Exploring the Effect of Avatar Trust on Learners’ Perceived Participation Intentions in an e-Learning Environment

Abstract

With continued advancements in Web technology, e-learning systems have emerged as an effective venue in which learners can interact with online contents and they are often equipped with avatar instructors in lieu of human instructors. In this case, avatar trust, the learners’ perceived trust in the avatar instructor, plays an important role in learners’ perceived intentions to participate in the e-learning activities. We assumed that social presence positively affects participation intention (PI) through avatar trust. The main purpose of this study is to empirically validate this hypothesis. Using two types of avatars as a moderating factor, our hypothesis was tested against 200 valid questionnaires. We found that social presence had a statistically significant influence on perceived PI through avatar trust, and that an attractive avatar type sheds stronger moderating effect on paths between social presence and avatar trust, and path between trust and participation than does an expert avatar type.

FUNDING

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2014S1A3A2038108).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2014S1A3A2038108).

Notes on contributors

Seong Wook Chae

Seong Wook Chae, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Business Administration at Hoseo University in South Korea. His research interests focus on human–computer interaction, creativity science, business analytics, social media, and the effects of IT on human behavior.

Kun Chang Lee

Kun Chang Lee is a full professor at SKK Business School and SAIHST(Samsung Advanced Institute of Health Sciences & Technology), Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea. He is now in charge of Creativity Science Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University. His research focuses on creativity science, decision analysis, electronic commerce management, knowledge management, trust transfer, and artificial intelligence techniques in DSS.

Young Wook Seo

Young Wook Seo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Consulting, Daejeon University, Korea. His research interests include smart human–computer interfaces, intelligent agents, decision making, creativity, and social network analysis.