Avatars Versus Agents: A Meta-Analysis Quantifying the Effect of Agency on Social Influence
Abstract
Existing research has investigated whether virtual representations perceived to be controlled by humans (i.e., avatars) or those perceived to be controlled by computer algorithms (i.e., agents) are more influential. A meta-analysis (N = 32) examined the model of social influence in virtual environments (Blascovich, 2002) and investigated whether agents and avatars in virtual environments elicit different levels of social influence. Results indicated that perceived avatars produced stronger responses than perceived agents. Level of immersion (desktop vs. fully immersive), dependent variable type (subjective vs. objective), task type (competitive vs. cooperative vs. neutral), and actual control of the representation (human vs. computer) were examined as moderators. An interaction effect revealed that studies conducted on a desktop that used objective measures showed a stronger effect for agency than those that were conducted on a desktop but used subjective measures. Competitive and cooperative tasks showed greater agency effects than neutral tasks. Studies in which both conditions were actually human controlled showed greater agency effects than studies in which both conditions were actually computer controlled. We discuss theoretical and design implications for human–computer interaction and computer-mediated communication.
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Considerable evidence suggests that humans perceive media agents differently from how they perceive humans.
“Additionally, considerable evidence suggests that humans perceive media agents differently from how they perceive humans (e.g., Blascovich et al., 2002; Fox et al., 2015; Krämer et al., 2012).”
From Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm (2020) · cites this paper as Fox et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Fox, J., Ahn, S. J. (., Janssen, J. H., Yeykelis, L., Segovia, K. Y., & Bailenson, J. N.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Stanford University (US)
- Venue
- Human–Computer Interaction
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-05-12
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 401-432
- ISSN
- 0737-0024 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7051
- OpenAlex
- W1964044925
- Cited by
- 320
- References
- 94
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Human-Computer Interaction (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NSF (0966838)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Keywords
- social influence, avatars, computational agents, perceived agency, virtual worlds, immersion, computer-mediated communication
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