Solomon Michael R. - Virtual Social Identity and Consumer Behavior

Virtual Social Identity
and
Consumer Behavior

First published 2009 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Virtual social identity and consumer behavior / edited by Natalie T. Wood and
Michael R. Solomon.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7656-2395-9 (cloth : alk. paper)

I. Group identity. 2. Consumer behavior. 3. Virtual reality. I. Wood, Natalie T., 1970-II. Solomon, Michael R.

ISBN 13: 9780765623966 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 9780765623959 (hbk)

Contents

Michael R. Solomon and Natalie T. Wood

Robert V. Kozinets and Richard Kedzior

Leila El Kamel

Christian Hinsch and Peter H. Bloch

James E. Brown and Tracy L. Tuten

Kathy Keeling, Debbie Keeling, Antonella de Angeli, and Peter McGoldrick

David Crete, Anik St-Onge, Aurelie Merle, Nicolas Arsenault, and Jacques Nantel

Jeff Wang, Xin Zhao, and Gary J. Bamossy

J. Alison Bryant and Anna Akerman

Youjeong Kim and S. Shyam Sundar

Osei Appiah and Troy Elias

Yuliya Lutchyn, Brittany R.L. Duff, Ronald J. Faber, Soyoen Cho, and Jisu Huh

Melissa G. Bublitz, Craig C. Claybaugh, and Laura A. Peracchio

Introduction:
Virtual Social Identity

MICHAEL R. SOLOMON AND NATALIE T. WOOD

In his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, the author Neal Stephenson first developed the construct of the Metaverse. This seminal book depicts a future where individuals inhabit two parallel realities; their everyday physical existence and their avatar existence in a 3D computer-mediated environment. The complicated marriage of everyday mundane life with a fantasy world in which an inhabitant assumes other identities opened the door to thoughts of digital social experimentationand presented a pathway to self-aggrandizement for those whose real world lives are less than ideal: the books protagonist is a humble pizza delivery boy in the real world, but a sword-wielding warrior in the Metaverse.

Since the release of Snow Crash almost twenty years ago, technology now allows Stephensons vision to become a reality. Over the last few years a flood of virtual worlds have come online. From Second Life to The World of Warcraft, There.com to MTVs Virtual Pimp My Ride, millions of consumers live a parallel life in a digital reality. A virtual world is an online representation of real-world people, products, and brands in a computer-mediated environment (CME). To many mainstream consumers and advertisers, this is largely an unknown or underground phenomenonbut it has real marketing consequences (Wood and Solomon, forthcoming). We are pleased to present selected papers in this volume from the first academic conference to specifically address these issues: the 2008 Advertising and Consumer Psychology Conference sponsored by the Society for Consumer Psychology (www.sju.edu/academics/centers/ccr/vsocialidentity.html) in Philadelphia.

Why the focus on this topic? In mid-2007, Charles River Ventures proclaimed that the virtual goods market was worth approximately $1.5 billion and growing rapidly. With more than 150 of these immersive 3D environments now live or currently in development, the number of consumers who come into contact with virtual goods as they navigate these worlds is projected to rise rapidly (150+ Youth-Oriented 2008). Indeed, according to one estimate, by the year 2012, 53 percent of kids and 80 percent of active Internet users will be members of at least one virtual world (Kids 2007; Virtual Greats Enters 2008).

Clearly, virtual environments will fuel new consumer trends over the next decade. McKinsey predicts that Virtual worlds such as Second Life will become an indispensable business tool and vital to the strategy of any company intent on reaching out to the video-game generation (Richards 2008). The Harvard Business Review predicts that within the next five years virtual environments are likely to emerge as the dominant Internet interface. In addition to corporate websites, companies will operate virtual stores where customers can browse and interact with assistants (Sarvary 2008). To date, numerous companies including IBM, GE, and Toyota have created CMEs for internal and external applications. Eventually, these CME forums may rival traditional marketer-sponsored e-commerce sites in terms of their influence on consumer decision making and product adoption.

However, due to the newness of the medium, advertisers still struggle to figure out the best way to talk to consumers in these environmentsor to decide if they should enter them at all. Ironically, this challenge is compounded by the unparalleled latitude both advertisers and consumers possess in these environments to assume virtually (pun intended) any physical form they wish. How will our understanding of source effects apply to advertising contexts where a company spokespersons avatar (or digital representation) is a fiery dragon, a sultry siren, or both at once? How does that company relate to a consumer whose avatar resembles George Bush, a furry creature, or a superhero? Welcome to the wild and woolly world of advertising in virtual worlds.

The last few years have been a bit of a Gold Rush for the brand-new virtual worlds industry as marketers eagerly competed to be the first in to stake a claim in a CME. Unfortunately many of these efforts failed to live up to expectations and we have been subjected to a slew of negative press. Virtual worlds are a fad, many naysayers claim. Gartner estimates that upward of 90 percent of virtual worlds that businesses launch will fail; most within the first 18 months. Yet, the same analysts also predict that 70 percent of organizations will establish their own private virtual worlds by 2012 (Cavall 2008). Despite such prominent failures as American Apparel and Starwood Hotels, there are many examples of success, including campaigns by Cosmo Girl and Toyota Scion in There.com and Nike in Second Life.

When executed properly, we firmly believe that virtual environments offer a higher level of immersion, interactivity, and engagement than many other web-based technologies. The promise is real, but its no longer sufficient just to plant a virtual stick in the ground. Advertisers need to think carefully about how to calibrate their strategic objectives with the unique characteristics of these environments.