INFLUENCE OF STIMULUS FORMAT ON VIRTUAL CHARACTER PERCEPTION

The expansion of the implementation of virtual characters has led to their use both in the expected framework of video games and in additional areas of entertainment, marketing, banking, healthcare, and education. Content using virtual characters is available in various formats, including still images, gifs, and videos. As part of this research, an analysis of the impact of the stimulus format (pictures or videos) on the perception of likability, naturalness of appearance, and confidentiality of virtual characters was carried out. In the experimental part of the research, respondents were shown four virtual characters (two female and two male) in two formats: image and video. The respondents' task was to evaluate the likability, naturalness of appearance, and trustworthiness of each depicted character according to the Likert scale in the survey. In order to determine the influence of the stimulus format on the respondents' reactions regarding likability, naturalness of appearance, and character confidentiality, a paired samples T-test was conducted, as well as a post-hoc Wilcoxon rank test to determine the degree of variation of the results, and then a T-test of independent samples to determine the equality of the obtained results. It was determined that statistically significant differences occur with one character in the context of likability and trust and one character in the context of naturalness of appearance.