{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T13:35:23Z","timestamp":1767792923205,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Informatics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In social virtual reality (VR) and metaverse platforms, users express their identity through both avatar appearance and on-avatar textual cues, such as speech balloons. However, little is known about how the harmony between these cues influences self-representation and social impressions. We propose that when avatar appearance and text design, including color, font, and tone, are consistent, users experience a stronger self-expression fit and elicit greater interpersonal affinity. A within-subject study (N=21) in VRChat manipulated the social context, color harmony between avatar hair and text, and style or content consistency between tone and font. Questionnaires provided composite indices for perceived congruence, self-expression fit, and affinity. Analyses included repeated-measures ANOVA, linear mixed-effects models, and mediation tests. Results showed that congruent pairings increased both self-expression fit and affinity compared to mismatches, with mediation analyses indicating that self-expression fit fully mediated the effect. These findings integrate theories of avatar influence and computer-mediated communication into a framework for metaverse design, highlighting the value of consistent avatar and text styling.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/informatics13010005","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T09:34:12Z","timestamp":1767778452000},"page":"5","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Visual Harmony Between Avatar Appearance and On-Avatar Text: Effects on Self-Expression Fit and Interpersonal Perception in Social VR"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7239-1279","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yang","family":"Guang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1372-8784","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sho","family":"Sakurai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9439-575X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Takuya","family":"Nojima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4323-7812","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Koichi","family":"Hirota","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x","article-title":"The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior","volume":"33","author":"Yee","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hum. Commun. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1177\/009365096023001001","article-title":"Computer-Mediated Communication: Impersonal, Interpersonal, and Hyperpersonal","volume":"23","author":"Walther","year":"1996","journal-title":"Commun. Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108309","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2024.108309","article-title":"An Avatar\u2019s Worth in the Metaverse Workplace: Assessing Predictors of Avatar Customization Valuation","volume":"158","author":"Lim","year":"2024","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, J., and Juvrud, J. (2024). Gender Expression and Gender Identity in Virtual Reality: Avatars, Role-Adoption, and Social Interaction in VRChat. Front. Virtual Real., 5.","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2024.1305758"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"258","DOI":"10.1037\/h0055756","article-title":"Forming impressions of personality","volume":"41","author":"Asch","year":"1946","journal-title":"J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.11648\/j.ajap.20200906.15","article-title":"Fairy Tale Situation Test for Implicit Theories of Personality","volume":"9","author":"Cui","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. J. Appl. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-3445.136.1.154","article-title":"Color and Psychological Functioning: The Effect of Red on Performance Attainment","volume":"136","author":"Elliot","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00308.x","article-title":"The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction","volume":"11","author":"Nowak","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106446","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2020.106446","article-title":"My avatar and the affirmed self: Psychological and persuasive implications of avatar customization","volume":"112","author":"Kang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2608","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2021.3067783","article-title":"The influence of avatar representation on interpersonal communication in virtual social environments","volume":"27","author":"Aseeri","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fabri, M., Moore, D.J., and Hobbs, D.J. (2008). Designing avatars for social interactions. Animating Expressive Characters for Social Interaction, John Benjamins Publishing Company.","DOI":"10.1075\/aicr.74.15fab"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1007\/s00146-009-0214-5","article-title":"Avatar culture: Cross-cultural evaluations of avatar facial expressions","volume":"24","author":"Koda","year":"2009","journal-title":"AI Soc."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-010418-103145","article-title":"Nonverbal Communication","volume":"70","author":"Hall","year":"2019","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1227","DOI":"10.1007\/s00371-021-02151-0","article-title":"Aspects of visual avatar appearance: Self-representation, display type, and uncanny valley","volume":"38","author":"Hepperle","year":"2022","journal-title":"Vis. Comput."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1007\/s13347-023-00628-5","article-title":"Expressive Avatars: Vitality in Virtual Worlds","volume":"36","author":"Ekdahl","year":"2023","journal-title":"Philos. Technol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1177\/009365001028003004","article-title":"Impression formation in computer-mediated communication revisited: An analysis of the breadth and intensity of impressions","volume":"28","author":"Hancock","year":"2001","journal-title":"Commun. Res."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Shaikh, A.D., Chaparro, B.S., and Fox, D. (2006, January 16\u201320). Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3549","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2009.0138","article-title":"Place Illusion and Plausibility Can Lead to Realistic Behaviour in Immersive Virtual Environments","volume":"364","author":"Slater","year":"2009","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"JCMC324","article-title":"The Cyborg\u2019s Dilemma: Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments","volume":"3","author":"Biocca","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Meta (2026, January 04). Meta Platforms Inc.: Oculus Release Notes. Available online: https:\/\/developer.oculus.com\/."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1080\/02500167.2015.1093329","article-title":"On the possibility of authentic self-expression","volume":"41","author":"Tshivhase","year":"2015","journal-title":"Communicatio"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00410640","article-title":"Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt II","volume":"4","author":"Wertheimer","year":"1923","journal-title":"Psychol. Forsch."}],"container-title":["Informatics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9709\/13\/1\/5\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T09:52:43Z","timestamp":1767779563000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9709\/13\/1\/5"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["informatics13010005"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/informatics13010005","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-9709"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-9709","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]}}}