Exploring key determinants of virtual worlds \ud business success based on users' experience and\ud perception

Given the growth and popularity of virtual worlds, companies have a\ud strong interest in presenting themselves successfully in virtual worlds. We\ud designed an experimental study to identify the key determinants of virtual worlds\ud business success based on users’ experience and perception. The preliminary\ud results indicate that Starbucks, McDonalds, and Paris are the 3 most favorite sites.\ud Furthermore, 5 key determinants (entertainment, functionality, interactivity,\ud reality, and sociality) of business success in virtual worlds are identified in this\ud study. We conclude the practical and theoretical implications of the findings of\ud this study.\u

Weird Science! It’s My Creation . . . Is It Really? Or: Crafting a New Universal Trademark Standard for User-Created Avatars

In modern trademark law the process of registering a valid trademark is straightforward. In the United States the Lanham Act is the ruling law of trademark law. The Lanham Act grants protection to the owner of a registered mark which is distinctive and used in commerce. Assuming all the requirements are met, the owner of a mark can use the mark within its discretion and enjoy the protection under the Lanham Act. As trademark law has continued to evolve, the law has expanded to protect previously unforeseen categories. The two most obvious examples which demonstrate the evolution of protection under trademark law are trade dress and antidilution protection. These two areas demonstrate trademark law’s ability to evolve to address areas not recognized through established law. Nowhere is an adaptation of trademark law required more than in user-created avatars. The emergence of user-created content has begun to become a common occurrence within the areas of electronic media. Video games can currently give players a blank slate upon which they can build their own creation. Issues however arise when there are inquiries into who legitimately owns theses creations and what protections they are afforded

Interactive Food and Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age

Looks at the practices of food and beverage industry marketers in reaching youth via digital videos, cell phones, interactive games and social networking sites. Recommends imposing governmental regulations on marketing to children and adolescents

Debranding in Fantasy Realms: Perceived Marketing Opportunities within the Virtual World

This paper discusses the application of the concept of debranding within immersive virtual environments. In particular the issue of the media richness and vividness of experience is considered in these experience realms that may not be conducive to traditional branding invasive strategies. Brand equity is generally seen to be the desired outcome of branding strategies and the authors suggest that unless the virtual domains are considered as sacred spaces then brand equity may be compromised. The application of the above concepts is applied to the differing social spaces that operate within the different experience realms. The ideas of resonance, presence and interactivity are considered here. They lead to the development of a constructed positioning by the participants. Through the process of debranding, marketers may be able to enter these sacred spaces without negative impact to the brand. Perception of these virtual spaces was found to be partially congruent with this approach to branding. It thus presents a number of challenges for the owners of such virtual spaces and also virtual worlds in increasing the commercial utilization of investment in these environments

Digital advertising storytelling: consumer educommunication

This is a revision of the concept of digital storytelling to get a definition from a point of view of consumer educommunication. This is how new digital advertising storytelling can modify consumer roles and behaviors. So, in this text, we do a literature revision to explain the advantages of storytelling for digital marketing, the main common mistakes in digital advertising storytelling and what should a good storytelling strategy include. Besides, we make a description about media you have to use, the demand and growth of visual content and other digital marketing Trends for next years.El presente texto es una revisión del concepto de storytelling para alcanzar una definición desde el punto de vista de la educomunicación del consumidor. Esto es: cómo el actual storytelling publicitario digital puede modificar los roles y comportamientos de los consumidores. De este modo, hacemos una revisión de la literatura para explicar las ventajas del storytelling para el marketing digital, los principales errores en el storytelling publicitario y que debería incluir una buena estrategia pensada por y para un storytelling. Asimismo, hacemos una descripción sobre los medios más adecuados para utilizar, así como la demanda y crecimiento del contenido visiaul y otras tendencias del marketing digital para los próximos años

Publicidade digital, storytelling e transmedia narrativa: educomunicação do consumidor

The present text tries to analyze the relationships between the concept of digital storytelling applied to advertising starting from the base of the transmedia narrative. This is: how the new transmediatic narrative helps the construction of advertising discourses based on the notion of storytelling and how it establishes the bases for an educommunication of the consumer, the spectator and / or the target.El presente texto trata de analizar las relaciones entre el concepto de storytelling digital aplicado a la publicidad partiendo de la base de la narrativa transmedia. Esto es: cómo la nueva narrativa transmediática ayuda a la construcción de discursos publicitarios basados en la noción de storytelling y cómo ello establece las bases para una educomunicación del consumidor, del espectador y/o del target.O presente texto tenta analisar as relações entre o conceito de narrativa digital aplicado à publicidade a partir da base da narrativa transmedia. Isto é: como a nova narrativa transmediaica ajuda a construção de discursos publicitários com base na noção de narrativa e como estabelece as bases para uma educação do consumidor, o espectador e / ou o target

Embodiment in 3D virtual retail environments: exploring perceptions of the virtual shopping experience

The customer can now easily create, and customize, their own personal three dimensional (3D) virtual bodies in a variety of virtual environments; could you, by becoming a virtual body, actually enhance your online shopping and buying experiences or, would this potentially inhibit the pure visceral pleasure of retail therapy? "Second Life allows you to be a celebrity in your own lunchtime, .…you can design the body you've always wanted, and indulge your fashionista fetish for very little money. You can be the most attractive, best-dressed version of yourself you can imagine." This paper investigates online shopping in Second Life, through the experience of being avatars. We will discuss the possibilities of using avatars as brand new consumer identities for personalised and customised fashion shopping within the 3D multi user virtual environment, and question the influences and effects of these developments on the traditional high street shopping trip. The hyper un-realistic and non-sensory interface of online shopping for clothes has been hotly debated over the last decade; through the media, the industry and most importantly by the buying public. The customer’s inability to try on and experience the product has been the main inhibitor to shopping on-line, and the high levels of product returns in home shopping dramatically reflect this reality. Faster broadband connections and improved 2D web sites are making clothes shopping on the web more accessible, and for important customer groups, such as young professional females, and plus-size teenagers, virtual 3D technologies offer freedom of choice in any location. Retailers are now confidently providing different shopping experiences by combining 2D and 3D interactive visualisation technologies with advanced marketing techniques, to create virtual retail environments that attempt to actualise the true essence of shopping; by browsing, socialising, trying-on before buying and, in a new twist, leaving the store proudly wearing the item just purchased. American Apparel, Bershka, L’Oreal, Calvin Klein, Reebok, Sears, Nike and Adidas are pioneering virtual mega stores, and all offer newly innovative, and alternative shopping experiences inside 3D multi user virtual environments. An experiential and exploratory approach will be used to investigate fashion brands, and their virtual 3D stores in Second Life. As 3D avatars, we will record a range of customer perceptions and attempt to map their shopping patterns in this massively popular virtual world. The qualitative data gathered will inform discussions about the value of the virtual shopping experience for the customer and the retailer. Conclusions will also question the possibility of using avatars in a virtual shopping environment to acquire accurate body specifications for better fit and the collection of personal details for use in the future development of alternative shopping experiences