How Socially Relevant Visual Characteristics of Avatars Influence Impression Formation

TLDR

First impressions in computer‑mediated environments depend on online appearance, mirroring real‑world social cues. The study investigates whether nonverbal visual characteristics of avatars influence impression formation. The authors manipulated avatar pupil size, eyeblink frequency, and viewing angle, and had 56 participants evaluate the avatars on various attributes. Avatars with larger pupils and slower blink rates were judged more sociable and attractive, lower viewing angles increased sociability, self‑confidence, and attractiveness, and these cues affected evaluation even though they escaped conscious perception, underscoring important design implications.

Abstract

Like in the real world, the first impression a person leaves in a computer-mediated environment depends on his or her online appearance. The present study manipulates an avatar’s pupil size, eyeblink frequency, and the viewing angle to investigate whether nonverbal visual characteristics are responsible for the impression made. We assessed how participants (N = 56) evaluate these avatars in terms of different attributes. The findings show that avatars with large pupils and slow eye blink frequency are perceived as more sociable and more attractive. Compared to avatars seen in full frontal view or from above, avatars seen from below were rated as most sociable, self-confident, and attractive. Moreover, avatars’ pupil size and eyeblink frequency escape the viewer’s conscious perception but still influence how people evaluate them. The findings have wide-ranging applied implications for avatar design.