with their students. The world of avatars and virtual worlds will continue to challenge marketers in the years to come.

Discussion Questions

1. How might classical conditioning operate for a consumer who visits a new tutoring Web site and is greeted by the Web site's avatar who resembles Albert Einstein?

2. How might instrumental conditioning influence a consumer who purchases a new outfit for his avatar in a virtual world?

3. Do consumers build associative networks from their avatar's experience? If so, would the associations from their avatar experience be any different from other shopping experiences? How would these networks impact the consumer's ability to organize and retrieve information that they have learned?