Information Systems as Representations: A Review of the Theory and Evidence

Avatars and Embodied Agents in Experimental Information Systems Research: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework

“…According to Guadagno et al (2007), the more anthropomorphic an embodied agent or avatar appears, the more realistic its interactional behaviour such as facial expressions or smiles needs to be for the digital representation to stimulate appropriate social/behavioural responses. Hence, in line with RT (Burton-Jones et al, 2017;Recker et al, 2019), avatars and embodied agents may yield higher faithfulness (e.g., in terms of credibility, similarity, presence) if these representations closely resemble the real-world phenomena of human cues in interpersonal interactions (e.g., Groom et al, 2009;Nowak & Rauh, 2006). In contrast, less anthropomorphic representations, that is, with inconsistencies in behavioural, emotional, and visual realism, may lead to adverse outcomes in the interaction between humans and digital representations.…”

“…According to Representation Theory (RT), the fundamental purpose of an IS is to provide users with a faithful representation of some real-world phenomena (Recker et al, 2019). The main tenets of RT posit that IS will 1) be employed if they provide users with a more cost-effective way to obtain knowledge about a focal real-world phenomenon than observing it directly, and 2) yield higher usefulness the more faithful the phenomena are represented.…”

“…The main tenets of RT posit that IS will 1) be employed if they provide users with a more cost-effective way to obtain knowledge about a focal real-world phenomenon than observing it directly, and 2) yield higher usefulness the more faithful the phenomena are represented. Common examples for the application of RT include data modelling, object-oriented modelling, and process modelling (Burton-Jones et al, 2017;Recker et al, 2019). Similar notions can be applied when it comes to avatar design: An avatar provides a digital representation of a person in the real-world, while an embodied agent represents a computer agent.…”

“…For the dimension of realism, there are mirrored and fictional representations (e.g., Peña et al, 2016;Suh et al, 2011;Vasalou & Joinson, 2009). The concept of a mirrored self refers to selfavatars that resemble the actual person as much as possible (Vasalou et al, 2008), which may include mirrored behaviours and gestures, representing aspects of the user in the real world (Burton-Jones et al, 2017;Recker et al, 2019). It can be seen as a simulated, mirror version of the self, and reflective of the offline self, as well as has the potential to influence the individual in meaningful ways.…”

Global Crises and the Role of BISE

“…How IS can help better understand crises. There is a long-standing research program about the role of information systems in representing the world around us (Burton-Jones et al 2017;Recker et al 2019). Its fundamental idea is that information systems that faithfully (i.e., completely and clearly) represent real-world phenomena will be useful because they provide a more cost-effective way of observation than tracking the focal real-world phenomena directly (Weber 2003).…”