No abstract

The concept of presence has generated much discussion over the past few years. There is a consensus that presence exists and that it can be experienced as a reaction to environmental stimuli. However, less has been written on the psychological mechanisms of engaging in presence. We argue that presence is closely linked to empathy and that strong empathic tendencies will lead to high levels of experienced presence. In this study we investigate the relationship between presence, empathy, and gender. A 2x2 experimental design was administered to participants who interacted with a flight simulator. Our results indicate that men and women engage in presence in different ways. Men appear to engage in presence via the interaction afforded by the virtual environment, whereas women appear to engage in presence via watching the environment. Both men and women appear to use empathic ability as a means of engaging in presence. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

This study investigates the relationship between involvement, presence and communication (advertising and word-of-mouth) judgement in a computer-mediated communications environment. A popular computer game was modified to incorporate persuasive communication within game play. Results indicate that involvement affects communication judgement and that the degree of experienced presence within the environment mediates this relationship. 599

Dependency is proposed as an implicit yet undeveloped concept important in understanding consumer behavior. The development of this idea takes as a jumping-off point, the family life cycle literature because it has implicitly recognized the importance of dependent children. A taxonomy of dependence is offered as several propositions regarding dependency patterns. While the central offering of this paper is theoretical, the concept is explored via focus groups with 24 women. Findings suggest that the concept is worthy of future development.