HHL – Leipzig Graduate School of Management
User Behavior in Second Life: An empirical analysis and its implications for marketing practice
Kathrin Jung Manfred Kirchgeorg
HHL-Arbeitspapier Nr. 80
Copyright: Lehrstuhl Marketingmanagement Leipzig, 2007
Jede Form der Weitergabe und Vervielfältigung bedarf der Genehmigung des Herausgeber
I Summary As changes in technology continue to advance and adapt to consumer needs, virtual online worlds such as Second Life are spawning at a rapid rate providing customer interaction and integration as well as new untapped portals for marketing science and applications. This article summarizes results from an empirical research study in Second Life undertaken by HHL – Leipzig Graduate School of Management in Germany. The analysis focuses on selected aspects of user behavior and how traditional marketing concepts may evolve with respect to these new virtual worlds. The authors identify different user clusters in Second Life, including those respondents who primarily seek contacts and those who wish to be someone completely different. Virtual online worlds do not simply represent an additional communication tool, but rather require every aspect of marketing planning to be just as efficient, almost doubling the communication planning efforts. This being said, it is demonstrated that these virtual worlds offer various new opportunities for marketing. After comparing 3D online worlds with other communication categories, a complete overhaul of traditional communication mix instruments solely with e-marketing is not foreseeable.
II
Index Index....................................................................................................................... II List of Figures and Tables ..................................................................................... III List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. IV 1.
Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
2.
Methodology and Questionnaire .................................................................... 1
3.
Empirical Results ........................................................................................... 3 3.1 Second Life Registration and Usage........................................................ 4 3.2 Socio-demographics ................................................................................ 5 3.3 Avatar Personality and Motives for Participation in Second Life .............. 8 3.4 Activities and Expenditures within Second Life ...................................... 10 3.5 Satisfaction with Second Life ................................................................. 13 3.6 Segmentation of Second Life Users....................................................... 15
4.
Marketing Implications ................................................................................. 18
5.
Outlook......................................................................................................... 21
References ........................................................................................................... 23 Appendix I............................................................................................................. 26 Appendix II............................................................................................................ 27 Appendix III........................................................................................................... 28 List of HHL Working Papers ................................................................................. 30
III
List of Figures and Tables Pic. 1:
Theoretical framework of empirical study (SOR Model).............................. 2
Pic. 2:
Second Life usage per week ..................................................................... 5
Pic. 3:
Nationality of respondents .......................................................................... 6
Pic. 4:
Age distribution within sample .................................................................... 7
Pic. 5:
Avatar’s personality .................................................................................... 9
Pic. 6:
Motivating factors for joining Second Life ...................................................10
Pic. 7:
Activities within Second Life .......................................................................11
Pic. 8:
Linden Dollars spent in Second Life at time of study .................................12
Pic. 9:
Cluster results for motivation factors...........................................................17
Pic. 10:
Second Life marketing as an integral part of the overall marketing mix......19
Table 1:
Average duration of residency in Second Life ........................................... 4
Table 2:
Comparison of communication categories..................................................20
IV
List of Abbreviations a.o.
and others
edn.
edition
ed.
editor
et al.
et alii
etc.
et cetera
GMI
Global Market Insight (company name)
i.e.
for example (Latin: 'id est')
n
number of cases
no.
number
p
significance level
pic.
picture
sig.
significance
SL
Second Life
std. deviation
standard deviation
US
United States
vol.
volume
3D
three dimensional
1 1.
Introduction
Over the past few months, interest in Second Life (SL) at both the personal and corporate level has seen continuous growth. In August 2007, the population of SL registered inhabitants easily surpassed 9 million thus sparking interest from corporations and their marketing departments.1 As growth and investment continue2, knowledge about this program and their users remains widely unknown. Given this circumstance, HHL has conducted a research project in Second Life with the intent to have a closer look at the current user structure and their needs. Key questions we address include: I.) What motivates people to join Second Life? II.) Can we identify different homogenous groups within Second Life? III.) Consequently, to what extent will this 3D online world3 impact the traditional marketing mix? This paper is divided into four parts: 1) the research methodology and questionnaire, 2) the study results consisting of mean comparisons and cluster analysis, 3) marketing recommendations, and 4) the outlook.
2.
Methodology and Questionnaire
The analysis is based on an empirical study which required interviewing active Second Life users. 106 questionnaires were collected from respondents who have an active avatar4 in Second Life. From April to May 2007, 30 interviewers collected data by directly conducting 25 minute interviews with the participant’s avatar in Second Life.* As data collection via this procedure showed to be very difficult and time consuming, respondents were also targeted in Second Life online blogs, asking them
1
Source: Second Life official data (http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php). Forecast using fitted second-degree polynomial trends project 225 million total Second Life residents by March 2008 (Fetscherin/Lattemann 2007, p.8). 3 The expression 3D online world, virtual online world, digital online world and virtual world are used synonymously in the paper. 4 An avatar is graphically generated individual/ identity used in computer games, virtual online worlds or on websites. It is created by a real person or company and either is similar to the real personality of human being or purely invented. * We wish to extent our special thanks to the students of course MM1- Spring Term 2007 at HHLLeipzig Graduate School of Management for their assistance with the data collection. Furthermore, our thank you goes to Mr. Blake Giles from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign for his help in phrasing this article 2
2 to respond to a questionnaire that would be sent to them via e-mail. Once again, the sole prerequisite for participants partaking in our survey was to be a registered, active participant in Second Life with their own avatar. Overall, the data collection is based on a convenience sample and no incentives were offered to respondents. The research study builds on the theoretical framework of a Stimulus-OrganismResponse Model (pic. 1). It represents the basis for explaining SL user behavior (Sheth et al. 1999; Kroeber-Riel/ Weinberg 2003; Domjan 2005). After a pre-test, the questionnaire had to be reduced to fewer questions as too many respondents had walked away from the interview before it was completed. Hence questions regarding marketing stimuli were taken out and conclusions are based primarily on secondary data and partly drawn from open-ended questions.
Pic. 1: Theoretical framework of empirical study (SOR Model)
The final study questionnaire includes 12 questions, which at times consist of a long list of sub-items resulting in 40 individual questions. Measurements varying between a 3- and 5- point scales were applied. Various open-ended questions are included within the questionnaire to further shorten the length of the interview but still allow for sufficient participant feedback. The following sub-topics give an overview of the content structure of the final questionnaire:
3
Reasons for joining Second Life
Socio-demographic data for actual person and their avatar
Overall level of satisfaction and reasons
Desired brands for Second Life
Time of SL registration
Avatar personality
Usage duration per week
Activities within Second Life
Expenditures in Second Life
One example of the final questionnaire is attached in the appendix. 3.
Empirical Results
The data analysis is conducted in SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) using mean value comparisons and frequency tables based on a data set of 106 completed questionnaires. Finally, a K-mean cluster analysis leads to three clusters of homogeneous respondents showing interesting response patterns. Overall, the data is of good quality. Statistical tests prove the reliability of scales and consistency of answers. Our ratio of questions given to responses received averages around 85%. Socio-demographic questions for the avatar, such as “avatar profession” and “avatar education” etc. were occasionally left blank. Taking into account the open-ended questions and answers received, we are assuming that respondents did not respond for one of the following reasons: a) they had not thought about these details, perhaps because they may not be deemed relevant, b) they left answers blank due to laziness or unwillingness, or finally c) they did not answer because the user has not partaken in Second Life long enough to deem the question as applicable.
4 Although socio-demographic data given officially by Linden Lab5 varies slightly from those in the sample, especially in terms of represented nationalities, it was decided not to use weights for these groups of respondents as the data from Linden Lab only displays user account statistics; showing, for example, whether or not the user is registered but not whether or not he is truly active or inactive. Available statistics show that around 18% of registered Second Life accounts can be considered active residents.6
3.1 Second Life Registration and Usage The survey sample includes short-term and long-term Second Life users. Table 1 shows the distribution. Almost one third of respondents can be characterized as short-term residents meaning that they have had their avatar one month or less. 16% of respondents fall into the category of long term Second Life inhabitants. Their avatar’s lifetime accounts for at least six months at the time of the survey.7
Table 1: Average duration of residency in Second Life (n= 106)8
5
Linden Lab is the American company based in San Francisco which created and manages Second Life. 6 Percentage is based on Linden Lab’s published information and estimations from other researchers. We define an active user as having to be logged in Second Life at least once during a period of 60 days. The percentage also takes duplicate accounts into consideration. 7 Overall, we follow the argumentation of other researchers by stating that the current Second Life userbase belongs to the group of innovators and early adopters (Fetscherin/Lattemann 2007, p. 13). 8 Within this paper all empirical results are stated in continental European format (i.e. 100,0%).
5 Almost 30% of the respondents spend more than 20 hours per week in Second Life (pic. 2). Comparing heavy users with light users, 9,4% of respondents fall into the heavy user category meaning they participate in the virtual world more than 50 hours per week. There is a significant positive correlation between date of user registration for SL and time spent in SL, portraying that on average users find enjoyment being active in 3D online worlds and tend to continue their participation. The cross tabulation of usage and nationality did not lead to significant differences. % of respondents
25% 20%
22,6%
22,6%
23,7% 21,7%
15% 10% 9,4%
5% SL usage per week
0% Less than 5 hours per week
>5-10 hours >10-20 hours >20-50 hours More than 50 per week per week per week hours per week
Pic. 2: Second Life usage per week (n=106)
3.2 Socio-demographics Respondents within the sample come from 20 different nations, of which Germans and Americans represent the largest groups (pic. 3). Given the original data statistics from Linden Lab, we conclude that our sample may include a slight interviewer bias resulting in an overrepresentation of German residents.9 Due to the fact that Second Life was created in America, Americans probably represent the largest user group at
9
Hence, this study might be biased towards German users, thus results should be interpreted with caution.
6 present.10 The small size of the Asian group may be due to English language problems and the fact that Hipihi (http:/hipihi.com) has been a successful duplicate of the Second Life concept targeting Chinese users. SL sample by nationality
World Internet users June 2007
Pic. 3: Nationality of respondents (n=95) compared to world internet users per June 2007 (Source: www.internetworldstats.com)
The average age within the sample is 30,2 years and lies only marginal below the official number of 33 years published by Linden Lab. The youngest respondent is 17 years old whereas the oldest ages 57. In general, Second Life is targeted at people at least 18 years of age. Picture 4 shows the age distribution for the sample and displays that the largest age group ranges from 21-25 years. The percentage of users decreases for each age category after 21-25 with the exception of ages 41-45.
10
This fact is supported by a study including approximately 250 Second Life users done by M. Fetscherin and C. Lattemann in June 2007. They prove that the majority of Second Life inhabitants comes from the US by looking at the time distribution of online activities.
7 % of respondents
35% 30%
30,9%
25% 23,4%
20% 15%
5%
13,8%
13,8%
10%
8,6%
7,4%
2,1%
0% 16-20 years
21-25 years
26-30 years
31-35 years
36-40 years
41-45 years
> 46 years
Age group (in real life)
Pic. 4: Age distribution within sample (n=94)
Looking at the artificial age of the avatars, there are no major observable differences. Respondents mostly keep their real age in Second Life. However, for 24% of the target group, a difference in their actual age and their avatar’s age is observable. Of these, most were older than 32 in real life and created avatars a few years younger.11 The proportion of female Internet users has been on the rise continuously over the past years. Currently, 53,8% of German women and 67% of German men confirm that they surf the World Wide Web ((N)Onliner Atlas 2007). Our sample includes responses coming to 54,3% from men and to 45,7% from women. Comparing these percentages to Internet user statistics, it can be concluded that the proportion of women is a little higher in Second Life than in general Internet use.
11
This fact is supported by a study carried out by a market research solutions provider named Global Market Insite (GMI) located in Seattle, USA. The company conducted a survey among 10.000 respondents, of which 479 were Second Life users. Although the sample seems slightly skewed, the study shows as well that nearly a quarter play another gender. In addition, the study found that the same percentage of Second Life users change to another race. On the other hand, our study contradicts the GMI results of respondents changing nationalities. Within our survey, this was only observed for 1% of the answers.
8 More than half of the participants have received or are in the process of completing some form of college degree.12 This high number may seem surprising, but the fact that Second Life is only offered in English at this point means that a high proficiency of English is required. This also will affect results in age and nationality. In addition, the 3D world requires a complex understanding of its functionality. It can also be assumed that various business men and academic researchers are currently investigating Second Life for new opportunities in their respective fields. Thus, it seems logical that the users of Second Life have a higher educational level compared with the overall internet community.13 Various respondents do not give an answer regarding their profession in Second Life. Students, representing 17% of the total, are the largest group among the respondents, followed by managerial, technical and sales professionals accounting each for 10% of the sample. We explain the high percentage of students also with the fact that 28 of the 30 interviewers were students who probably went to SL venues that are attractive to this sub-group. If an answer is given, we noticed that respondents from the business sector switched their profession to more creative categories such as a photographer or a designer.
3.3 Avatar Personality and Motives for Participation in Second Life Various researchers have already dealt with the phenomenon of contemporary avatars (Kolko 1999; Webb 2001; Cooper et al. 2006), as those have been used either in online games or by companies as virtual sales agents on their websites. Within our survey, we questioned respondents regarding their avatar’s personality. The results display, that respondents can be categorized into two groups: those whose avatars relate to their personality in actuality and those whose avatars differ from their actual personality (pic. 5). Almost one fourth of respondents admit that their avatar is a depiction of who they would like to be. For 55% of the respondents, it is important to stay anonymous in Second Life.
12 13
Some form of diploma, bachelor or master’ degree. This fact is supported by a representative analysis that was carried out by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen Online in Germany concluding that the higher the educational level the higher the percentage of Internet involvement. The previous survey conducted by Global Market Inside found that 65% of Second Life users have a college degree or higher, supporting our results, too.
9 Question: How is your avatar's personality? You don't know
2,8%
Nothing like you
21,2%
The way you want to be
23,2%
Similar to yours
37,5%
Completely like yours
15,3% 0%
10%
20%
% of respondents
30%
40%
50%
Pic. 5: Avatar’s personality (n=104)
Looking at the reasons for joining Second Life, most respondents state that their primary reason for participation is to meet people from all over the world, they also find Second Life to be extremely fun and fascinating (pic. 6). Currently, discussions are intensifying that Second Life will lead to disturbed personalities and less face-toface interaction, hindering their real lives. However, within the study, reasons such as “wanting to forget real life” and “being bored in real life” rank among the least applicable.14 Nevertheless, looking at the individual questions, 20,8% of respondents stated that they partake in Second Life because they are bored in the real world, and 14,1% indicate that they want to forget their real life. As expected, both questions show a significant correlation of 0,450. A cross-tabulation between the amount of time spent in SL per week and the motives for Second Life activity reveals that there is a relation between these dimensions (appendix I). The results indicate that those who have problems with real world interpersonal relationships tend to spend more time in Second Life than others.15 Although, the analysis does not allow us to conclude that Second Life causes an increase in social anxiety, we identified a certain proportion of
14 15
These results go in line with an analysis done by De Nood and Atempa in 2006. Findings of the GMI report display that 24% of the surveyed respondents want to escape real life, which they were not satisfied with.
10 the sample that is characterized by the use of Second Life to escape their real worlds. This group may face the danger of loosing touch with reality in the long run. There are other studies which have shown that social anxiety increases with longer usage times of online games (Cyranek 2002; Shao-Kang et al. 2005).
Pic. 6: Motivating factors for joining Second Life (n=94, mean values)
Looking at cross-cultural differences in the current study, again, no significant differentiation could be found. For the element “I can do/say things I could not do/say in real life”, Americans showed a tendency to higher agreement compared to Germans and other nationalities, whereas among German respondents more people confirmed the motivation of wanting to make money in Second Life.
3.4 Activities and Expenditures within Second Life The results based on current activities in SL clearly show that the life cycle of Second Life has just begun (pic. 7). Most respondents state that they enjoy chatting with
11 others as well as visiting other virtual lands, while others tell that they like customizing their avatar. 56% admit participating in online events. At this point, only 2% state that they often purchase products or services in Second Life for their real life. However, in the future this percentage is expected to increase significantly as business presence will increase as well as assumed curiosity. Already today, 16% of the respondents have admitted buying products in their real lives after a thorough testing of those same products in Second Life at least sometimes. In countries where SL has been in place for longer, interviewed Second Life inhabitants show a higher percentage of real life purchases. This fact is supported by looking at cross-country comparisons showing that Americans claim to sell products and services more often than the total sample.16 In the future we believe virtual worlds such as Second Life will experience a growing interest by information seekers. However, effective search mechanisms have to be implemented. % of respondents
Never
2,0%
Sometimes
Often
100% 13,5 %
15,7%
80%
11,8%
16,7%
I gamble at casinos.
I take part in online events.
47,6% 59,4% 74,8%
60% 40% 20% 0% I purchase or rent land/ buildings in Second Life.
I sell products or services in Second Life.
I purchase products or services in Second Life w hich I receive later in my real w orld.
I customize my avatar.
I explore I chat and meet w ith others in different lands in Second Life. Second Life.
Pic. 7: Activities within Second Life (n=102) The question regarding spent money is answered diversely as picture 8 illustrates. A large group has spent no or very little money in Second Life thus far. The highest amount mentioned is 600.000 Linden Dollars in expenditures which equals around
16
Compare Fetscherin/Lattemann 2007, p. 16 for willingness to pay. Moreover, the study found that 42% of the respondents are willing to use their credit card to purchase in Second Life.
12 2.200 US Dollars.17 Those more familiar with the system have discovered wide opportunism where to receive virtual goods for free. In order, to be visible on the Second Life virtual map, some companies have been paying Second Life users to spend time at their Second Life venue. Overall, there is a small positive correlation on a significant statistical level between amount of time and amount of money spent in Second Life. Hence, the longer the time of SL residency, the more money users spend. % of respondents
35% 33,0%
30% 25% 20% 15%
21,7% 17,0%
10%
10,4%
10,4% 7,5%
5% 0% 0
>0-900
>9009.000
>9.00090.000
>90.000- No answer 600.000
Linden Dollars
Pic. 8: Linden Dollars spent in Second Life at time of study (n=98)
Moreover, 60% of respondents mention that they have visited shops in Second Life. Two market segments are named more frequently than others: the clothing market, referencing H&M, Reebok and Nike to name a few; and the electronic segment, highlighting IBM, Dell and Sun Micro Systems. Also briefly stated were hotel and tourism agencies, the automotive industry and Reuters publishing. When asked which brands users would like to see in Second Life, most respondents stated that they would like to see more representation of the luxury goods sector, perhaps because it is an area many do not have easy access to in the real world due to social class or income level. They express that well-known companies and designers
17
$ 1 US equals 268 Linden Dollars in Second Life. Linden Dollars is the artificial currency in Second Life and can be exchanged from and into real world money.
13 should establish themselves in Second Life markets as well, perhaps to preview products before a real life purchase or to allow complete fulfillment of fantasies that cannot be satisfied in the real world. Desired brands mentioned by the respondents include Chanel, Gucci and Ferrari.
Based on the GMI survey, 78% of those surveyed said real world advertising in SL would positively influence their real world purchasing decisions. Given these answers, it could be concluded that the target groups seem to deem visual attractiveness or status as a high priority in Second Life and perhaps in their real lives as well. Earlier, we have described the higher educational level of the Second Life users also having an impact on these findings. We believe that companies may not be successful with simple combined presences in Second Life. Companies such as Deutsche Telecom that have precisely re-copied their actual building into Second Life with very little creativity have experienced drastic problems attracting visitors to their virtual venue. Overall, the inspiring environment in this 3D world is a major differentiating factor and emotionally-oriented business presentations seem to be the most desired.
3.5 Satisfaction with Second Life On a satisfaction scale with 1 meaning “very satisfied” and 5 meaning “very dissatisfied”, Americans displayed the highest level of satisfaction (mean = 1,53) in Second Life, whereas Germans average at 2,19 and the total sample at 2,01. Those who were dissatisfied with Second Life usually encountered technical difficulties which take away from the flow of the program and overall enjoyment. Those who were satisfied expressed that they enjoy the freedom, the possibilities, and the creativity of Second Life. In spite of the frequent occurrences of glitches, bugs, updates or other technical setbacks, surprisingly, the overall satisfaction with Second Life is high.18
18
Second Life is often classified as an “online game” and though it shares similar programming and functionality to games like The SIMs or World of Warcraft, in which users portray themselves and play as avatars. Second Life is really in a league of its own. Many users take offense when “game” and Second Life are uttered in the same sentence. Though all are played by use of the computer, (Fortsetzung der Fußnote auf der nächsten Seite)
14 Satisfaction increases with an increasing amount of time spent in SL per week. A two-tailed Pearson correlation gives a strongly significant coefficient of 0,251 (n=102). Examples of possible explanations for these feelings are: 1) as the user becomes more familiar with Second Life, the level of fun and identification with the avatar increases, or 2) as he or she is able to explore more possibilities (places, functionalities) given in the virtual world, Second Life gets more interesting and also useful. To summarize, comparing our empirical analysis with other studies in Second Life, we have been able to give more clarity to user characteristics in Second Life. We believe that our results can provide guidance for future in-depth research identifying causal relationships and other factors that we did not address. While an overall interpretation of the results should be done with caution19, we draw the following conclusions:
The average age among Second Life users lies around 30-33 years.
There are groups of users who are in Second Life with different means of motivation. We will look more into that within the next paragraph.
Those present in the online world have a higher educational level than the overall internet community.
As virtual online worlds such as Second Life are just at the beginning of their lifecycle, more rational activities such as information seeking and purchases will pick up in the future if the interface improves and the business community increases. At this point, fascination, curiosity and meeting others are the major modes of motivation.
within the world of Second Life, point systems and objectives do not exist. It is basically endless with no determined “game over point”. Also, as of this moment, someone’s avatar creation does not have health settings—it cannot get sick, it cannot die. In fact, Second Life is closer to the real world than one might think. Experience and knowledge that can be obtained while in Second Life can benefit and be applied to one’s own life. “New World Notes”, found at http://nwn.blogs.com, a popular blog for users of Second Life, written by Wagner James Au shows that many users have admitted that Second Life inspires them to learn new programming skills or skills in Adobe Photoshop and they further state that these skills have helped them with their real jobs. 19
This is due to the bias that may be included in our sample due to the sampling method.
15 3.6 Segmentation of Second Life Users The purpose of segmentation is to divide a market into distinct groups of customers with different needs, characteristics or behavior, who might require separate products and services, thus marketing mix activities (Weitz/ Levy 2007: 111). In the past, various researchers have made attempts to cluster internet users by a diverse set of characteristics (i.e. Bauer et al. 2004). Achieving a high level of compatibility between marketing tactics and the needs of relevant target groups in Second Life, a clusteranalysis seems also beneficial to bring more light into the user structure. Within point 3.3 we have already gained the impressions that differences between Second Life inhabitants exist. The following cluster analysis describes the user groups more clearly. We used several procedures to identify respondents with similar motives for registration or other similarities. The most reliable and plausible result was reached using the K-mean-clustering method based on motivation factors for Second Life participation. In the end, three clusters were identified. Those show significant differences and communalities. Each cluster depicts that Second Life is fun and fascinating. Furthermore, the ability to “meet people from all over the world” and “to be creative” received high results from each group of respondents (pic. 8). Cluster 1 is the largest cluster and consists of respondents who admit to being content in real life and insist that it is important not to forget actual reality. These participants have their avatars depicting their actual appearance - the ability to have a different appearance in Second Life holds little or no value for them. We call them “experimenting relativists”. These respondents in Second Life stay as true to real life as possible, refraining from the unrealistic. In addition, a cross tabulation interestingly displays that respondents within cluster one are also the least satisfied with their SL experience. Hence, not surprisingly the first cluster includes respondents who have been participating less frequently or beginners who are new to Second Life. Possible explanations could include that this target group does not yet find real benefits for themselves and that technical problems harm their efficiency orientation. Another reason for their dissatisfaction could be due to the fact that they stay as true to their real lives as possible and are happy with their lives thus experiencing less enjoyment while in front of a computer screen or even the fact that their avatars depict their true selves. As cluster 1 contains more realistic users, this is the target group that can be most easily addressed with real world business models and marketing efforts. Cluster 1 respondents may be those most likely to buy goods in Second Life that will be purchased at a later date in the real world though, at this
16 point, respondents from cluster 3 prove to be even more involved in this activity. Cluster 1 includes the largest number of new Second Life inhabitants, who have a higher desire to stay anonymous than clusters 2 and 3. An allocation of the different nationalities to the clusters did not lead to significant results. However, there is an indication that the Germans and those who have spent little or no money in Second Life are over-represented within the first cluster. Interestingly, males dominate cluster 1 whereas females represent the majority of cluster 2. This group of people includes the most satisfied respondents (mean = 1,68) and those who have been Second Life inhabitants the longest. These interviewed respondents score the lowest (highest agreement) in all categories that refer to changing someone’s real world appearance and character. A cross tabulation with the question regarding their avatar’s personality displays that cluster 2 makes out the largest part of those saying that their avatars are a depiction of how they would like to be. They are also those, who are the busiest with customizing their avatars20. Moreover, those respondents seem to be the most interested in the socializing and community aspects offered in Second Life. Thus, we call them “socializing dreamers”. Overall, cluster 2 displays higher interest in earning money throughout their SL participation (mean 2,88). Cluster 2 also ranks highest for amount of time spent in Second Life per week. These respondents seem to love the artificial environment from Second Life in which they can thrive as a different personality. Though to truly infer and make more precise assumptions, further research is needed. Marketing tactics may change as avatars portray users’ desired personality which may differ from real life. A more emotionalized marketing strategy to these female respondents seems to be favorable.
20
The GMI survey found that 45% who change their looks make themselves a better looking body image and physical appearance.
21
See appendix II for specific values.
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
3,5
4
4,5
5
SL is fun and exiting
*** Bored in my RL
* SL fascinates me
Cluster 1(39 respondents)
*** * Can do/say Can meet things that I people from all w ouldn´t over the w orld do/say in RL
Can be creative
Can be part of a community w henever I w ant
Cluster 3 (29 respondents)
*** highly significant, ** strongly significant, * significant
Get to know *** people w ho Can look pretty share and attractive interests
Cluster 2 (26 respondents)
*** Can be someone I cannot be in RL
* *** Want to earn Can forget my real money RL
Total sample (n=94)
17
Pic. 9: Cluster results for motivation factors (mean values, scale: 1- totally agree/ 5- totally disagree)21
18 Cluster 3 mostly shows values that are in-between those of clusters 1 and 2. Respondents feel the same fascination for the 3D online world as the other respondents do, but on average we can observe at a statistically significant level that cluster 3 respondents spend the longest amount of time in Second Life per week. They also portray the weakest desire to meet people from all over the world in the virtual arena. The most significant aspect about this cluster is that these respondents score highest for participating in Second Life to forget real life and daily boredom. Consequently, we call them “bored escapers”. They also show the highest disagreement level regarding the desire to be creative. Analyzing the answers from the open-ended questions, reasons for satisfaction include aspects of amusement that lead to a positive assessment of Second Life. Overall, the satisfaction level of cluster 3 lies in-between (mean 2,02) the values for cluster 1 and 2. Looking at brands that appear within the open answers, respondents from cluster 3 make the clearest statement regarding luxury goods. Only seven out of the 29 members of the third cluster come from Germany. To summarize, the three clusters show no major significant differences in terms of nationality and average age. Still, it can be concluded, that the Second Life community is not a universal homogeneous group. The different characteristics from the three clusters in terms of motives for Second Life participation recommend that specific marketing techniques may be applicable, but require further analysis in order to give specific recommendations.
4.
Marketing Implications
There are various implications for marketers that can be drawn from the research results. The clustering approach gives an indication of three segments showing different characteristics regarding motivational factors for Second Life activity. It is expected that the Second Life population will experience continual growth, which is dependent on technical improvements on both the provider and user side. Furthermore, there is an indication that other virtual worlds are being established and are gaining in importance, thus maybe resulting in a fragmentation in the world of virtual environments on the web. Already today, other online 3D worlds such as Entropia Universe (more game oriented) and There (comparable to SL) are working
19 hard on establishing their virtual communities. We feel that one of these 3D online worlds will become dominant, whereas the others represent smaller communities with special characteristics22. As companies continue to create a presence in the virtual world it will have a positive direct correlation to the enjoyment of users resulting in a more interesting and engaging online environment. However, in the long run only those companies will be successful that 1) integrate their Second Life activities into their overall marketing strategy, but also 2) don’t view Second Life merely as a single communication tool but rather as a system requiring a whole marketing mix strategy (pic. 10). User attendance rates show that a fast installation, disregarding market trends, may not be a successful one.23
Pic. 10: Second Life marketing as an integral part of the overall marketing mix 22
23
All over the internet one can read about countless rumours surrounding Google Earth, a direct representation of our earth, allows users to zoom in and view streets and buildings exactly as they are in real life. Production of an enhanced 3D version to compete with Second Life or to be in conjunction with is the current speculation. Those users who belong to the previously mentioned cluster of relativists (cluster 1) may be more likely to be attacked by the real world replica of Google. Whereas in Germany companies continue to be very active in creating their Second Life islands, journalists report that American companies are already leaving SL (Digital: next 2007).
20 Companies have to carefully balance the early mover advantage with the benefits of a SL-follower. A proper strategy outperforms a simple quick installation of their establishment. For example, a Second Life-shop may not be attractive if there is no shop assistant welcoming and taking care of the online visitor. Thus, in most cases, a Second Life shop runs not by its own, but it is intensively interlinked with real personnel, real company infrastructure and processes. Often, specialists argue that virtual online worlds like Second Life may replace other communication instruments. However, looking at the characteristics of the different communication categories (table 2), one can argue that Second Life will rather supplement and at most, partly replace other communication mix activities (Kirchgeorg/Jung/Klante 2007).
Table 2: Comparison of communication categories
21 5.
Outlook
If users continue to accept virtual online worlds as a way to communicate24, seek information and do business, the ongoing growth of private and corporate users will continue – based on the diffusion curve model presumably at a slight lower rate (Everett 2003). Set-backs could results from ongoing technical problems on provider and user side. However, most likely aspects such as inefficient search mechanisms surrounding a growing Second Life population may slow down growth. In addition, criticism has arisen regarding the missing legal regulations and resulting problems for private and corporate transactions (Lastowka/Hunter 2004). Virtual worlds are likely to have wide impact on other stakeholders and real world infrastructure.25 Altogether, businesses could experience similar problems like in other marketing mix areas. For example, space for interaction will become tied if the Second Life population continues to grow so drastically. It is then the same hassle to shop in a Second Life store as it is in a real world shopping mall. The fun and creativity aspect may get dominated by negative user experience. Moreover, reaching paying customers in the virtual world could be as difficult as in the real world, when advertising picks up at the same rate. Scalability will continue to be a core challenge for virtual online worlds (Benford 2001). Companies need to pay attention that Second Life is not over-commercialized as for some groups the authentic character of Second Life may get lost. In general, users identify themselves stronger with products, services and environments that they have fully or partly created themselves (Piller/ Stotko 2003; Reichwald/Piller 2006). If such communities get over-commercialized, they can loose a large proportion of their user base. Research focusing on virtual online worlds has attracted a growing number of academic researchers (i.e. McConnon et. al. 2007, Fetscherin/Lattemann 2007), as demand for theoretical models by practitioners rises. Within our survey a high percentage of respondents state the desire to remain anonymous. This may also impact future research needed to get a deeper insight into the Second Life community.
24
25
Within the study of Fetscherin and Lattemann (2007: 19), 76% of respondents claimed they would continue to use Second Life regularly. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee has launched an investigation to explore possibilities to tax income gained from trading virtual property (Glushko 2007).
22 Still, there are several real life business models that can benefit from online virtual worlds such as the hotel and travel industry. Second Life offers already today a more emotional experience than the 2D internet interface and may become itself the new WWW standard in the future (Tynan 2007). To summarize, a significant amount of research is still needed to bring more light into Second Life and its users. We believe that after a sufficient phase of development the mainstream commercialization of virtual online worlds will enrich Second Life or other platforms with broader content and greater interactivity. Although the majority of senior executives have not yet plans to utilize marketing through virtual worlds over the next five years, we believe that the use of virtual worlds in communication and marketing will increase as more companies learn how to use them more effectively. Virtual online worlds are one example showing how significantly technology impacts human beings and changes their behavior. But on the other hand, technology only reflects what humans desire: an all ubiquitous mobile, individualized, user efficient reality with access to digital information that is universal and continual.
23 References
Aleixandre, B. (2007): Surveying Second Life – with reference to Global Market Insight Report (GMI Report), in: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/04/second_life_dem.html, Status: 25. July 2007. Bauer, H.H./ Neumann, M. M./ Hoffmann, Y. (2004): Internationale Kundensegmentierung im elektronischen Handel – eine interkulturelle Untersuchung, in: Bauer, H.H./ Roesger, J./ Neumann, M.M. (ed.): Konsumentenverhalten im Internet, Verlag Vahlen, Munich. Benford, S. et al. (2001): Collaborative Virtual Environments, in: Communications of the ACM, Vol. 44, No. 7, pp. 79-85. Cooper, R./ Spaight, T./ Dibbell, J. (2007): Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators, Chris Boot, London. Cyranek, G. (2002): Social implications of virtual worlds, in: Digital Creativity, vol. 13 issue 1: 1. De Nood, P./ Attema J. (2006): The Second Life of virtual reality, in: http://www.slinworld.com/news/wissenschaft-bildung/aktuelle-artikel/the-second-life-of-virtualreality.html, Status: 02. July 2007. Digital:next (ed.) (2007): US-Firmen resignieren in Second Life, deutsche Firmen optimistisch, in: http://www.digitalnext.de/us-firmen-resignieren-in-second-lifedeutsche-firmen-optimistisch/, Status: 14. July 2007. Domjan, M. (2005): The principles of learning and behavior, 5th ed., Wadsworth Publishing, California. Everett, M. (2003): Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed., NY: Free Press, New York. Fetscherin, M./ Lattemann, C. (2007): User acceptance – an explorative study about Second Life, in: http://www.fetscherin.com/UserAcceptanceVirtualWorlds.htm, Status: 17. Aug. 2007. Forschungsgruppe Wahlen Online (ed.) (2007): Internet Strukturdaten, in: http://www.fgw-online.de/Aktuelles/PM_Strukturdaten/web_II_07.pdf, Status: 24. July 2007.
24 Glushko, B. (2007): TALES OF THE (VIRTUAL) CITY: GOVERNING PROPERTY DISPUTES IN VIRTUAL WORLDS, in: Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Annual Review 2007, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 507-532. Guiniven, J. (2006): Avatars are people, too: PR in the virtual world, Public Relations Tactics, Vol. 13, No. 10, p. 6. Kolko, B. E. (1999): Representing Bodies in Virtual Space: The Rhetoric of Avatar Design, Information Society, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 177-186. Kirchgeorg, M./ Jung, K./ Klante, O.: Szenarioanalyse - Messen 2020, in: AUMA (ed.): Messen 2020, special ed., Berlin. (in publication) Kroeber-Riel, W./ Weinberg, P. (2003): Konsumentenverhalten, 8. ed., Verlag Vahlen, Munich. Lastowka, F. G./ Hunter, D. (2004): The Laws of the Virtual Worlds, in: California Law Review, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp. 3-73. Miniwatts Marketing Group. (ed.) (2007): World internet user statistics, in: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm, Status: 24. July 2007. McConnon, A./ Reena, J. (2007): in virtual, in: Business Week, Vol. 2007, No. 4038, special section pp. 24-25. Placentra, G./ Gertels T. (2007): Umsatzmotor oder Seifenblase, Marketing Journal, Vol 2007. , No. 7-8, pp. 42-44. Piller, F.T./ Stotko, C. (2003): Mass Customization und Kundenintegration. Neue Wege zum innovativen Produkt, Symposion Publishing, Düsseldorf. Reichwald, R./ Piller, F.T. (2007): Interaktive Wertschöpfung. Open Innovation, Individualisierung und neue Formen der Arbeitsteilung, Gabler, Wiesbaden. Shao-Kang, L./ Chih-Chien, W./Wenchang, F. (2005): Physical Interpersonal Relationships and Social Anxiety among Online Game Players, in: CyberPsychology & Behavior, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 15-20. Sheth, J.N./ Mittal, B./ Newman, B.I. (1999): Customer behavior, Dryden Press, Fort Worth a.o.
25 TNS infratest (Ed.) (2007): (N)Onliner Atlas 2007, in: http://www.nonliner-atlas.de/, Status: 01. Aug. 2007. Webb, S. (2001): Avatarculture: Narrative, power and identity in virtual world environments, in: Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 560594. Weitz, B.A./ Levy, M. (2007): Retailing Management, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill, Boston a.o.
26 Appendix I Correlation Matrix: Time spent in SL per week/ motives for SL participation26 Hours spend in SL per week? Hours spend in SL per week?
Pearson Correlation
Can do/say things that wouldn´t do/say in RL Can be someone I cannot be in RL Bored in my RL
Pearson Correlation
Can be part of a community whenever I want
-,229(*)
-,235(*)
-,175
Want to earn real money -,130
,020
,019
,008
,081
,194
106
103
100
102
100
101
97
-,229(*)
1
,450(**)
,235(*)
,194
,085
,360(**) ,000
1
Can forget my RL -,213(*) ,037
Sig. (2-tailed)
,020
,000
,017
,054
,400
n
103
103
100
102
100
101
97
-,235(*)
,450(**)
1
,194
,368(**)
,082
,302(**)
,019 100 -,262(**)
,000 100 ,235(*)
100 ,194
,055 99 1
,000 99 ,025
,415 100 ,130
,003 96 ,404(**)
Sig. (2-tailed)
,008
,017
,055
,807
,198
,000
n
102
102
99
102
100
100
97
-,175
,194
,368(**)
,025
1
,025
,210(*)
Sig. (2-tailed)
,081
,054
,000
,807
,809
,039
n
100
100
99
100
100
100
97
-,130
,085
,082
,130
,025
1
,167
Sig. (2-tailed)
,194
,400
,415
,198
,809
n
101
101
100
100
100
101
97
-,213(*)
,360(**)
,302(**)
,404(**)
,210(*)
,167
1
,037
,000
,003
,000
,039
,103
97
97
96
97
97
97
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) n Pearson Correlation
Can be part of a community whenever I want
Pearson Correlation
Want to earn real money
Pearson Correlation
Can forget my RL
Can be someone I cannot be in RL
Bored in my RL -,262(**)
Sig. (2-tailed) n
Can do/say things that I wouldn’t do/say in RL
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) n
,103
97
Legend: ** strongly significant correlation (p≤0,01)
26
* significant correlation (p≤0,05)
n number of included cases
Negative correlation results from questionnaire coding, meaning the more time respondents spent in SL the more they agree with the motive statement in this case.
27 Appendix II Mean values of variables used for K-mean cluster analysis - Measured on a scale 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) -
SL is fun and exciting
Cluster Number 1
2
3
Total sample
Mean n Std. Deviation Mean n Std. Deviation Mean n Std. Deviation
1,85 39 ,904 1,77 26 ,765 1,76 29 1,057
Bored in my RL *** 4,49 39 ,601 4,23 26 ,908 2,24 29 ,689
Mean n Std. Deviation
1,80 94 ,911
3,72 94 1,230
Legend: ***
highly significant result (p≤0,001)
**
strongly significant result (p≤0,01)
*
significant result (p≤0,05)
n–
number of included cases
SL fascinat es me * 1,92 39 ,703 1,58 26 ,902 1,83 29 ,889 1,80 94 ,824
2,36 39 ,903 2,08 26 1,017 2,17 29 ,805
Can look pretty and attractive *** 3,46 39 1,189 1,73 26 ,724 2,62 29 1,178
Can do/say things that I wouldn’t do/say in RL *** 3,44 39 1,165 1,77 26 ,908 2,31 29 ,930
Can meet people from all over the world * 1,69 39 ,655 1,35 26 ,485 2,00 29 ,964
2,22 94 ,906
2,72 94 1,282
2,63 94 1,244
1,69 94 ,762
Get to know people who share interests
Can be part a Can beofpart communi of a ty community wheneveI Can be whenever creative r want I want 1,95 39 ,793 1,85 26 ,967 2,34 29 ,814
2,36 39 ,811 1,69 26 ,549 2,24 29 1,023
Can be someone I cannot be in RL *** 3,41 39 ,880 1,96 26 1,076 2,38 29 ,903
2,04 94 ,867
2,14 94 ,863
2,69 94 1,127
Want to earn real money * 3,97 39 ,932 2,88 26 1,071 3,52 29 1,243
Can forget my RL ***
3,53 94 1,152
3,73 94 1,089
4,36 39 ,628 3,46 26 1,208 3,14 29 1,060
28 Appendix III
29
30 List of HHL Working Papers Nr. 1
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heribert Meffert (1996), 31 Seiten Stand und Perspektiven des Umweltmanagement in der betriebswirtschaftlichen Forschung und Lehre
Nr. 2
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (1996), 28 Seiten Verluste trotz steigender Kurse? - Probleme der Performancemessung bei Zinsänderungen
Nr. 3
Prof. Dr. Arnis Vilks (1996), 26 Seiten Rationality of Choice and Rationality of Reasoning (Revised version, September 1996)
Nr. 4
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg (1996), 36 Seiten Strategische Allianzen im Telekommunikationsmarkt
Nr. 5
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (1996), 41 Seiten Die Kapitalkosten von Rückstellungen zur Anwendung des Shareholder Value-Konzeptes in Deutschland
Nr. 6
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg / Thomas Hutzschenreuter (1997), 32 Seiten Postreform - Umgestaltung des Post- und Telekommunikationssektors in Deutschland
Nr. 7
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg / Thomas Hutzschenreuter / Torsten Wulf (1997), 31 Seiten Investitionsmanagement in internationalen Konzernen - Lösungsansätze vor dem Hintergrund der Agency Theorie
Nr. 8
Dr. Peter Kesting (1997), 47 Seiten Visionen, Revolutionen und klassische Situationen – Schumpeters Theorie der wissenschaftlichen Entwicklung
Nr. 9
Prof. Dr. Arnis Vilks (1997), 36 Seiten Knowledge of the Game, Rationality and Backwards Induction
Nr. 10
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg / Thomas Hutzschenreuter / Torsten Wulf (1997), 22 Seiten Ressourcenorientierung und Organisation
Nr. 11
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Stephan Mahn (1997), 71 Seiten IPO´s: Optimale Preisstrategien für Emissionsbanken mit Hilfe von Anbot-Modellen
Nr. 12
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer (1997), 23 Seiten
31 Koordination im Qualitätsmanagement – Analyse und Evaluation im Kontext der Transaktionskostentheorie Nr. 13
Dr. Thomas Hutzschenreuter / Alexander Sonntag (1998), 32 Seiten Erklärungsansätze der Diversifikation von Unternehmen
Nr. 14
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Niklas Darijtschuk (1998), 33 Seiten Unternehmensbewertung mit Hilfe der DCF-Methode – eine Anmerkung zum „Zirkularitätsproblem“
Nr. 15
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg (1998), 22 Seiten Kooperation und Konflikt aus Sicht der Unternehmensverfassung
Nr. 16
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer (1998), 31 Seiten Prozeßkostencontrolling – Gestaltungsoptionen in der öffentlichen Verwaltung
Nr. 17
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (1998), 34 Seiten Shareholder Value Konzept, Managementanreize und Stock Option Plans
Nr. 18
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Serge Ragotzky (1998), 24 Seiten Preisfindung und Vertragsbindungen bei MBO-Privatisierungen in Sachsen
Nr. 19
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Dr. Jochen A. Schmitz (1998), 23 Seiten Control Measures for Kaizen Costing - Formulation and Practical Use of the Half-Life Model
Nr. 20
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Dr. Jochen A. Schmitz (1998), 35 Seiten Kapitalmarktorientierte Steuerung von Projekten im Zielkostenmanagement
Nr. 21
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (1998), 25 Seiten Unternehmensbewertung unter Unsicherheit – Sicherheitsäquivalent- oder Risikozuschlagsmethode?
Nr. 22
Dr. Claudia Löhnig (1998), 21 Seiten Industrial Production Structures and Convergence: Some Findings from European Integration
Nr. 23
Peggy Kreller (1998), 54 Seiten Empirische Untersuchung zur Einkaufsstättenwahl von Konsumenten am Beispiel der Stadt Leipzig
32 Nr. 24
Niklas Darijtschuk (1998), 35 Seiten Dividendenpolitik
Nr. 25
Prof. Dr. Arnis Vilks (1999), 25 Seiten Knowledge of the Game, Relative Rationality, and Backwards Induction without Counterfactuals
Nr. 26
Prof. Dr. Harald Hungenberg / Torsten Wulf (1999), 22 Seiten The Transition Process in East Germany
Nr. 27
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer (2000), 28 Seiten Economic Value Added (EVA ) - Informationen aus der externen Rechnungslegung zur internen Unternehmenssteuerung? (überarb. Version Juli 2000)
Nr. 28
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Tim von der Decken (1999), 32 Seiten Kundenprofitabilitätsrechnung in Dienstleistungsgeschäften – Konzeption und Umsetzung am Beispiel des Car Rental Business
Nr. 29
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (1999), 21 Seiten Stochastische Verknüpfung und implizite bzw. maximal zulässige Risikozuschläge bei der Unternehmensbewertung
Nr. 30
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Heribert Meffert (1999), 36 Seiten Marketingwissenschaft im Wandel – Anmerkungen zur Paradigmendiskussion
Nr. 31
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Niklas Darijtschuk (1999), 20 Seiten Unternehmensbewertung, Finanzierungspolitiken und optimale Kapitalstruktur
Nr. 32
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer (1999), 24 Seiten Die Anwendung von Balanced Scorecards in Handelsunternehmen
Nr. 33
Dr. Claudia Löhnig (1999), 29 Seiten Wirtschaftliche Integration im Ostseeraum vor dem Hintergrund der Osterweiterung der Europäischen Union: eine Potentialanalyse
Nr. 34
dieses Arbeitspapier ist nicht mehr verfügbar
Nr. 35
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (2000), 31 Seiten Der Einfluss von Wachstum, Risiko und Risikoauflösung auf den Unternehmenswert
Nr. 36
Dr. Thomas Hutzschenreuter / Albrecht Enders (2000), 27 Seiten
33 Möglichkeiten zur Gestaltung Internet-basierter Studienangebote im Markt für Managementbildung Nr. 37
Dr. Peter Kesting (2000), 26 Seiten Lehren aus dem deutschen Konvergenzprozess – Eine Kritik des „Eisernen Gesetzes der Konvergenz“ und seines theoretischen Fundaments
Nr. 38
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Dr. Peggy Kreller (2000), 31 Seiten Etablierung von Marken im Regionenmarketing – eine vergleichende Analyse der Regionennamen "Mitteldeutschland" und "Ruhrgebiet" auf der Grundlage einer repräsentativen Studie
Nr. 39
Dr. Peter Kesting (2001), 23 Seiten Was sind Handlungsmöglichkeiten? – Fundierung eines ökonomischen Grundbegriffs
Nr. 40
Dr. Peter Kesting (2001), 29 Seiten Entscheidung und Handlung
Nr. 41
Prof. Dr. Hagen Lindstädt (2001), 27 Seiten Decisions of the Board
Nr. 42
Prof. Dr. Hagen Lindstädt (2001), 28 Seiten Die Versteigerung der deutschen UMTS-Lizenzen – Eine ökonomische Analyse des Bietverhaltens
Nr. 43
PD Dr. Thomas Hutzschenreuter / Dr. Torsten Wulf (2001), 23 Seiten Ansatzpunkte einer situativen Theorie der Unternehmensentwicklung
Nr. 44
Prof. Dr. Hagen Lindstädt (2001), 14 Seiten On the Shape of Information Processing Functions
Nr. 45
PD Dr. Thomas Hutzschenreuter (2001), 18 Seiten Managementkapazitäten und Unternehmensentwicklung
Nr. 46
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Althammer / Christian Rafflenbeul (2001), 42 Seiten Kommunale Beschäftigungspolitik: das Beispiel des Leipziger Betriebs für Beschäftigungsförderung
Nr. 47
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Dr. Petra Schmöller (2001), 32 Seiten Kunden-Controlling – Management Summary einer empirischen Untersuchung in der Elektroindustrie
Nr. 48
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Eva Grobe / Alexander Lorbeer (2003), (noch nicht erschienen) 56 Seiten
34 Einstellung von Talenten gegenüber Arbeitgebern und regionalen Standorten : eine Analyse auf der Grundlage einer Befragung von Talenten aus der Region Mitteldeutschland Nr. 49
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Alexander Lorbeer (2002), 60 Seiten Anforderungen von High Potentials an Unternehmen – eine Analyse auf der Grundlage einer bundesweiten Befragung von High Potentials und Personalentscheidern
Nr. 50
Eva Grobe (2003) 78, XXVI Seiten Corporate attractiveness : eine Analyse der Wahrnehmung von Unternehmensmarken aus der Sicht von High Potentials
Nr. 51
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Dr. Petra Schmöller / Dipl.-Kfm. Uwe Vielmeyer (2002) 35 Seiten Customer Options – Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Bewertung von kundenbezogenen Erfolgspotenzialen mit Realoptionen
Nr. 52
Prof. Dr. Thomas M. Fischer / Dipl.-Kfm. Uwe Vielmeyer (2002), 29 Seiten Vom Shareholder Value zum Stakeholder Value? – Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Messung von stakeholderbezogenen Wertbeiträgen
Nr. 53
Carsten Reimund (2002), 34 Seiten Internal Capital Markets, Bank Borrowing and Investment: Evidence from German Corporate Groups
Nr. 54
Dr. Peter Kesting (2002), 21 Seiten Ansätze zur Erklärung des Prozesses der Formulierung von Entscheidungsprozessen
Nr. 55
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Althammer / Susanne Dröge (2002), 27 Seiten International Trade and the Environment: The Real Conflicts. - PdfDokument
Nr. 56
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Maik Piehler (2002), 35 Seiten Unternehmensbewertung bei Wachstum, Risiko und Besteuerung – Anmerkungen zum „Steuerparadoxon“
Nr. 57
Prof. Dr. Hagen Lindstädt (2002), 12, 5 Seiten Das modifizierte Hurwicz-Kriterium für untere und obere Wahrscheinlichkeiten - ein Spezialfall des Choquet-Erwartungsnutzens
Nr. 58
Karsten Winkler (2003), 25 Seiten Getting Started with DIAsDEM Workbench 2.0: A Case-Based Tutorial
35 Nr. 59
Karsten Winkler (2003), 31 Seiten Wettbewerbsinformationssysteme: Begriff, Anforderungen, Herausforderungen
Nr. 60
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler / Carsten Reimund (2003), 31 Seiten Conglomerate Discount and Cash Distortion: New Evidence from Germany
Nr. 61
Prof. Pierfrancesco La Mura (2003), [10] Seiten Correlated Equilibria of Classical Strategic Games with Quantum Signals
Nr. 62
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg (2003), 26 Seiten Markenpolitik für Natur- und Umweltschutzorganisationen
Nr. 63
Stefan Wriggers (2004), 32, XXV Seiten Kritische Würdigung der Means-End-Theorie im Rahmen einer Anwendung auf M-Commerce-Dienste
Nr. 64
Prof. Pierfrancesco La Mura / Matthias Herfert (2004), 18 Seiten Estimation of Consumer Preferences via Ordinal Decision-Theoretic Entropy
Nr. 65
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schwetzler (2004), 31 Seiten Mittelverwendungsannahme, Bewertungsmodell und Unternehmenswertung bei Rückstellungen
Nr. 66
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Lars Fiedler (2004), 47 Seiten Clustermonitoring als Kontroll- und Steuerungsinstrument für Clusterentwicklungsprozesse - empirische Analysen von Industrieclustern in Ostdeutschland
Nr. 67
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Christiane Springer (2005), 39 , XX Seiten UNIPLAN LiveTrends 2004/2005 : Effizienz und Effektivität in der Live Communication ; Eine Analyse auf Grundlage einer branchenübergreifenden Befragung von Marketingentscheidern in Deutschland
Nr. 68
Prof. Pierfrancesco La Mura (2005), 11 Seiten Decision Theory in the Presence of Uncertainty and Risk
Nr. 69
Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek (2005), 25 Seiten Is Profit Maximization the Social Responsibility of Business? Milton Friedman and Business Ethics
Nr. 70
Prof. Dr. Ralf Reichwald / Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein (2005), 48 Seiten
36 Führung und Führungssysteme Nr. 71
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Christiane Springer (2006), VIII, 41, XI-XXVI Seiten UNIPLAN Live Trends 2006 : Steuerung des Kommunikationsmix im Kundenbeziehungszyklus ; eine branchenübergreifende Befragung von Marketingentscheidern unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Live Communication. – 2., erw. Aufl.
Nr. 72
Prof. Pierfrancesco La Mura / Guido Olschewski (2006), 8 Seiten Non-Dictatorial Social Choice through Delegation
Nr. 73
Prof. Dr. Arnis Vilks (2006), 13 Seiten Logic, Game Theory, and the Real World
Nr. 74
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Elmar Günther (2006), VIII, 61, XIII-XXVI Seiten Employer Brands zur Unternehmensprofilierung im Personalmarkt : Eine Analyse der Wahrnehmung von Unternehmensmarken auf der Grundlage einer deutschlandweiten Befragung von High Potentials
Nr. 75
Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein / Anne Sigismund Huff (2006), 43 Seiten Management education and research in Germany
Nr. 76
Prof. Dr. Andreas Suchanek (2007), 35 S. Corporate Responsibility in der pharmazeutischen Industrie
Nr. 77
Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco La Mura / Lukasz Swiatczak (2007), 7 S. Markovian Entanglement Networks
Nr. 78
Martina Wuttke Analyse der Markteintrittsstrategien chinesischer Unternehmen in Mitteldeutschland am Beispiel von chinesischen Unternehmen im MaxicoM in Leipzig (2007), 75 S.
Nr. 79
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Dr. Tjark Freundt Neurobiologische Erklärungsbeiträge zur Struktur und Dynamik des Markenwissens (erscheint demnächst)
Nr. 80
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kirchgeorg / Kathrin Jung User behavior in Second Life: An empirical study
