Avatar warrior: A Kansei analysis

Abstract

Video games have increasingly being deliberated as a propaganda tool to influence people with regards to some targeted matters. Design of game's character plays an important role for such objectives. While many studies on online games have explored the relationship between users and their avatars, no research has investigated design requirements of avatars based on users' emotional responses. This study hence is targeted at exploring user's emotional responses to the game avatar, and to determine design characteristics of online game avatar that can be used to embed targeted influential design concept. The study adopted Kansei Engineering methodology due to its ability to investigate emotional responses and determine significant design characteristics that influence the emotional responses. In the evaluation procedure, thirty subjects evaluated twenty-seven game avatars and multivariate analysis was performed to hypothetically conceptualize Kansei in avatar design, and determine relationships between emotional responses and the design characteristics. The result shows that trustworthy & intelligent, adventure, confident, cool, disciplined, mysterious and loyal are the influential concept for avatar. This study has also determined design characteristics that influence the concept., which lead to the formulation of design clue to develop new avatar that matches user's emotion. Game and avatar designers can benefit from the clue to strategize future avatar design that could assist them to influence garners.