“They say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn’t ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel more uninhibited, express themselves more openly,” Dr Suler said.

This is called the disinhibition effect.

Some players may be benign in their in-world actions becoming more generous or revealing more about themselves, their wishes and concerns, than they would in real world social interaction.

Other players can show signs of toxic disinhibition reverting to abusive language, violence and harsh criticisms while in-world.

Michael Tresca's Masters thesis said a player’s in-world views are influenced by both a lack of non-verbal clues and visual appearance.

Players use typed dialogue to project an image of their physical self, their personality and thoughts. They rely on various words, capital letters, expletives, exclamation marks and avatar graphics to respond to electronic communication.

They use the three-dimensional avatars to add actions and physical responses to in-world stimuli.

Missing from these communications is the ability of one player to respond to another’s player’s body language, verbal pitches and stresses and other real world physical stimulus.

Mr Tresca said that they are also influenced by the “absence of social context clues”.

“…others exist only within the context of the computer medium, a user can shut the computer off and the entire virtual society ceases to influence that user,” Mr Tresca said in his Master’s Thesis.

Mr Tresca said players believe they are protected from physical and social repercussions of their in-world actions.

“Users may often perceive that they are anonymous when they are not, may find a deeply personal attachment to a label so that it becomes part of their own personality, or may be far less protected from repercussions than they perceive.”

Players can only see each other through the avatar. 

Dr Suler said the anonymity works wonders for the disinhibition effect.

“When people have the opportunity to separate their actions from their real world and identity, they feel less vulnerable about opening up,” Dr Suler said.

Mr Tresca’s research indicates that the more anonymous a player is, the more the player’s communication will contain disinhibitive indicators. 

The fluidity of a player’s identity is another element of disinhibition as players adopt a new persona with each interaction.

Companies marketing their products to in-world players are studying these on-line persona traits to attract new customers and test future real world products.

Harvard Business Review Magazine’s senior editor Paul Hemp said: “residents are highly involved with this place. And that makes it potentially a dream marketing venue. Instead of targeting passive eyeballs, marketers here have the opportunity to interact with engaged minds.

“Commerce is already an integral part of Second Life. Residents spend—in Linden dollars, the local currency, available at in-world ATMs.”

Mr Hemp estimates $US5 million a month is spent on resident-to-resident transactions for in-world products and services.

“Certainly, introducing real-world brands, in some form or another, is a logical next step,” Mr Hemp said.

That is exactly what has been happening in Second Life.

Australian telecommunications giant Telstra recently set up business in Second Life.

Telstra’s Bigpond managing director Justin Milne said: “Being in Second Life supports our brand but the real difference is that we are also a media company so we can sell our wares via Second Life.”

Telstra joins in-world a growing list of international companies including IBM, Dell, Toyota, Pontiac, Nissan, Calvin Klein, Domino’s Pizza, Reebok, Adidas, H&R Block, Reuters, BBC, Australian Broadcasting Commission and Sears who have set up islands in-world where avatars can visit to view and experience these company’s products and services.

Cross marketing is another new experience in-world. 

Telstra uses the Foster’s beer brand within one of its islands.

IBM uses one of its islands to market products for electronics retailer Circuit City. 

Avatars, using Circuit City products, move furniture around a virtual room to find the best placements and sizes for television sets and sound systems.

Circuit City hopes that residents will then go to one of its real world stores to make a purchase.

Mr Hemp said the avatar arguably represents a distinctly different 'shadow' consumer, one able to influence its creator's purchase of real-world products and conceivably make its own real-world purchases in the virtual world.

However, companies marketing in Second Life need to take into account the differences between virtual world and real world persona of a potential customer.

WebProNews’ contributor Joe Lewis said: “Second Life is about realising your fantasies and being something different that you are in real life.  Many avatars have a different gender than the subscriber or take animal forms.  However, most brands mimic their real life experiences and value proposition in Second Life.”

Dr Suler said an avatar in Second Life is less likely to accept the norm. They are more likely to be creative in their choices, reflecting their “benign” or “toxic” online persona.

The opportunity to change their wardrobe just as rapidly as they change the look of their avatar is a very attractive option to in-world players.

German marketing research company Komjuniti reports the successful brands in Second Life depend on achieving lasting engagement and well thought out content management in order to generate sustainable interest among avatars.

Komjuniti’s managing director, Dr Nils Andres, said: “Participants told how they would like to be able to interact more with the brands represented on the site. The very fact that their anonymity is guaranteed led the avatars to exhibit a previously unseen openness and to demand a more intensive exchange and involvement.”

It is not a given that a company with an international brand name and a new product offering interactive assessment can make the grade with this new type of consumer.

Residents not only create their own experience but also control it.  They want to keep it this way.

Some residents see in-world marketing as intervening in their fantasy world. 

The opportunity to escape into their Second Life world away from the commercial pressures of the real world is one of the major attractions of Second Life.

Marketers now need to move from tailoring real-world marketing to fit in-world, to creating in-world strategies to suit a different world – one that is unregulated, fluid, dynamic and interactive.