1. THE INTRODUCTION OF AVATARS AS A FACTOR OF SOCIABILITY IN
E- COMMERCE WEBSITES: PERSPECTIVES FOR SMALL RETAILERS
António Alves, MSc in Marketing and Strategic Management (University of Minho,
Portugal).
Email: amalves@ alumni.uminho.pt; mobile: +351 919968829
Ana Maria Soares, PhD in Management, Assistant Professor, University of Minho,
Portugal.
Email: amsoares@eeg.uminho.pt
1

2. THE INTRODUCTION OF AVATARS AS A FACTOR OF SOCIABILITY IN
E- COMMERCE WEBSITES: PERSPECTIVES FOR SMALL RETAILERS
ABSTRACT
This paper addresses the question of the introduction of avatars as sociability and
human warmth stimuli in sites of electronic commerce and its implications for digital
marketing. Simultaneously it attempts to raise new perspectives on how retailers can use
their vast knowledge on personalized relationships, and on how to apply it to an online
environment. The combination of avatar technology and these companies’ expertise,
applied to an online store, can definitely become a competitive advantage for small
brick and mortar retailers.
Keywords: Avatars, Virtual Agents, Online Consumer Behavior, Electronic Commerce,
E-Commerce, Traditional Commerce
RESUME
Cet article aborde le sujet de l'introduction des avatars comme stimulus de sociabilité et
de chaleur humain dans les sites de commerce électronique et de ses implications pour
le marketing digital. On essaie de présenter de nouvelles perspectives sur utilisation de
l’immense savoir-faire sur la relation personnalisée détenue par le commerce
traditionnel et sur la façon de l'appliquer à cette technologie. La combinaison de la
technologie des avatars et l'expertise de ces entreprises, appliquée à un magasin en
ligne, peut devenir définitivement un avantage concurrentiel.
Mots-clés: Avatars, Agents virtuels, Comportement des consommateurs en ligne,
Commerce électronique, Le commerce traditionnel
2

3. 1 INTRODUCTION
The lack of consumer trust, particularly in the B2C segment, has been recognized as one
of the greatest barriers for the development of electronic commerce (Aldiri, Hobbs, &
Qahwaji, 2010). This lack of trust can be largely attributed to the absence of personal
face-to-face interactions between the consumer and the seller. In traditional commerce,
trust between parties builds in these interactions (Aldiri et al, 2010) which constitute
one of its main comparative advantages. Such interactions provide human contact and
create opportunities for the development of personal services in contrast with the
impersonal e-commerce interaction between the consumer and a Web server (Otto &
Chung, 2001). Moreover a significant number of small and medium size traditional
retailers hold intangible assets (a brand recognized by consumers, significant experience
in personal service, prestige accumulated over decades) of great strategic value. In turn,
e-commerce operators have already realized that human contact is important in order to
establish meaningful relationships with their customers (Qiu & Benbasat, 2005).
The literature suggests that the use of avatars (virtual characters with human
characteristics created by technology) can increase the persuasiveness of online sales
channels (Wang, Baker, Wagner, & Wakefield, 2007)by increasing their credibility,
perceived trust, and allowing for social stimuli and human warmth in online stores
interactions. Consequently avatars lead to greater consumer satisfaction with the seller,
a better attitude toward the product and increased purchase intent (Holzwarth,
Janiszewski, & Neuman, 2006).
The technology now available allows equipping a website with animated 3D avatars
with high level of interactivity and multiple graphic options. Avatars can be built from
real human beings images, endowed with synthesized voice through text to speech
technology (TTS), with real human voice and even with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
based on a knowledge library with tens of thousands of topics that can be tailored to the
specific online store specifications. Such technology allows consumers to engage in a
two-way conversation with the virtual character and find answers in a more intuitive
and enjoyable manner. The prices of this technology for the store are around $ 250 per
month (Oddcast, 2012). Such amount is compatible even with the budgets of traditional
small retailers.
3

4. In this paper, we report an experiment designed to test the impact of avatars. We
compared an online store with a photo realistic avatar endowed with real human voice
and an online store with a naturalistic avatar endowed with TTS voice and with an
online store without an avatar.
This paper is organized as follows: In the following section, we conduct a literature
review about the introduction of social factors and the use of avatars in e-commerce
(E.C.). Section three presents the empirical study describing methodological
considerations and study design. Subsequently, we present the findings of the
experiment. The results are discussed on section five. Finally, we present the study’s
conclusions including the implications for management, limitations and further research
directions.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 THE INTRODUCTION OF SOCIAL FACTORS AND THE USE OF AVATARS IN E-COMMERCE
According to the literature, despite its consistent and continued growth, the fact that
many online stores tend to produce little social or emotional appeal and can be
perceived as impersonal and empty of human warmth is a weakness limiting e-
commerce (Hassanein & Head, 2005/6; Holzwarth et al, 2006). Inducing the feeling of
warmth and sociability on a website can be achieved by providing means for a real
interaction with other human beings (through virtual communities, forums, chats, etc.)
or stimulating imagined interactions through socially rich texts, images, custom
greetings, audio and video featuring human beings acting intelligently (Hassanein &
Head, 2005/6; 2007).
Using avatars to provide consumer information about products on sale has been
suggested in recent years in order to overcome the impersonal nature, lack of sociability
and lack of human warmth of internet-based retail-sale (Holzwarth et al, 2006). The
word ' avatar ' has its origins in the hindu Sanskrit and can be understood in this context
as a graphical representation which can be animated by means of computer technology
(Holzwarth et al, 2006).
4

5. Nowak and Rauth (2005) conducted a study to evaluate avatars in a static context in
terms of their androgyny, anthropomorphism, credibility, homophilia, attraction and the
possibility of being chosen during an interaction. Their results sustain that the responses
to the images were consistent with the Uncertainty Reduction Theory. According to this
theory, in an interaction, the first objective of an individual is to reduce uncertainty
about the person with whom he is interacting. The findings of this study demonstrated
that the anthropomorphism as well as the masculinity or femininity of avatars (the
absence of androgyny) reduces uncertainty about the characteristics of the character
represented by the avatar and influences people's perceptions about it. Anthropomorphic
avatars were perceived as more attractive, credible and susceptible of being chosen by
people to represent them. Female avatars were considered by the participants in the
study as more attractive than male ones. The majority preferred avatars of their own
gender (Nowak & Rauth, 2005). The results of this study contrast, in part, with previous
studies that supported the idea that anthropomorphism would be the biggest predictor of
credibility of an avatar (Koda, 1996 and Wexelblat, 1997 apud Nowak and Rauth,
2005). However, the study of Nowak and Rauth (2005) concludes that the most
influential factor is the degree of masculinity or femininity of the avatar (the absence of
androgyny) . Furthermore, results showed that images with strong features of
masculinity or femininity were regarded as being more anthropomorphic than images
without strong indication of gender.
In any case, since avatars are used to represent the seller in a online shop, consumers
will use the information related to the virtual agent similarly to how they reduce
uncertainty during their experiences in natural non-mediated environments; but,
contrary to face to face interactions where the first impression is the one that gets more
attached to its owner, in a computer mediated environment, the characteristics of an
avatar can be tailored to promote any kind of impressions and reactions (Nowak &
Rauth, 2005).
The potential roles avatars can play in e-commerce sites were studied in depth by
McGoldrick, Keeling and Beatty (2008). Three main roles were acknowledged by
consumers: (1) the role of helper that solves problems; (2) the friendly, sociable, the
receptionist who welcomes; and (3) the personal shop assistant, the recommendation
5

6. agent. The results also indicate that women are more likely to appreciate the interaction
of avatars in any of their roles; that the preference for avatars is inversely proportional
to the age of consumers and the more experienced the consumer, the more he is likely to
dismiss virtual seller help (McGoldrick et al, 2008). These relationships between age,
gender and experience with online shop, as well as the consumer involvement with the
product (Holzwarth et al, 2006) and the type of the product (Hassanein & Head,
2005/2006), suggest that avatars can play an relevant role in online consumer
segmentation (McGoldrick et al, 2008). The very nature of the avatar and is level of
anthropomorphism can be adapted to individual preferences. A potentially huge
database (A.I.) can inform the avatar about the actions to be taken up rivaling with the
best offline relationship marketing systems (McGoldrick et al, 2008).
Given the persuasion ability of avatars in online sales channels (Holzwarth et al 2006),
Wang, Baker, Wagner and Wakefield, (2007) focused on the influence of avatars’ social
stimuli on the affection of consumers and on the value attributed to purchases. These
authors showed that some of the characteristics of consumer-seller interaction in a
traditional bricks and mortar store can be induced in a website using t social stimuli that
are inherent to the avatars. The results obtained in two empirical studies show that the
induced social stimuli can improve the perception of the sociability of the website. That
has an indirect, but critical, influence on perceptions of the hedonic value and utility
assigned by the consumer to the online store and, consequently, influences the
continued adoption of the web store (Wang et al, 2007), which confirms what was also
previously suggested by Monswé et al (2004).
Trust in commerce/e-commerce is normally defined as the conviction for acting in
accordance with the recommendations of the seller and/or website (Cugelman et al,
2009). It is the willingness to depend on the goodwill of the trader; and to become
vulnerable to the seller (McKnight, Choudhury & Kacmar, 2002).
A recent study by Wang and Fodness (2010) revealed that consumers’ perceptions of
sociability, the emotional answers, and the trust toward the online seller, are more
positive when an avatar with the capacity to be likeable and to create empathy with the
consumer is present on the online store. If avatars are absent, or the avatar is not able to
generate affection and empathy with the consumer, those perceptions are less positive.
6

7. This result, associated with the findings of Nowak and Rauth (2005) and Nowak,
Hamilton, and Hammond (2008) suggests that drawing photo-realistic likeable avatars
which are able to generate empathy with the consumers can, in fact, generate positive
emotions and induce consumer trust toward the online trader. Trust has been vastly
reported as the first mediating factor between consumer perceptions and intention to buy
online (Cugelman et al, 2009). Thus the following hypotheses are proposed:
H1 - Avatars based on real images of human beings and with real human voice induce
trust towards the online seller.
H1a – Avatars’ induced trust towards the seller increases the purchase and repurchase
intention.
Website credibility has also been identified as an important dimension of online
shopping. Credibility has been defined as the psychological judgment that the content,
the message and its aims are credible (Cugelman, Thelwall, & Dawes, 2009). Although
credibility and trust are sometimes used interchangeably, these constructs should not be
considered synonymous. Trust refers to a set of beliefs, dispositions and behaviors
associated with the acceptance of risk and vulnerability (Rieh & Danielson, 2007, p. 6).
Credibility, which precedes Trust (Cugelman, Thelwall, & Dawes, 2009), refers to a
perceived quality of a source, media or message, may or may not result in associated
trusting behaviors (Rieh & Danielson, 2007, p. 6).
Credibility is also intimately tied to persuasion. But these are also distinct constructs.
Persuasion is an outcome of credibility and can be operationalized, for instance, by
message acceptance (Rieh & Danielson, 2007). Source credibility is a critical
determinant of message acceptance (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981 apud Rieh & Danielson,
2007).
Two studies carried out simultaneously by Holzwarth et al. (2006) suggest that the use
of avatars to provide information about products increase sale channel effectiveness
based on the Internet. The first study showed that adding an avatar to an online sale
channel increases customer satisfaction with the dealer, and has a positive impact in
attitude towards the product and purchase intention. The second study showed that the
7

8. manipulation of the avatar’s attractiveness and expertise makes it more persuasive to
certain segments of consumers depending on their involvement with the product. More
attractive avatars are more effective for all levels of product involvement; more expert
avatars are more effective only for high levels of product involved customers. The
second study also showed that the avatar attractiveness influences the perception of
comparability of the avatar with the person with which it interacts. This comparability
mediates the influence of the avatar attractiveness on consumer’s persuasion; Similarly,
avatar expertise influences the perception of credibility and this mediates the influence
of avatar’s expertise in consumer’s persuasion (Holzwarth et al, 2006; Culgman et al
2009). Therefore, and in view of the nature of the present study, we raise the following
hypotheses:
H2 - Avatars based on images of real human beings and with real voice induce
credibility in the online store.
H2a - Avatars induced credibility in online store increases the purchase and repurchase
intention.
2.2 SOCIAL PRESENCE AND SOCIAL RESPONSE THEORIES
In the seventies of the last century John Short, Ederyn Williams and Bruce Christie
suggested in their work "The Social Psychology of Telecommunications" that different
media allow for different levels of social presence and sensitive human contact (Short,
Williams and Christie, 1976 apud Wang & Fodness, 2010). The social response theory,
for its part, argues that the use of human characteristics such as language, voice,
interactivity and social role in computers can enhance users' social responses despite the
fact that users are aware that machines are not human beings (Steuer and Nass, 1993;
Reeves & Nass, 1996 apud Wang and Fodness, 2010)
Although there are no humans on the Internet, these two theories, sustain that avatars
can induce feelings of sociability on consumers during their interactions with the
computer (Wang and Fodness, 2010). This implies that avatars exert a social influence
similar to the one sellers have on brick-and-mortar stores. In a laboratory experiment
carried out by Qiu and Benbasat (2009), results showed that the use of recommendation
agents in humanoid form communicating via voice in online stores strongly influenced
8

9. perceptions of social presence among consumers. In return, consumers’ feelings of trust,
perception of fun and, finally, the intentionto adopt the virtual agent as a decision aid
increased.
Another experiment developed by Wang and Fodness (2010) with a primitive form of
avatar, displaying limited interaction and low emotional expression (without body
movements and facial expression) proved that it was able to boost consumer trust and
affection when the avatar was perceived as friendly and could mimic the personal
interactions in a human-computer environment thus inducing a greater perception of
sociability in online consumers. In short: consumers reflexively apply the rules
associated with social interactions with real salespeople to avatars when they have the
ability to be kind (Wang & Fodness, 2010).
The use of avatars can increase the persuasiveness of online sales channels (Wang et al,
2007) increasing their credibility, perceived trust and introducing social stimuli and
human warmth in interactions and improves consumer satisfaction with the dealer,
attitude toward the product and purchase intent (Holzwarth et al, 2006). Hence, the
following hypotheses are proposed:
H3 - Avatars based on images of real human beings with real voice induce the
development of relationships with greater sociability and human warmth (social
presence) similar to those normally achieved in traditional commerce.
H3a – Sociability and human warmth (social presence) induced by the presence of the
avatar increase the intention to purchase and repurchase in the online store.
9

10. 2.3 CONCEPTUAL MODEL
Image 1: Conceptual Model
Adapted from Wang and Fodness (2010)
Table 1: Variables’ description
Variables Description
It is the differentiating factor in our model. It consists of three
increasing levels of sociability. The first level corresponds to a
reduced level of sociability and human warmth stimuli. It consists of
an online store displaying only photographs of the products and
Sociability descriptive texts. The second level corresponds to an online store
Level equipped with a naturalist avatar endowed with TTS voice that
presents the company and describes the products. The third level of
sociability corresponds to an online store similar to the previous one,
but equipped with a photo-realistic avatar endowed with previously
recorded real human voice.
Mediator variable. It refers to the conviction of someone in acting in
accordance with the recommendations of the seller and/or website
Trust (Cugelman et al, 2009). The willingness to depend on the goodwill
of the trader; The willingness to become vulnerable in relation to the
seller (McKnight, Choudhury, & Kacmar, 2002).
Mediator variable. What makes someone or something worthy to be
believed. The concept of credibility is complex and
multidimensional and carries with it many subliminal dimensions
Credibility
such as reliability, expertise, dynamism, competence and goodwill
(Rieh & Danielson, 2007). On a website the credibility is above all
the psychological judgment that the content, the message and its
10

11. purposes are credible (Cugelman et al, 2009).
Mediator variable. Perception of social presence and sensitive
Sociability and
human contact through the medium (Wang & Fodness, 2010).
Human
Perception of social stimuli as a courtesy, kindness, empathy and
Warmth
sympathy.
Purchase and Dependent variable. This variable is the core of our study which
Repurchase captures the change of behavior by the presence of avatars in online
intention stores.
3 RESEARCH DESIGN
This study followed an experimental design. This approach was adopted since only an
experiment can ensure the maximum possible control of external variables such as the
influence of design and degree of sophistication of the website, the influence of the type
of product, price and the always important factor of influence that is the brand.
3.1 EXPERIMENTAL PLAN
The experimental plan was organized on the form of three groups with control group
and post-test. This experimental design, although simple, is robust both in terms of
internal validity and in terms of external validity.
• R X1 O
• R X2 O
• R X3 O
X1 – In this experience the participants visited a simulated online store (Shop 1)
without any kind of avatar. This online shop presented reduced sociability factors such
as photographs and texts. This group worked as the control group because this is the
most common form way (traditional treatment) to input sociability factors in online
stores (Sociability Level 1).
X 2- In this experience the participants visited a simulated online store (Shop 2)
containing a purely virtual avatar with TTS voice (Sociability Level 2).
11

12. X 3- In this experience the participants visited a simulated online store (Shop 3)
displaying an avatar based on the image of a real human being (photo-realistic with real
voice) representing the trader or one employee (Sociability Level 3).
After the treatment (experiments with the free different simulated online shops), the
post-test was administrated (questionnaire) to all groups. Since the distribution of
elements by groups was random, it is considered that they are probabilistically
equivalent. For this reason there was not pretest.
3.2 ONLINE STORES
The three online stores had a technically simple design as similar as possible to a real
online store. The chosen products for sale were sports shoes sSince these are shopping
goods which do not require a very complex decision making process.
There was an entry page where all products were visible (six in total). For each product
there was also a specific page where the product was described in detail. The Web
Design of the three stores was similar with the only exception of the introduction of
avatars in stores 2 and 3.
The first store (Shop 1) was a simple interface showing only photographs and
descriptions of the products.
12

13. Image 2: Homepage of Store 1
The second store (Shop 2) included a naturalist female avatar with synthesized TTS
voice. On the entry page the avatar presented the store and the company. On the specific
product pages the avatar verbalized the products’ features and characteristics.
Image 3: Homepage of Store 2
13

14. The third store (Shop 3) was in all similar to Shop 2. The only difference was that it was
equipped with a photo realistic avatar (based on a real human being) and endowed with
pre recorded real human voice.
Image 4: Homepage of Store 3
The Web Design of these interfaces was deliberately kept simple to minimize its
influence on the attitudes of the subjects of the experiment. The information transmitted
orally by avatars in Shops 2 and 3 were exactly the same as the text of Store 1 and
product prices were the same. The intention was to take full advantage of the presence
of avatars and their possible influence on the participants.
In accordance with the findings of Nowak and Rauth (2005), female avatars were
chosen to appear in Online Shops because they are perceived by consumers to be more
attractive.
Before entering into the main page of the stores, subjects were presented with a set of
pages with instructions about the experiment and about technical features of the
websites to ensure perfect navigation.
14

15. Image 5: Female Avatars used on the experiment
The technology used for the construction of the avatars was provided by Oddcast Inc.1
and is available at SitePal Website2.
3.3 QUESTIONNAIRE
A questionnaire was developed and presented to each of the subjects after the
experiment. This questionnaire contained questions (7 points Likert Scales ) to measure
"Trust" (5 items adapted from the study of Bart, Shankar, Sultan and Urban, 2005),
"Credibility" (4 items adapted from the study of Cugelman, Dawes and the Wall, 2009),
" Sociability and human warmth" (9 items, adapted from Wang and Fodness2010) and
"Purchase and Repurchase Intention" also adapted from the study of Wang and Fodness
(2010).
1
http://www.oddcast.com
2
http://www.sitepal.com
15

16. 3.4 SAMPLE
The subjects of the experiment were recruited online through social media (Facebook
and Linkedin) and Electronic Mail. Participants were randomly assigned to the three
groups and subsequently they were contacted by email and social media websites with
instructions to carry out the experiment and to answer the questionnaire.
The restriction of the recruitment process to the Internet aimed to control external
variables like 'technology acceptance level' in order to ensure all subjects recruited were
skilled in Internet Technologies.
150 persons were recruited to perform the experiment. 98 questionnaires were validly
answered. Each of the three groups comprised a sample above thirty elements in order
to preserve the external validity of the experiment: In the X1 experiment (Control
group) have participated 33 subjects, 31 in X2 and 33 in X3.
4 FINDINGS
4.1 SAMPLE PROFILE
The majority of the subjects were college graduates (57.1%). 23.5% had completed
secondary education and 12.2% had incomplete secondary education. 7.2% of the
subjects had only primary education. In what concerns occupation, 23.5% of the
participants were students, 16.3% belonged to the professional-managerial group and
15.3% were Industrial/Skilled workers;
Regarding usage of internet, 85.7% of the subjects reported having already purchased at
least once on the Internet, 56.1% reported purchasing on the Internet several times a
year and 13.3% reported doing it every month. Online banking operations are performed
by 60.2% of the subjects. If we consider the simultaneous use of the Internet to perform
banking operations and to buy goods or services to be an "advanced usage", we should
then consider that 58.2% of the subjects fall into this category.
16

17. 4.2 DATA ANALYSIS
4.2.1 RELIABILITY TESTS OF THE MEASUREMENT SCALES
The reliability of scales used measure the latent constructs "Trust”, “Credibility",
"Sociability and human warmth" and "Purchase and repurchase intention" was tested
using Cronbach's Alpha. The results confirm their internal consistency.
Table 2: Reliability tests results
Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach’s Alpha N of Items
Based on
Standardized Items
Trust Scale ,943 ,944 5
Credibility Scale ,923 ,926 4
Sociability and ,964 ,964 9
Human Warmth
Scale
Purchase and ,968 ,968 3
Repurchase
Intention Scale
Given these results, four new composite variables were created using the arithmetic
mean of each group of items corresponding to the latent constructs "Trust",
"Credibility", "Sociability and Human Warmth", " Purchase and Repurchase Intention".
4.2.2 TEST OF HYPOTHESIS
To test hypotheses H1, H2, H3 we performed an analysis of variance (one factor
ANOVA). We tested the variance of the variables’ mean ("Trust", "Credibility",
"Sociability and human Warmth") as a function of the factor “Sociability Level". This
factor, a qualitative independent variable that we manipulated, contains three levels
corresponding to each type of treatment that each group was submitted to. The
"Sociability Level 1" corresponds to the simple store without avatar (Store 1), the
“Sociability Level 2” (Store 2) corresponds to the store with the presence of a
naturalistic avatar with TTS voice and the "Sociability Level 3” (Store 3) corresponds to
the store with the presence of photo-realistic avatar with real human voice.
17

18. The proposed model does not include any controlled treatment between the mediator
latent constructs "Trust," Credibility", "Sociability and Human Warmth" and the
construct "Purchase and Repurchase Intention" . Due to that, and to the fact that these
constructs were strongly correlated, we assessed the linear relationship between the later
construct and mediator variables through a partial correlation analysis in order to test
the hypotheses H1a, H2a, H3a thus trying to weigh their individual importance as
predictors of “Purchase and Repurchase Intention”. However a word of caution is in
order stressing that this cause-and-effect relationship is merely an assumption of our
model for the purposes of this research and not an inferential property of the statistical
technique used.
4.2.2.1 One Factor ANOVA
The assumptions to be considered for the ANOVA were the following:
H0: The three experimental groups, defined by the factor "Sociability Level", have the
same mean concerning to "Trust", "Credibility" and "Sociability and Human Warmth".
( = = )
Ha: There is at least one of the experimental groups, defined by the factor "Sociability
Level", which has a different mean from another group (all means µi are not equal).
18

19. Decision rule:
Not reject H0: if > = 0,05
Reject H0 (accept Ha) if ≤ = 0,05
Table 3 presents the results of the Anova analysis. Based on these results, we reject the
null hypothesis. Consequently, there is a significant difference of means at least
between two groups.
Table 3: One factor Anova results
ANOVA
Sum of df Mean F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 22,916 2 11,458 6,486 ,002
Trust Within Groups 167,821 95 1,767
Total 190,736 97
Between Groups 30,801 2 15,401 8,377 ,000
Credibility Within Groups 174,643 95 1,838
Total 205,444 97
Between Groups 45,308 2 22,654 11,500 ,000
Sociability and Human
Within Groups 187,137 95 1,970
Warmth
Total 232,444 97
In order to identify the groups which are different we analyzed the table generated by
Scheffé post-hoc test (Table 4 and 5). Underpinned on the results, we can say that the
means for the three variables are arranged in ascending order, the lowest one being
Group 1, followed by Group 2 and Group 3 which displays the highest mean. The
variable that has higher mean is "Sociability and Human Warmth", followed by
"Credibility" and "Trust". Figure 1 presents a clear perspective of these differences.
19

20. Table 4: Scheffé's multiple comparisons table
Scheffe
95% Confidence
Interval
Mean
Difference Lower Upper
Dependent Variable (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Bound Bound
Trust Nível 1 Nível 2 -,76755 ,33006 ,072 -1,5884 ,0533
*
Nível 3 -1,14742 ,32479 ,003 -1,9551 -,3397
Nível 2 Nível 1 ,76755 ,33006 ,072 -,0533 1,5884
Nível 3 -,37986 ,33244 ,523 -1,2066 ,4469
*
Nível 3 Nível 1 1,14742 ,32479 ,003 ,3397 1,9551
Nível 2 ,37986 ,33244 ,523 -,4469 1,2066
*
Credibiity Nível 1 Nível 2 -,88283 ,33671 ,036 -1,7202 -,0455
*
Nível 3 -1,33200 ,33132 ,001 -2,1560 -,5080
*
Nível 2 Nível 1 ,88283 ,33671 ,036 ,0455 1,7202
Nível 3 -,44917 ,33913 ,419 -1,2925 ,3942
*
Nível 3 Nível 1 1,33200 ,33132 ,001 ,5080 2,1560
Nível 2 ,44917 ,33913 ,419 -,3942 1,2925
*
Sociability Nível 1 Nível 2 -1,27641 ,34854 ,002 -2,1432 -,4096
and Human *
Nível 3 -1,53773 ,34297 ,000 -2,3907 -,6848
Warmth
*
Nível 2 Nível 1 1,27641 ,34854 ,002 ,4096 2,1432
Nível 3 -,26132 ,35105 ,759 -1,1343 ,6117
*
Nível 3 Nível 1 1,53773 ,34297 ,000 ,6848 2,3907
Nível 2 ,26132 ,35105 ,759 -,6117 1,1343
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
Table 5: Table of means
Sociability Trust Credibility Sociability and Human
Wamth
Level 1 3,6647 3,7059 3,7451
Level 2 4,4323 4,5887 5,0215
Level 3 4,8121 5,0379 5,2828
Total 4,2939 4,4337 4,6667
20

21. Image 6: Means by Sociability Level
The difference of means was always statistically significant between Group I and Group
III. That is, the presence of photo-realistic Avatar with real voice always influences
consumer perceptions when compared to the website without avatar in all variables
under study. The presence of the naturalistic avatar with TTS voice had a significant
impact concerning the variables "Credibility" and "Sociability and Human Warmth". It
was not significant concerning "Trust". The differences between avatars with TTS voice
and the photo-realistic avatars with real voice were not statistically significant.
21

22. 4.2.2.2 Partial Correlations
The analysis of scatter charts between the variable "Purchase and Repurchase Intention"
and the variables "Trust", "Credibility" and "Sociability and Human Warmth" reveal
that there was a linear relationship between these variables.
Image 7: Linear Correlations
In order to verify the strength of these linear relationships, and their individualiz
predictive capacity, analysis of partial correlations was run between “Trust”,
“Credibility”, “Sociability and Human Warmth” and the dependent variable “Purchase
and Repurchase Intention”.
While simple correlation is a measure of linear association between two variables, the
coefficient of partial correlation measures the association between two variables after
controlling the effect of one or more mediator variables (Malhotra, 2006). This analysis
allows us to understand:
• the strength of the relationship between “Purchase and Repurchase Intention”
and “Trust” when the effects of “Credibility” and “Sociability and Human
Warmth” are controlled for
• the strength of the relationship between “Purchase and Repurchase Intention”
and “Credibility” when the effects of “Trust” and “Sociability and Human
Warmth” are controlled for
22

23. • The strength of the relationship between “Purchase and Repurchase Intention”
and “Sociability and Human Warmth” when the effects of “Trust” and the
“Credibility” are controlled for
Table 6 presents simple correlation coefficient (Pearson’s r), zero-order because it does
not control any other intervenient variable. This analysis shows that the correlations
between all the pairs of variables are positive and very strong ( | r |≥ 0,75) when none of
the other variables are controlled for.
Table 6: Zero-order (Pearson) correlations
Correlations
Purchase
and
Repurchase Sociability and
Control Variables Intention Trust Credibility Human Warmth
a
-none- Purchase Correlation 1,000 ,879 ,854 ,899
and
Repurchase
Significance (2- ,000 ,000 ,000
Intention tailed)
df 0 96 96 96
Trust Correlation ,879 1,000 ,881 ,848
Significance (2- ,000 ,000 ,000
tailed)
df 96 0 96 96
Credibility Correlation ,854 ,881 1,000 ,873
Significance (2- ,000 ,000 ,000
tailed)
df 96 96 0 96
Sociability Correlation ,899 ,848 ,873 1,000
and Human
Warmth Significance (2- ,000 ,000 ,000
tailed)
df 96 96 96 0
a. Cells contain zero-order (Pearson) correlations.
23

24. Subsequently, we assessed the strength of the relationship when mediating variables
were controlled for. Table 7 presents the results for the association between “Purchase
and Repurchase Intention” and “Trust” controlling for the variables “Credibility” and
“Sociability and Human Warmth”. Results show thatthe second order partial correlation
coefficient is r=0,412, which is a moderate but significant positive correlation.
Table 7: Partial correlation between “Purchase and Repurchase Intention” and “Trust”
Control Trust
variables Purchase and Repurchase Intention
Credibility & Purchase Correlation 1,000 ,412
Sociability and
Significance ,000
and Human Repurchase
(2-tailed)
Warmth Intention
df 0 94
Trust Correlation ,412 1,000
Significance ,000
(2-tailed)
df 94 0
We calculated the strength of the association between “Purchase and Repurchase
Intention” and “Credibility” controlling for the variables “Trust” and “Sociability and
Human Warmth” (Table 8). The correlation between “Credibility” and “Purchase and
Repurchase Intention” is spurious. It’s very weak (r=0,070). The existing initial strong
correlation (r=0,854) disappears when “Sociability and Human Warmth” and “Trust”
were controlled for.
Table 8: Partial correlation between Purchase and Repurchase Intention and Credibility
Control Purchase and Repurchase Intention Credibility
variables
Sociability Purchase Correlation 1,000 ,070
and and
Human Repurchase Significance (2- ,500
Warmth & Intention tailed)
Trust
df 0 94
Credibility Correlation ,070 1,000
Significance (2- ,500
tailed)
df 94 0
24

25. Finally, we analyzed the association between “Purchase and Repurchase Intention” and
“Sociability and Human Warmth” controlling for the variables “Credibility” and
“Trust”. Results reveal that the relationship between “Purchase and Repurchase
Intention” and “Sociability and Human Warmth” remains strong (r= 0,533)
Table 9: Partial correlation between Purchase and Repurchase Intention and Sociability
and Human Warmth
Control Purchase and Repurchase Sociability and Human
variables Intention Warmth
Trust & Purchase Correlation 1,000 ,533
Credibility and
Repurcha Significanc ,000
se e (2-tailed)
Intention
df 0 94
Sociability Correlation ,533 1,000
and
Human Significanc ,000
Warmth e (2-tailed)
df 94 0
We can thus conclude that “Sociability and Human Warmth” and “Trust”, with
emphasis on first one, are predictive variables of “Purchase and Repurchase Intention”.
We also conclude that “Credibility” has a null predictive effect. Its prior simple
correlation (Pearson’s r) with the “Purchase and Repurchase Intention” is exclusively
due to the fact of being associated with the other variables.
5 DISCUSSION
Overall, the results confirm the proposed hypotheses (H1, H2 and H3): photo-realistic
avatars endowed with pre recorded real human voice in a online store induce increased
feelings of trust, credibility and sociability and human warmth when compared with an
online store enriched with only images and text. Naturalistic avatars endowed with TTS
voice did not confirm the generality of the existing literature about the capacity of
avatars to induce feelings of trust. However they confirmed previous studies in what
concerns credibility and sociability and human warmth. This result may be due to the
fact that our TTS avatar did not present the necessary ability to be likeable and to evoke
25

26. empathy with the subjects giving them increased feelings of trust towards the seller
(Wang &Fodness, 2010).
Although the means obtained were higher, photo-realistic avatars, with the exception of
of "Trust", did not seem to induce notable differences in perceptions of consumers when
compared with the naturalistic TTS voice avatars. The differences in the evaluations
made by the subjects of the experiment, which in all cases favorable to the photo-
realistic avatar, are not statistically significant. Again, a possible explanation for this
result may be the fact that our photo-realistic avatar was not perceived as significantly
different from the TTS avatar in order to be perceived by subjects as more likeable and
capable to generate increased empathy. Another explanation may be the fact that
advances in TTS technology nowadays have rendered it is so similar to human voice
that it can create generally the same feelings of empathy and perception of sociability as
photo-realist avatars with real human voice. However, Qiu and Benbasat (2009)
concluded that TTS voice does not carry significant social stimulations when compared
with real human voice. It should also be taken into account that the subjects may have
not perceived the photo-realistic avatar as a representation of a real human being.
Concerning the mediating influence of "Trust", "Credibility" and "Sociability and
Human Warmth" on consumers’ "Purchase and Repurchase Intention" (hypotheses H1a,
H2a, H3a) the results confirm the importance of the induced active feelings of trust and
sociability and human warmth with special significance for the later. This result is, in
general, consistent with the previous studies (Wang & Fodness, 2010; Hassanein &
Head, 2005/06; 2007).
Unlike the other two variables, “Credibility” has no influence on the consumers’
purchase and repurchase intention. When the effects of “Trust" and "Sociability and
Human Warmth” are controlled for, there is no correlation between credibility and
consumers’ purchase and repurchase intentions. This result contradicts, in part, the
studies developed by Cugelman et al (2009 ) who conclude that the credibility of a web
site, although mediates "Trust", has a significant direct impact on consumer behavior.
Our result may be due to the fact of concepts of credibility and trust are related and in
general credibility precedes trust. In fact, humans trust on what they first consider to be
credible. An alternative explanation may be the type of product: simple sports shoes do
26

27. not involve such technical complexity and such a high price level that their purchase
requires superior levels of credibility for the average consumer.
The mediator variable most positively correlated with "Purchase and Repurchase
Intention" is, according to the results, "Sociability and Human Warmth" which
demonstrates the importance of sociability factors in E.C. sites, whose study is a
primary goal of this investigation. As sustained by the literature, “Trust”, has also a
significant positive correlation with "Purchase and Repurchase Intention".
6 CONCLUSIONS
This article focuses on introduction of avatars as sociability and human warmth stimuli
in sites of electronic commerce and its implications for digital marketing. Overall, the
study validates the proposed model we can conclude that the introduction of avatars at
EC sites, particularly photo-realistic avatars, has visible practical effects in sociability
and human warmth perceptions, in trust towards the seller and in the credibility of the
online store. This technology, when combined with A.I., is also promising in the field
of Customer Relationship Management (now transformed into e-CRM), in the market
segmentation and in lead generation. A.I., based on libraries of knowledge about
customers can equip avatars with the ability to recognize the customer with whom they
are dealing with and create a personalized relationship making suggestions about
products based on their purchase history. Companies can take advantage from this
capability providing as much information as possible to their client, improving their
shopping experience and reducing operating costs (Dionísio, Rodrigues, Faria, Canhoto,
& Nunes, 2009, p. 41). Customization is a key variable in digital marketing. These are
fields that we believe both practitioners and marketing researchers should pay special
attention.
Finally, underpinned on this study, as also on the findings of Wang and Fodness (2010)
and Qiu and Benbasat (2009), we can say that animated avatars exert an influence on
online consumers similar to real salespeople. This affordable technology may constitute
a lever for small retail companies to enter the E.C. world and thus extend their market,
add value to their business, control costs and promote their financial sustainability.
27

28. 6.1 IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT
In addition to contributing to the body of knowledge about the role of avatars in online
stores, particularly about the photo-realistic avatars, this experiment aimed to assess the
potential of this technology for small retail companies’ web presence.
Thus, the results of our experiment are useful for the management of small retailers
because they confirm the utility and advantages of this technology. Managers should
look at it as an affordable way to shift their activity to electronic commerce and profit
from their knowledge and experience about personalized relationship in this new sales
channel.
Despite the fact that purchases can occur in other channels, nowadays, Internet has a
major influence in purchase decisions. Consumers search for information about
products and prices before buying online. An attractive internet presence inducing trust,
credibility, sociability and human warmth, and capable of creating imagined rich social
relations with the costumer, can also increase demand in physical stores (Paulo, 2012).
Only by being financially strong and stable, can small retailers preserve their traditional
physical presence in the historic centers of cities. Paradoxically, that can be achieved
by promoting their expansion to the virtual world through Electronic Commerce.
6.2 LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
This research is not without limitations. A single experiment conducted online has
limited generability to assess all the implications of the introduction of photo-realistic
avatars endowed with real human voice as a sociability factor in e-commerce sites.
New experiments with larger samples should be conducted. Conducting a similar
experiment in a strict laboratory environment in order to ensure the homogeneity of
technical conditions among subjects (monitors, processing speed, Internet access,
loading speed of applications, quality and volume of audio and the use headphones to
ensure subjects concentration on the experiment) could also be considered.
The difficulty to operationalize, and even distinguish constructs such as "credibility",
"Trust" and "Sociability and Human Warmth” also presents some limitations. These
constructs have idiosyncratic implications and are interpreted differently by consumers
depending on their ages and cultures (Wang & Fodness, 2010).
28

29. Despite the fact that the recruitment of our sample has been performed in a universe
much larger than a college campus, and thereby tried to escape what is called "the
science of university students" we still must consider that it is wounded with some
convenience due to the fact that subjects were recruited only through the Internet. This
methodology was suitable for controlling the variable "Technology acceptance level",
but prevents us from generalizing the results to those not accustomed to dealing with the
Internet and the Electronic Commerce. Broader samples, in order to obtain a better
representation of the population, should be tried.
One aspect that has not been assessed by us is the interaction between avatars (which
must vary their expertise and even their appearance: age, gender, etc.) type of product
and online stores design. Trust and credibility towards the seller or a store that sells
basic clothes or footwear and high end stores are distinct. The manipulation of avatars’
attractiveness and expertise makes them more effective for different types of consumers.
Expertise, for example, has positive effects on more involved consumers with the
product. This is prevalent when it comes to expensive and technically advanced
products. Thus we can also assess the possible contributions of the avatars for customer
segmentation. This functionality can be achieved by equipping them with "artificial
intelligence" (AI). That was not considered in our study. A.I. also allows introducing a
higher level of interactivity and achieving a two-way interaction between the avatar and
the consumer. That was not possible in our study either.
Another path of research is the use of photo-realistic avatars based on the image of
opinion leaders. This may lead to a greater identification between the consumer and the
virtual entity and consequently have implications on consumers purchase and
repurchase intentions.
29

30. APENDIX A – QUESTIONNAIRE S TRUCTURE
Trust Scale:
Tell us on a scale of 1 to 7 your degree of agreement with the following
statements:
1 (completely disagree). . . 7 (completely agree)
1 - This electronic shop seems to me more trust inspiring than others I've
visited.
2 - This electronic shop belongs to a company that will fulfill what is
committed.
3 - The information exposed in this electronic store deserves my confidence.
4 - I trust on the recommendations that are made on this electronic shop.
5 - I think this company is honest.
Adapted from Bart, Shankar, Sultan and Urban (2005)
Credibility Scale:
Tell us on a scale of 1 to 7 the degree of agreement with the following
statements:
1 - The product information provided on this electronic shop is credible.
1 (nothing credible) ... 7 (fully credible)
2 - The product information provided on this electronic shop is correct.
1 (none correct) ... 7 (totally correct)
3 - Is the seller a specialist in their business?
1 (no specialist) ... 7 (highly specialized)
4 – This electronic shop seems professional to you?
1 (nothing professional) ... 7 (highly professional)
Adapted from Cugelman, Thewall and Dawes (2009)
30

31. Sociability and Human Warmth Scale:
For each one of these adjectives indicate in a scale of 1 to 7 how they describe
the electronic store that you have visited (1 = describes so very poor, 7 =
describes perfectly)
- Friendly
- Warm
- Helpful
- Polished
- Informational
- Intelligent
Rate on a scale 1-7 how you felt when visiting this electronic shop (1 =
describes so very poor, 7 = describes perfectly).
- Pleased
- Satisfied
- Relaxed
Adapted from Wang and Fodness (2010)
Scale of Purchase and Repurchase Intention
Tell us on a scale of 1 to 7 your degree of agreement with the following
statements:
1 (completely disagree). . . 7 (completely agree)
1 - The atmosphere created by this store convinced me to buy a product.
2 - The atmosphere created at this store makes me feel comfortable to
recommend a friend to buy a product on it.
3 - I will become a customer of this store and come back whenever you need
to buy new products.
Adapted from Wang and Fodness (2010)
31

32. Internet use:
1) How often do you access the internet?
- Everyday
- A few times a week;
- A few times a month;
2) You use internet mainly for (can choose more than one option):
- Read newspapers, magazines, blogs and search for diverse information
(products, health, travel, government issues, etc.)
- Play online;
- Participate in social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Goggle +, etc.);
- Write on blogs;
- Work;
- Study;
- Perform banking operations;
- Shopping;
- Other.
Attitude toward Electronic Commerce:
Have you ever bought on the internet? (Yes, No)
If you answered "yes" also answer the following questions:
1. What is your buying frequency?
• Every week;
• Every month;
• Several times a year;
• Very sporadically (Years go by without buying on the Internet).
2. What kind of products do you usually buy on the Internet?
• Travel / Hotel Bookings;
• Food and other products for domestic consumption;
• Clothing and footwear;
• Books, CD's, DVD's;
• Electronic games and software;
32

33. • Electronic equipment and computers;
• Home appliances
Sociographic Data
- Age
- Sex
- Professional Group
- Academic qualifications
33

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