"How am I Doing?" - Personifying Health through Animated Characters

In this paper we present an experimental study that investigates the effects of a Virtual Representation of Health (VRH) – an online virtual character that personifies an individual’s health. Testing four different variations of the VRH, we aimed to understand which variation yields the strongest overall positive effect on triggering health behavior change. The results from data collected from 512 participants in three countries indicate that all tested variations can have a positive impact on health behavior change, and show that the ‘richest’ VRH variation, a virtual character that models health behavior using animations, juxtaposed by an animated personification of a possible future health, has the strongest overall positive effect, compared to the other tested variations.

[1]  C. Yoo,et al.  Assessing the Effects of Animation in Online Banner Advertising , 2004 .

[2]  S. Noar,et al.  Does tailoring matter? Meta-analytic review of tailored print health behavior change interventions. , 2007, Psychological bulletin.

[3]  Jeremy N. Bailenson,et al.  Virtual Experiences, Physical Behaviors: The Effect of Presence on Imitation of an Eating Avatar , 2009, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[4]  B. Rimer,et al.  Advancing Tailored Health Communication: A Persuasion and Message Effects Perspective , 2006 .

[5]  M. Fishbein,et al.  Understanding tailoring in communicating about health. , 2008, Health education research.

[6]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches , 1981 .

[7]  M. R. Fields.  HEALTH EDUCATION MONOGRAPHS , 1960 .

[8]  Hal E. Hershfield,et al.  Increasing Saving Behavior Through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self , 2011, JMR, Journal of marketing research.

[9]  I. Rosenstock.  Historical Origins of the Health Belief Model , 1974 .

[10]  V. S. Reed,et al.  Pictorial superiority effect. , 1976, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[11]  J. Bailenson,et al.  Self-Representations in Immersive Virtual Environments 1 , 2008 .

[12]  D. Wantland,et al.  The Effectiveness of Web-Based vs. Non-Web-Based Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of Behavioral Change Outcomes , 2004, Journal of medical Internet research.

[13]  J. Prochaska,et al.  A meta-analysis of computer-tailored interventions for health behavior change. , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[14]  B. J. Fogg,et al.  A behavior model for persuasive design , 2009, Persuasive '09.

[15]  A. Paivio.  Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach , 1986 .

[16]  S. Michie,et al.  Using the Internet to Promote Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Impact of Theoretical Basis, Use of Behavior Change Techniques, and Mode of Delivery on Efficacy , 2010, Journal of medical Internet research.

[17]  Samantha Murphy.  Your Avatar, Your Guide , 2011 .

[18]  L. G. Doak,et al.  The role of pictures in improving health communication: a review of research on attention, comprehension, recall, and adherence. , 2006, Patient education and counseling.

[19]  J Brug,et al.  Effectiveness of an online computer-tailored physical activity intervention in a real-life setting. , 2006, Health education research.

[20]  Juliann Cortese,et al.  Computer-tailored health interventions delivered over the Web: review and analysis of key components. , 2009, Patient education and counseling.