Abstract

Although experts sense a big future for virtual worlds (VWs) in the workplace scenario, their use in the business world is still in a nascent stage. A key challenge for organizations is to motivate users for utilizing VW for workplace related tasks. This research investigates the behavioral intention (BI) to use VW as a workplace ‘collaboration tool’. The model, grounded in literature on ‘motivations’ and ‘task success characteristics’, not only examines the direct effects of ‘utilitarian’ and ‘hedonic’ factors on VW usage intentions but also the moderating role of ‘familiarity’ and ‘control’. Results suggest a salient role of ‘utilitarian’ as compared to ‘hedonic’ factors and demonstrate the importance of considering the moderating effects of ‘familiarity’ and ‘control’ in determining the intention to use VW for collaborations. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.

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