Virtual World Professionals and Avatar Appearance Codes

摘要

In this paper we discuss the results of a pilot study aimed at virtual world professionals in Second Life. This study was conducted in order to investigate the role avatar appearance may play in maintaining business relationships in virtual worlds. We also describe avatar "appearance codes" - corporate policies that govern the appearance of employee avatars. In our pilot study we found that only 13.5% of participants are subject to such a policy. The details of policies are discussed below.