Open AccessUnderstanding the Role of Sense of Presence and Perceived Autonomy in Users' Continued Use of Social Virtual Worlds
Author(s) -
Jung Yoonhyuk
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of computer‐mediated communication
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.15
H-Index - 119
ISSN - 1083-6101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01540.x
Subject(s) - avatar , sense of presence , metaverse , autonomy , argument (complex analysis) , empowerment , social psychology , virtual world , psychology , attrition , sense of community , social relation , computer science , internet privacy , world wide web , human–computer interaction , virtual reality , political science , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , dentistry , law
Despite an exponentially increasing number of registered users, social virtual worlds have the problem of a high user attrition rate. It is thus meaningful to explore which factors influence users' continued use of social virtual worlds. The current study attempts to find these factors in unique characteristics (e.g., 3‐dimentional environment, avatar interaction, and user empowerment) in the world, which can be sources for retaining users. Specifically, the study employs the sense of presence and perceived autonomy. 194 users of Second Life , which is the largest social virtual world, participated in the survey. The findings support the argument that the sense of presence and autonomy are influential in users' continued use of social virtual worlds.