Rapport Building via a Digital Avatar with a “Voice” Entering into a Customer’s Personal Space

In this paper, we attempt to extend the interpersonal skills of salespeople in a virtual store through operations unique to virtual environments (VEs) that are not possible in a real environment. Utilizing the superiority of visual information over auditory information, we created an interpersonal situation in which only the sound image of an avatar invades the user’s personal space (PS). We investigated the impressions that 16 participants had of this avatar. The results showed that when the sound image invaded the user’s PS and approached the user, rapport significantly increased (p<0.05) for the questionnaire item “I have a harmonious relationship with this salesperson,” while rapport significantly decreased (p<0.05) for the questionnaire item “I feel comfortable engaging with this salesperson.” These findings suggest that the manipulation of sound image position may allow the salesperson to manipulate the impression held by the customer and there is potential for improving the interpersonal skills of salespeople. The method proposed in this paper, in which the position of the visual and sound image diverge, is expected to improve rapport building and thereby the value cocreation of the interpersonal service in VEs, such as virtual stores, which have been increasing in recent years.