Understanding Emotional Bond Between the Creator and the Avatar: Change in Behavioral Intentions to Engage in Alcohol-Related Traffic Risk Behaviors

• In Event: Online Health Information and Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

One hundred eleven participants were randomly assigned into one of three experimental conditions where the degree of choice of avatar features and the degree of control over the avatar’s activities in Second Life (SL) were manipulated. After observing a vehicle accident by driving under the influence of alcohol, participants in the choice and control condition showed positive changes of behavioral intentions (BI) when they established a higher level of identification with their avatar and positive judgment of their avatar’s physical appearance. In the choice only condition, a higher level of similarity judgment promoted healthy changes in BI. In the control only condition, a direction of BI was only changed by participants’ previous experiences both with drink and driving and with alcohol-related traffic accidents. Implications of using alternative worlds in health-improved campaigns and the limitations of this study are discussed.

Authors

• Hokyung Kim, Hallym University

• Sei-Hill Kim, U of South Carolina

• Keith Davis, U of South Carolina

• Ki-Seok Kwon, Hanbat U

• Jeong-Min Park, Hallym U