Navigating Avatar-Based Marketing From Value Aspects: A Systematic Literature Review and Forward-Looking Research Agenda

Abstract

Virtual avatar deployment has opened a new window for many industries in service personalization and customization, offering customers “anytime–anywhere” services. It becomes increasingly essential for marketing practitioners and scholars to clearly understand how avatar attributes and traits are reshaping customer value perceptions in the digital world. Despite the exponential growth of research interest within this area in the last decade, the literature on avatar attributes and consumer-perceived values remains fragmented and isolated. Given this circumstance, this review draws on the theory–context–characteristics–methods framework and explores the extant literature to provide a collective and comprehensive insight into dominant theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies in the context of avatar-based marketing (ABM). A systematic literature review was applied to rigorously review 57 published articles on avatars and ABM from 2005 to 2023. Using in-depth content analysis, the current review sheds light on the opportunity to extend the theoretical foundations for the ABM literature. It also identifies gaps in understanding avatar attributes and the associated consumer values, with potential implications for consumer behavior. Finally, it sums up a comprehensive future research agenda.