Avatar Theory

Online games are a popular application in electronic commerce. The number of customers playing a single online game has reached as high as 9,000,000 (Blizzard Entertainment, 2008), indicating the relevance of online games to marketers. When playing online games, customers focus on avatars, which represent them in the game world (Vasalou & Joinson, 2009). Recent studies have addressed the role of avatars in online game play (i.e., Lo, 2008). However, few investigations have attempted to improve practitioner understanding of avatars, limiting the wider utilization of avatar design in improving customer satisfaction. This phenomenon is perhaps owing to the lack of avatar-related theories. Theoretical investigations are necessary to clarify how customers use avatars to satisfy their needs when playing online games. This chapter thus presents Avatar Theory to outline fundamental propositions related to avatars. Avatar Theory can provide a background theory for subsequent avatar studies related to online games, demonstrating the value and potential impact of Avatar Theory within the literature on electronic commerce. Since gamers can select, play, change, discard and play multiple avatars, this chapter develops the Avatar Theory in order to understand these avatar use behavior.