Xiaojiang Zheng
PhD fellow at BI Norwegian Business School
I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication and Culture, BI Norwegian Business School. I am also affiliated with the Nordic Center for Internet and Society. My research focuses on immersive technologies (e.g., Virtual realities, Metaverse), distributed collaboration, and IT post-adoption in organizations. I hold a MSc in Social Data Science from the University of Copenhagen, and I was a research assistant at Copenhagen Business School from 2024 to 2025. My research project centers on avatar-mediated communication, with the core question: How can we use avatars to enable inclusive, meaningful, and productive virtual communication and collaboration?
Tell us about your project!
Avatar-mediated communication, commonly used in Metaverse technologies, virtual reality, and games, has been shown to enhance individuals' active participation, while also leading to unwanted effects, such as social loafing or intergroup hostility. I am particularly interested in the dual-edged nature of avatar-mediated communication, with the research questions: How can the use of avatars influence users’ self-identity expression and prosocial or antisocial (inter- and intra-group) behaviors? What are effective avatar designs that can amplify the benefits of avatar usage and mitigate the potential biases? My research intends to provide actionable strategies for platform developers, organizations, and individual users to better utilize avatars for inclusive, meaningful and productive virtual communication and collaboration.
“My research intends to provide actionable strategies for platform developers, organizations, and individual users to better utilize avatars for inclusive, meaningful and productive virtual communication and collaboration”
— Xiaojiang Zheng on his PhD project “Avatar-mediated communication and group-based behaviors”