[AISWorld] Journal of Database Management (JDM) Special Section on Virtual Worlds and 3-D Web

[Keng Siau]

The Journal of Database Management (JDM) published a special section on 
Virtual Worlds and 3-D Web in the April-June 2010 issue.  The section 
comprises two papers on virtual worlds.  The acceptance rate for this 
special section is 11%.

Journal of Database Management (JDM) 
ISI Impact Factor: 2.0 
Volume 21, Issue 2, April-June 2010 

Editor-in-Chief: Keng Siau, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, USA 
 
Special Section on Virtual Worlds and 3-D Web

Special Section Editors
Blake Ives, University of Houston
Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University
Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Shu Schiller, Wright State University
Keng Siau, University of Nebraska-Lincoln


First Research Paper 
 
Antecedents of the Closeness of Human-Avatar Relationships in a Virtual 
World 
 
Yi Zhao, City University of Hong Kong, China
Weiquan Wang, City University of Hong Kong, China
Yan Zhu, Tsinghua University, China 
 
Virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life), where users interact and form 
relationships with other users’ virtual identities represented by avatars 
(i.e., human-avatar relationships), are increasingly influential in 
today’s businesses and society. Nevertheless, the sustainability and 
impact of virtual worlds depend largely on the closeness of human-avatar 
relationships. This study investigates the antecedents of the closeness of 
such relationships. The authors conceptualize human-avatar relationship 
closeness as composed of interaction frequency, activity diversity, and 
relational influence. They identify its antecedents (perceived needs 
fulfillment, relationship irreplaceableness, and resource investment) by 
extending Rusbult’s investment model of interpersonal relationship 
commitment to the domain of human-computer interaction. The authors test 
the hypotheses through an online survey of Second Life users and find that 
(1) resource investment is positively associated with all three 
human-avatar relationship closeness dimensions; (2) needs fulfillment is 
positively associated with interaction frequency and relational influence; 
and (3) relationship irreplaceableness is positively associated with 
relational influence. 
 
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. 
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42085 

 
Second Research Paper 
 
Antecedents of Online Game Dependency: The Implications of Multimedia 
Realism and Uses and Gratifications Theory 
 
Kaunchin Chen, Western Michigan University, USA
Jengchung Chen, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
William Ross, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, USA 
 
Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) dependency has been widely 
studied but research results suggest inconclusive antecedent causes. This 
study proposes and empirically tests three predictive models of MMOG 
dependency using a survey of online gaming participants. It finds 
multimedia realism for social interaction serves as an original antecedent 
factor affecting other mediating factors to cause MMOG dependency. These 
mediating factors derive from Uses and Gratifications theory and include: 
(1) participation in a virtual community, (2) diversion from everyday 
life, and (3) a pleasant aesthetic experience. Of these, participation in 
a virtual community has a strong positive relationship with MMOG 
dependency, and aesthetics has a modest negative relationship. Moderator 
analyses suggest neither gender nor “frequency of game playing” are 
significant but experience playing online games is a significant 
moderating factor of MMOG dependency. 
 
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below. 
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=42086 
 
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