“My Avatar and Her Beloved Possession”: Characteristics of Attachment to Virtual Objects

Abstract

Given the increasing emphasis on online consumption in our digital era, the current study aimed to explore the avatar–self relationship in association with the concept of product attachment. Through constructing their own avatars and selecting certain virtual possessions for them, participants in the sample were able to represent different elements of their identities to be manifested in their embodied virtual presence. Certain attributes and emotions characterizing both the real as well as the virtual existence of participants appeared to exert important influences. Additional gender differences emerged, in that males were more likely to represent their possible and hidden self‐aspects, and focus on the functional meaning of virtual products, while females were more likely to reveal their ideal selves, and attach symbolic meaning to their virtual possessions. For female participants, the role of experimentation emerged as an important construct, with their avatars often reflecting upon their ambivalence toward perceived social norms and societal expectations. Implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed.

Possessions and Self in the Identity Work of Survivors of Domestic Violence

“…We adopt the sense of "possession" used by participants as anything they perceived belonged to them, in that they had control or ownership of the possession: "something that was mine" (participant Brittany). In line with the conceptualization of possession in Belk's landmark work (1988) and in more recent consumer research (Nagy & Koles, 2014;Thomson, MacInnis, & Park, 2005), participants referred to possessions as all those material and nonmaterial things they regarded as "mine;" including objects, family members, friends, pets, their bodies, as well as time, particular places, and mental spaces.…”

“…Many of the processes and practices we use to create, affirm, maintain, set aside, and restore aspects of self involve possessions (Ferraro, Escalas, & Bettman, 2011;Kleine & Baker, 2004;Kleine & Kleine, 2000;Nagy & Koles, 2014). Possession-self relations, built on the links between possessions and identity, highlight the symbolic potential and meaning-carrying capacity of possessions (Dommer & Swaminathan, 2013;Escalas & Bettman, 2005;Ferraro et al, 2011).…”

Virtual reality through the customer journey: Framework and propositions

“…Third, in the virtual world, consumers (represented by avatars) interact with the interface and the characters it contains (Nagy and Koles, 2014;Shin and Shin, 2011). Pennington (2001, p. 33) and Steuer (1992, p. 74) view interactivity as the user's ability to affect the form or content of their mediated experience, to which Van der Meijden and Schijven (2009, p. 1180) add the user's value-extracting ability.…”

I Am/We Are: Exploring the Online Self-Avatar Relationship

“…The attachment to, and investment in, the avatar-persona can often be quite effective in creating emotional responses and even physical reactions in the user, or change patterns of offline behaviour. See, for example, Nagy and Koles (2014), and Plunkett (2011) for discussions of this manifestation. Things that happen to the avatar-persona also affect the user.…”