Avatar design in Metaverse: the effect of avatar-user similarity in procedural and creative tasks

Purpose Through the lens of self-perception theory, this paper investigates how avatar design (i.e. user similarity) affects users' self-awareness and shapes their task engagement performance in Metaverse. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a 2 (avatar similarity: high vs low) × (task type: procedural creative) lab experiment collected data from questionnaires, recording behavior during tasks actual performance. Findings results show that higher similarity leads to general. Furthermore, while similar promotes users regulate behaviors achieve better task, also inhibits creativity by invoking habitual thinking, resulting worse generating original ideas creative task. Originality/value This study is expected contribute information systems literature revealing value providing new perspectives on improving experiences