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Shopping in the digital world: Examining customer engagement through augmented reality mobile applications
Abstract
This paper furthers our understanding of customer brand engagement through augmented reality (AR) features on retailers' mobile applications. Due to the ubiquitous smartphone device, augmented reality has emerged as a new technology available to retailers to engage with customers. While AR in consumer markets is in its infancy, some innovative retailers have implemented AR technology within their mobile application. Through a web-based survey of 441 consumers, the research establishes the variables influencing brand engagement through retailers' mobile apps and the consequent outcomes of AR related brand engagement. The research introduces a new set of augmented reality attributes, namely, AR novelty, AR interactivity and AR vividness and establishes their influence on technology acceptance attributes of perceived ease of use, usefulness, enjoyment and subjective norms. Positive perceptions of the AR attributes and technology acceptance attributes positively influence brand engagement through the retailer's AR mobile application. The findings also indicate that AR enabled brand engagement results in increased satisfaction with the app experience and future brand usage intent. The research provides retailers important practical implications on the use of AR technology.
... Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as a transformative technology in e-commerce and digital marketing, offering immersive and interactive experiences that can significantly enhance consumer engagement and satisfaction (McLean and Wilson, 2019). AR applications allow consumers to visualize products in their environment, try on virtual items, and interact with 3D models, thereby bridging the gap between online and offline shopping experiences (Hoffmann and Mai, 2022). ...
... In the context of AR, interactivity enhances user engagement and satisfaction, leading to more favorable consumer attitudes (Park and Yoo,2020). Prior studies have demonstrated that interactive digital experiences significantly influence users' attitudes toward technology and products (McLean & Wilson, 2019). Therefore, we propose: H2: Interactivity positively influences Consumer Attitudes. ...
... Previous studies have shown that interactive digital experiences significantly influence users' attitudes toward technology and products (McLean & Wilson, 2019), corroborating this result. Given that most respondents are students and full-time workers who are likely accustomed to digital interactions, the importance of interactivity in shaping their attitudes towards AR in e-commerce is further emphasized. ...
In the rapidly evolving world of e-commerce, Augmented Reality (AR) stands out as a transformative force, shaping consumer behavior and decision-making. This study delves into the profound impact of AR on digital behavioral intentions, particularly focusing on how interactivity, mental image, and consumer attitudes intertwine to drive these intentions. By surveying 120 tech-savvy Gen Z consumers in Indonesia, who actively engage with AR features in e-commerce, we uncovered compelling insights into the dynamics at play. Our analysis, employing Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS), reveals that interactivity is not merely an enhancement but a catalyst, significantly influencing both mental imagery and consumer attitudes. Most strikingly, we find that consumer attitudes exert the strongest influence on digital behavioral intentions, highlighting their pivotal role in shaping purchase decisions and brand loyalty. This research underscores the urgency for businesses to elevate AR features—particularly interactivity and immersive experiences—if they wish to foster positive consumer perceptions and behaviors. The managerial takeaway is clear: invest in cutting-edge AR technologies and embed them into digital marketing strategies to not only captivate consumers but to also drive deeper engagement and satisfaction. While acknowledging limitations such as sample size and generalizability, this study lays the groundwork for future research to expand on these findings, exploring additional variables and diverse consumer segments. Keywords: Augmented Reality (AR); Digital Behavioral Intentions, Interactivity; Mental Image; Consumer Attitudes; E-commerce; Gen Z; Digital Marketing; Consumer Engagement
... Immersive marketing, which leverages advanced technologies to create engaging and interactive customer experiences, is becoming increasingly relevant in Indonesia's fast-growing e-commerce landscape [6]. In particular, AR technology plays a crucial role by enabling consumers to virtually try on clothes and makeup, offering a realistic and personalized shopping experience that addresses uncertainties often associated with online purchases [7,11,13]. This interactivity not only enhances customer satisfaction but also improves conversion rates and brand loyalty by reducing the risk of product returns and mismatched expectations [3,15]. ...
... High interactivity enhances the sense of control and engagement, providing an immersive and enjoyable experience [5,4]. Wilson [7] emphasizes that interactivity reduces purchase uncertainty by allowing users to actively manipulate AR tools. Thus: H1: Interactivity positively influences hedonic value. ...
... Hedonic value, derived from AR's entertaining and immersive qualities, is central to user satisfaction. Users who enjoy interacting with AR tools are more likely to report higher satisfaction [6,7]. This is supported by findings that show emotional engagement significantly improves user experiences in virtual shopping. ...
... The concept of augmented reality (AR) technology can be traced back to the 1960s, but its development has long been hindered by limitations in available devices [22]. AR is defined as the seamless integration of computer-generated virtual images into the physical real world, creating a unique hybrid experience [5]. ...
... The core advantage of augmented reality (AR) technology lies in its ability to seamlessly combine virtual and real elements, providing consumers with a highly personalized and interactive product experience [22], [24]. AR comprises several interconnected features that collectively form the core attributes of AR technology. ...
... AR comprises several interconnected features that collectively form the core attributes of AR technology. Scholars widely emphasize interactivity, vividness, and novelty as the key characteristics of AR [17], [19], [22], [23], [25]. Reference [25] empirically validated the impact of these AR application attributes on customer behavioral responses. ...
The application of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in online shopping is becoming increasingly widespread, drawing significant attention from the academic community. This study aims to systematically review the literature on AR in online shopping based on the PRISMA framework, with a total of 83 articles included in the review process. The study confirms that AR technology primarily enhances the user experience by improving product visualization, hedonic value, and decision confidence. The research also found that AR characteristics, functional factors, and hedonic factors are the main driving forces, while purchase intention and continuance usage intention are identified as key behavioral outcomes. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-OR) theory, and Flow theory were identified as the most commonly used theoretical frameworks. In conclusion, AR technology not only creates a pleasurable shopping experience for consumers but also brings unique business value to retailers. Therefore, future research is recommended to focus more on the long-term effects of AR usage, cross-cultural differences, and a more comprehensive explanation of AR consumer behavior by integrating multiple theoretical perspectives.
... Cheng et al., 2024;David et al., 2021;Poushneh & Vazquez-Parraga, 2017), technology performance (H. C. Kim & Hyun, 2016;McLean & Wilson, 2019;Y. Wang et al., 2019), positive consumer affection (Anand et al., 2023;Chiu et al., 2021;Haile & Kang, 2020;Watson et al., 2018;Zanger et al., 2022), perceived benefits (Ahmad et al., 2023;Barta et al., 2023;Chen et al., 2021;Erdmann et al., 2021;Gatter et al., 2021;H. ...
... Thus, experience quality, technology performance, positive consumer affection, and perceived benefits are among the reasons for the positive marketing effects of AR. Furthermore, the literature shows that technology characteristics (Huang et al., 2019;Jessen et al., 2020;Nugroho & Wang, 2023;Poushneh & Vazquez-Parraga, 2017), consumer motivation (Ahmad et al., 2023;Gatter et al., 2021;McLean & Wilson, 2019;Watson et al., 2018), consumer characteristics (Plotkina et al., 2022;Rumokoy & Frank, 2025;K. Y. Wang et al., 2023), and e-commerce knowledge (Rumokoy & Frank, 2025) moderate the marketing effectiveness of AR. ...
... Third, it examines the moderators of e-commerce experience and market digital competitiveness, whereas previous literature has examined other moderators (e.g. Ahmad et al., 2023;Gatter et al., 2021;Huang et al., 2019;Jessen et al., 2020;McLean & Wilson, 2019;Nugroho & Wang, 2023;Plotkina et al., 2022;Poushneh & Vazquez-Parraga, 2017;Trivedi et al., 2022;K. Y. Wang et al., 2023;Watson et al., 2018). ...
Since limited trust is a major barrier to consumer adoption of products and services, this research examines how augmented reality (AR) apps can be designed for different market segments to effectively increase consumer trust and thereby loyalty. Its originality lies in examining the behavioral impact of a previously unexplored set of AR app quality attributes, and in comparing this impact across previously unexplored dimensions of consumer markets. Using the statistical software packages SPSS and AMOS, this research analyzes data collected from 1661 consumers in China and Japan using random sampling. The results suggest that the AR app quality dimensions of interactivity, system quality, product informativeness, and reality congruence positively influence consumer trust in a firm's digital marketing content, which in turn drives consumer loyalty. The effect of product informativeness is stronger for consumers with more e-commerce experience. A comparison of consumer markets with higher (China) and lower (Japan) digital competitiveness suggests that market digital competitiveness amplifies the effect of system quality and attenuates the effect of reality congruence. These findings guide practitioners in the design of trust-building AR apps and expand marketing scholars' understanding of trust formation.
... The scales from the works of McLean and Wilson [27], as well as Barhorst et al. [7], were used to measure AR. These are based on the research by Yim et al. [28]. ...
... The shopping experience was measured using scales for satisfaction and purchase intention. The questions regarding satisfaction with the experience were also adapted from McLean and Wilson's [27] study. These in turn were derived from a previous study by McLean and Osei-Frimpong [31]. ...
... To underline the flow state, the focus should be on developing particularly immersive and appealing AR content [7]. Interactive functions, visually appealing representations and novel experiences [27] can achieve this by enabling users to fully immerse themselves in the application. To create a sustained state of flow, the AR application should align with the user's abilities while offering targeted challenges through varied features [57]. ...
... The questionnaire measures used in this research were derived from a review of existing literature and adapted to fit the specific research context (see Table 2 for details). The four items measuring visual vividness (VV) were adapted from Yim et al. [40], McLean et al. [111], and Hyo Jeong Kang et al. [112]. Items assessing interactive control (IC) were modified from the works of Huang et al. [113], Yu et al. [21], Voicu et al. [20], and Song et al. [13]. ...
... [40] VV2: This technology creates a virtual model whose body characteristics (such as circumference, leg shape, proportion, etc.) are very similar to the real image. [111] VV3: The visual display of the product presented by this technology is very clear. ...
Within the global wave of manufacturing intelligence, AI technologies are revolutionizing industrial frameworks through deep integration. As a resource-intensive sector, fashion has become a pivotal arena for assessing AI’s role in sustainable development. China, the world’s largest apparel producer, faces unique AI integration challenges, highlighting the intersection of innovation and sustainability. To further explore the impact of AI-powered try-on technology on the impulsive buying intentions of young Chinese consumers, this research utilizes a modified version of the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model. From the lens of online shopping, the research investigates how key features of AI-powered try-on technology, such as visual vividness, interactive control, personalized configuration, and ease of use, affect impulsive buying intentions. Additionally, the study examines the mediating roles of perceived utilitarian value, perceived hedonic value, and perceived immersion, alongside the moderating role of brand trust. A structured online survey was conducted with 366 participants, and the data were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) method. The findings reveal that the four core attributes of AI-powered try-on technology have a positive effect on impulsive buying intentions. Furthermore, the mediating roles of perceived utilitarian value, perceived hedonic value, and perceived immersion, along with the moderating influence of brand trust, were substantiated. In the realm of online apparel shopping, AI-powered try-on technology effectively stimulates impulsive buying behavior and drives online purchases. These results offer valuable theoretical insights for enhancing AI-powered try-on applications, while also providing strategic guidance for fashion brands and e-commerce platforms in developing AI-driven sustainable marketing approaches.
... Customer engagement in the marketing process can occur both directly through face-to-face interactions with producers and through online media such as social media (Chen et al., 2020). Customer engagement can also affect customer experiences (Al-Dmour et al., 2019;McLean & Wilson, 2019). Customer engagement can take the form of recommendations, customer interactions, blogging, writing reviews, and other beneficial activities for producers. ...
... Customer engagement, which involves consumers directly or indirectly in a retailer's marketing activities, also influences customer experiences (McLean & Wilson, 2019). These findings support previous studies that highlight the importance of interactive customer experiences in determining customer engagement (Bennett, 2013;Hayes & MacLeod, 2007;Shernoff & Vandell, 2007). ...
There was a phenomenon of an increase in number of e-commerce users, mobile applications, and other digital technologies, most consumers still prefer to shop in offline stores for various reasons. The biggest factor for consumers choosing to shop offline, with the largest percentage of 62%, is the desire to physically inspect the goods. Retailers should enhance in-store experiences by implementing responsive and innovative store attributes. This research aims the impact of store attributes on brand loyalty, with customer engagement as mediating variables. Using a quantitative, causal-descriptive analysis, data was collected from 280 qualified respondents through purposive sampling. The study employs Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis using Smart-PLS 3.0 software. Results indicate a positive and significant influence of merchandise, transaction convenience, loyalty program and customer engagement on brand loyalty. It also shows that customer experience and engagement mediate the relationship between store attributes and brand loyalty. The model explains 42% of the variance in Uniqlo's brand loyalty, which falls into the moderate category.
... The absolute transformation of new media technology and its growing consumer acceptance have accelerated the importance of comprehending the influence of mobile augmented reality (AR) applications on users' purchasing habits, even though prior research has offered a variety of insights about how effective AR Shopping apps are to consumers and relation about mobile AR apps and brand related responses (Han, Gupta, Jie, & Flor, 2020). The AR features will increase user engagement with mobile AR apps (Wang, 2020) and they will also positively impact brand engagement (Nikhashemi, Knight , Nusair , & Liat, 2021), brand valence, brand attachment (McLean & Wilson, 2019), and purchase inclinations (Loureiro, Guerreiro, & Ali, 2020) (Whang, Song, Choi, & Lee, 2021). ...
... Previous studies has focused on how the deployment of AR capabilities in apps affects consumer perception and brand attitude (Rauschnabel, Felix, & Hinsch, 2019), how augmented reality applications speed up consumer decision-making (Fan, Chai, Deng, & Dong, 2020), and the way several brands advertise AR (Feng & Mueller, 2019). Although there is relatively little study on customer behaviour, AR features, and qualities, (McLean & Wilson, 2019) advised to casually combine AR elements to shopping app interaction. The influence of AR qualities on brand engagement and online impulse purchase behaviour needs to be better understood through additional research. ...
... In a nutshell, psychological links are predictions that help to understand how technology affects consumers and how consumers interact with the technology. These correlates are formed from distinctive media traits or attributes [20]. ...
... Immersive experiences vary by individual and are created by a person's processing of sensory data from their surroundings [64]. Similarly, McLean and Wilson [20] asserted that telepresence can improve users' perceptions of realism and benefit users by fostering and strengthening a favorable attitude toward virtual worlds. Therefore, telepresence increases consumers' sense of immersion and realism, which will ultimately result in a positive attitude toward reuse and purchase in the metaverse. ...
The metaverse is swiftly flattering an important player in the e-commerce domain. It provides innumerable opportunities and indicates a revolutionary paradigm shift in e-commerce. Online businesses can now create virtual storefronts that enable immersive, lifelike product exploration within the metaverse, in contrast to traditional brick-and-mortar stores that cater to local customers. Current research offers a novel conceptual framework based on theories of interactive media effects and the stimulus–organism–response paradigm to understand consumer purchase intentions in the metaverse. Carefully gathered data from 342 survey participants were then examined using the analytical tools of structural equation modelling (SEM) and importance–performance map analysis (IPMA). The results of the study shed light on how much perceived augmentation and interaction affect consumers’ cognitive and emotive reactions, including feelings of realism, immersion, and telepresence. Remarkably, these reactions have a significant influence on how customers behave. The study’s distinctive worth is found in its creative recommendations, which can help tech firms and metaverse developers improve the purchasing experience in this dynamic digital environment.
... Two, key characteristics of AR technology is the user's capacity to manage how virtual and real environments merge visually. Three, crucial feature of AR is its ability to allow users to regulate the way virtual and physical worlds interact visually, setting it apart from other technologies (Lim & Ayyagari, 2018;McLean & Wilson, 2019). ...
This study explores how Augmented Reality (AR) features affect user experience and to what extent they contribute to users' purchase intention for cosmetic products on Shopee. As AR technology becomes increasingly integrated into online retail, key features such as personalization, interactivity, and detailed product information enhance user experience, which may increase consumer willingness to purchase. The aim of this study is to investigate whether using AR on Shopee can positively influence consumers' intention to buy. Employing a quantitative research approach, and the data collection tool use questionnaire by google form. In this study, the sample consist of 205 specifically gen-Z who have interacted with AR features. This study was conducted using SMARTPLS 4.1.0.8 software was used to analyze the data. This study found that the use of AR with information, personalization and interactivity features can improve user experience which explains that the higher the positive experience of AR users, the more it will affect the user's desire to buy cosmetic products.
... These results add to the expanding body of knowledge about the relevance of emoticons and their capacity to enhance the impact of online marketing. McLean and Wilson [66] found that emojis used in online marketing caused a favorable association with regard to customer engagement and purchase intention. Dmitrieva [19] reports that if the context of the campaign is acceptable, employing emojis in online marketing can create a more favorable effect, which can lead to higher purchase intention. ...
The incorporation of emojis in online marketing can result in positive attitudes toward businesses and brands and purchase intentions among Generation Z consumers. This study aims to integrate various other constructs with Technological Acceptance Model variables to assess emoji online marketing on websites. Additionally, this study will also explore the moderating effect of age on behavioral associations. A sample of 485 Generation Z customers was used to determine the effectiveness of using emojis for online marketing. The study used both a quantitative research strategy and a descriptive research design. A non-probability snowball sampling method was used to gather data from young South African respondents via a self-administered questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The findings of the research proved a number of favorable associations between customer engagement, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, involvement, trust, and purchase intention. Notably, older consumers within the Generation Z cohort demonstrated favorable behavioral attitude associations due to emoji online marketing on websites. The study contributes to the development of a comprehensive Technological Acceptance Model in the context of emoji online marketing. The findings are valuable as younger generations seek businesses and brands that possess a deep understanding of their needs to establish a meaningful engagement with them.
... For the usability of the KV-based MR system, three items related to the perceived usefulness of the concept map were adapted from Whitelock-Wainwright et al. [70], and four items on PU and four items on PEU were adapted from Venkatesh and Bala [97]. Regarding the participants' UX during experiments with the KV-based MR learning system, three items on SF were adapted from Ibiliet al. [98], three items on PE were adapted from McLean and Wilson [99], and three items on AT were adapted from Wu et al. [10]. The STEM continuance intention as the response to the usage of the KV-based MR learning system was evaluated using three items adapted from Huang et al. [100] and Wu et al. [10]. ...
Knowledge visualization has gained significant research attention for its potential to facilitate knowledge construction through interactive graphics while minimizing cognitive load during information processing. However, limited research has examined the integration of knowledge visualization within highly interactive mixed-reality environments and its effects on user experiences and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) sustainability. Drawing on the cognitive-affective model of immersive learning, this study investigates how learners’ user experiences, elicited by mixed-reality features and usability, influence their sustainable engagement with STEM learning through knowledge-visualization tools framed within the stimulus–organism–response model. A novel mixed-reality learning system was developed, with the user interface designed using concept maps to graphically visualize concept nodes and their interconnected relationships. A total of 136 learners from two high schools in China participated in an experiment on frictional physics using this novel system. Using structural equation modeling, the collected data were analyzed with partial least squares. The findings demonstrate that mixed-reality features of knowledge visualization (featured by 3D graphics, interface design, and operational functions), as well as usability (featured by the perceived usefulness of the concept map, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness of the system), have positive significant impacts on user experience (represented by satisfaction, perceived enjoyment, and attitude). Subsequently, positive user experiences have positive significant impacts on learners’ sustained intention to engage with STEM education. Further mediating analysis provides empirical evidence that positive user experiences, acting as a psychological enabler, mediate the relationship between system design and behavioral intention. The research model explains 65.2% of the variance for system usability, 53.4% for satisfaction, 51.5% for perceived enjoyment, 54.9% for attitude, and 63.2% for continuance intention. By fostering positive user experiences in STEM learning, this study offers valuable insights for educators and practitioners seeking to implement effective interactive knowledge visualizations to support sustainable STEM education and immersive learning.
... Pengalaman pelanggan yang menguntungkan, didefinisikan sebagai kepuasan dengan pertemuan keseluruhan (McLean & Wilson, 2019), secara langsung mempengaruhi kepuasan dan loyalitas pelanggan. Pengaruh ini dibudidayakan melalui serangkaian transaksi yang berhasil dengan pengecer elektronik, menyebabkan konsumen menunjukkan keengganan dalam beralih ke platform lain dan pada akhirnya menumbuhkan kepuasan dan loyalitas (Jaiswal & Singh, 2020). ...
The research method used is Quantitative research with a questionnaire study approach. This research was conducted on customer experience, Affection With Service, customer involvement, Repurchase Interest, and customer satisfaction at Pertamina COCO 41.573.01 Gas Station in Solo. The population in this study was Pertamina COCO 41.573.01 Gas Station in Solo, the research sample return technique was based on the principle of non-probability sampling. Data processing in this study used smartPLS SEM (Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling) Software. The results of this study are Affection With Service has an effect on repurchase intention, Customer satisfaction has an effect on customer involvement, Customer involvement has an effect on Affection With Service, Customer involvement has an effect on repurchase intention, Customer experience has an effect on Affection With Service, and Customer experience has no effect on customer involvement.
... For management, it also is proving valuable for internal company training. With regard to marketing in particular, AR positively affects consumer-perceived enjoyment (e.g., McLean and Wilson 2019; Nikhashemi et al. 2021;Yim et al. 2017), usefulness (e.g., Kowalczuk et al. 2021;McLean and Wilson 2019;Yim et al. 2017), and imagination (e.g., Barhorst et al. 2023;He et al. 2018;Park and Yoo 2020). However, considerations of its specific, strategic uses during brand communication to customers have not appeared in prior research. ...
Although some recent research presents various uses of augmented reality (AR) in brand contexts, no overarching model exists to explicate its effects, justify its usage, or specify how it contributes to brand management objectives, such as customer-based brand equity. To determine if AR actually can support brand equity, the current article adapts an existing customer-based brand equity pyramid into a three-stage framework of AR and AR features (cf. 2D communication tools) as brand experiences, consumers’ perceptions and evaluations of AR as mechanisms, and brand equity (salience, meaning, response, and relation) as consequences. A secondary data analysis of 398 effects, extracted from 74 journal papers, published between 2010 and 2024, reveals three key insights. For brand managers, the findings detail the direct effects of AR on brand equity. For marketing managers, they describe consumer behaviours in response to AR. For AR creators, they demonstrate ways to develop purposeful AR experiences. The newly proposed Holistic AR Brand Equity (HARBE) model details the direct effects of AR features and mechanisms on each type of brand equity, which also enables managers to make rapid, evidence-based decisions about leveraging AR to enhance brand strength.
... Augmented reality technology leads customers with happy interaction and satisfaction which increases customer engagement with products and brands (R. F. Howard et al., 2024) (McLean & Wilson, 2019. In addition, augmented reality technology helps customers to rearrange their way of expenses which increases customer engagement with products and services this will occur when augmented reality permits the customers to test products and services before they buy (Enyejo, Obani, Afolabi, Igba, & Ibokette, 2024). ...
This study examines the diverse applications and consequences of augmented reality (AR) on customer behavior in a range of businesses. AR improves surgical accuracy and medical training in the healthcare industry, and it makes virtual try-ons and interactive buying easier in the retail sector. Virtual property tours are beneficial to the real estate industry, and interactive information improves learning results in the classroom. AR is used in manufacturing for quality control and training, and in gaming and entertainment for immersive narrative. AR has a significant impact on customer behavior, influencing buying decisions and boosting engagement. Notwithstanding obstacles like privacy issues and technological limitations, augmented reality (AR) promises to continue evolving and finding new uses in the future, drastically altering how customers engage with goods and services.
... Utilitarian value involves helping consumers address the suit, fit and match dilemma. For example, McLean and Wilson (2019) and Qin et al. (2021) find that AR applications allow consumers to manipulate the technology to their needs by visualizing products, thus increasing its usefulness. Thus, it provides rich product information by letting consumers try virtual products in the real world, thus improving cognitive and affective responses products in the real world, (Kowalczuk et al., 2021). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of using augmented reality (AR) in the form of virtual try-on technology in consumers' purchase decision-making process.
Design/methodology/approach
The study, executed in a beauty industry context, uses the value-based adoption model (VAM). Data were collected by means of a survey carried out on 238 Tunisian women. Subjects performed an experimental task using the virtual try-on (VTO) application in the L’Oréal website. Web-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data, which was processed using an exploratory factor analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings shows that perceived value is positively related to purchase intentions and it was affected by both perceived benefits and perceived costs. In particular, perceived benefit (perceived usefulness) was found to have a strong positive effect on perceived value. Moreover, it turns out that perceived enjoyment does not have a significant effect on the perceived value. In terms of perceived costs, perceived intrusiveness was found to limit perceived value. The results also show a significant relationship between AR characteristics and perceived benefits. For personal traits, personal innovativeness is found positively influencing perceived usefulness, but it shows no significant effect on perceived enjoyment.
Practical implications
Companies should highlight the benefits for consumers (interactivity, informativeness and usefulness) and attempt to reduce the costs (intrusiveness) related to the use of VTO AR technology, which can play a substantial role in determining the perceived value and purchase intentions.
Originality/value
The existent literature, which examines the AR in e-tailing, shows weak acknowledgment of theories related to consumer barriers to AR adoption in e-tailing, they overlook the role of consumer psychology and individual differences in AR acceptance. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by enhancing the understanding of the roles that AR based VTO technology plays in determining consumers’ online purchase intentions by extending the application of perceived value theory and taking into account its characteristics and personal traits that play a role in weakening or strengthening the customer's benefits and cost perceptions.
... Various studies confirmed the positive relationship between VR/AR's perceived usefulness and app satisfaction (Foroughi et al., 2024;McLean & Wilson, 2019). However, the effect of VR/AR perceived usefulness on app satisfaction in the context of tourism apps is understudied. ...
Acknowledgments: This work is financed by national funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project UIDB/04647/2020 of CICS.NOVA-Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and U1/BD/152284/2021 of NIPE. 2 Attributes of virtual and augmented reality tourism mobile applications predicting tourist behavioral engagement Abstract The study aims to explore the attributes of VR/AR tourism mobile applications (apps) and their impact on Tourist Behavioral Engagement (TBE), mediated by app satisfaction. The authors employed a text mining and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach to analyze 6,998 Google Play VR/AR tourism mobile apps online reviews. A word frequency matrix (WFM) was generated and used as an input for PLS-SEM to test the raised hypotheses. The findings revealed that utilitarian gratification, perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and VR/AR immersion features (context awareness, presence, and telepresence) are key predictors of TBE, with app satisfaction playing a critical mediating role between these VR/AR attributions and TBE, emphasizing the vital role of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in driving sustained app engagement. The proposed framework advances theoretical literature on the TBE predictors and provides a guide for VR/AR tourism apps developers/designers to enable adoption, engagement, and proliferation among tourists.
... The available studies concentrated on a limited set of dependent variables mainly focusing on attitude towards AR (Fan et al., 2020;Holdack et al., 2022), satisfaction with the AR experience (McLean and Wilson, 2019;tom Dieck et al., 2023), and behavioural intention to use AR (Oyman et al., 2022;Rese et al., 2017) and not considering the complex interconnection of other psychological variables that may arise. ...
Virtual Try-On cosmetics apps based on Augmented Reality (AR) technology can improve both consumer product evaluation and purchase decisions, while also supporting companies’ marketing strategies. This study explores the factors influencing the use of AR-based cosmetics apps by administering the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and additional scales on a sample of 634 Italian consumers. Perceived Informativeness (PI) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) were hypothesized as predictors of TRUST, DOUBT, Makeup Involvement (MI), Perceived Diagnosticity (PD), and Behavioral Intention (BI), with Perceived Enjoyment (PE) acting as a mediating variable. The structural equation model (SEM) confirmed PI as a strong predictor, with PE serving as a key mediator. The findings suggest that a moderate level of PE and PEOU is ideal - excessive simplicity or playfulness increases DOUBT and decreases TRUST. Both PD and BI are positively affected by the AR experience, with their coexistence being crucial for effective app usage. Additionally, PI, mediated by PE, significantly influences BI, emphasizing the role of information in consumer decision-making. These results provide valuable insights for the cosmetics industry, offering guidance to refine user experiences and enhance consumer engagement and satisfaction.
... On the other hand, various specific user acceptance factors involving AR and mobile applications have been identified by previous researchers. Three variables related to AR suggested by [56] are interactivity, vividness and novelty of AR. Based on the features of the AR-based Malay language learning application that been developed and used in this study, four external variables have selected which are augmented reality [20,74], content quality [74,83], design quality [20,74] and interactivity [70,74,75]. ...
Although mobile applications have been widely used, there is limited research on the acceptance of mobile-based applications for language learning among foreign learners. Hence, we propose an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that analyzes the key aspects affecting the acceptance of the mobile application by foreign learners. The extended TAM includes external constructs such as augmented reality (AR), content quality, design quality, and interactivity to consider both system and individual levels. Eighty international students from various countries studying Malay were given a TAM questionnaire online. Results revealed positive effects, and notably, the external constructs of AR, content quality, and interactivity are prerequisite factors in extending the TAM. The findings revealed that interactivity is the most significant external construct of Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), followed by Perceived Usefulness (PU), which exhibits a significant contribution to the user’s attitude. Therefore, these results could guide how educator and higher education centers should approach the incorporation of these technologies in classrooms.
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of augmented reality (AR) on users' tour experience and psychological well-being in museums. The study utilizes the Information System (IS) Success Model and the Perceived Value Theory to investigate the relationships between AR quality, content quality, system quality, vividness, utilitarian value, hedonic value, tour experience, and psychological well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a quantitative research approach and surveys 286 visitors at the Wuhan Natural History Museum. The collected data is analyzed using PLS-SEM to test the proposed model.
Findings
The study finds that content quality, system quality, and vividness significantly influence utilitarian and hedonic value. Utilitarian and hedonic values mediate the relationship between AR quality and tour experience and psychological well-being, with hedonic value having a greater impact. Utilitarian value positively influences customers' hedonic value, while tour experience positively influences customers' psychological well-being.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature by applying the Information System Success Model and Perceived Value Theory to explore the impact of AR on users' tour experience and psychological well-being in museums. It provides empirical evidence supporting the importance of content quality and perceived value in promoting AR adoption and use. The findings add value to the field of augmented reality research and offer practical implications for AR service providers.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of hotel website quality, customer engagement, online hotel reviews and perceived credibility on hotel booking intentions. It emphasizes how these factors collectively influence consumers’ decision-making in digital hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
Out of 450 distributed questionnaires, 246 travelers who stayed at four-star hotels completed the survey. Smart-PLS 4.0 was used for data analysis.
Findings
The research found that website functionality and credible reviews boost consumer engagement and booking intentions. Hotels should develop secure, high-quality online platforms to enhance customer engagement and increase bookings.
Practical implications
The study offers valuable insights for hotel managers and marketers, emphasizing the importance of website functionality and security in driving consumer interest and boosting direct bookings in a competitive digital market.
Originality/value
This study addresses gaps in the literature by examining the links between website quality, customer engagement, online reviews and booking intentions. It provides strategic insights to enhance hotel brand reputation and booking experiences.
This study investigates the role of digital experience and electronic word of mouth (E-WOM) on purchase decisions and their implications for customer satisfaction among visitors to The Grand Taman Safari Indonesia, Prigen, Pasuruan. An explanatory quantitative approach was employed, with data collected from 99 respondents and analyzed using SmartPLS. The findings indicate that digital experience has a positive but insignificant effect on both purchase decisions and customer satisfaction. Similarly, E-WOM shows a positive but insignificant effect on customer satisfaction, while it significantly influences purchase decisions. Furthermore, purchase decisions have a significant and positive impact on customer satisfaction. Mediation analysis reveals that purchase decisions do not significantly mediate the relationship between digital experience and customer satisfaction, but they do significantly mediate the effect of E-WOM on customer satisfaction. These results highlight the importance of optimizing E-WOM strategies to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction in the tourism sector. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on digital marketing in tourism by emphasizing the mediating role of purchase decisions and providing practical insights for managing digital customer experiences.
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role of virtual tours in determining the Indian young consumers’ hotel booking intentions. The study’s framework is grounded in the stimulus organism response (SOR) theory and technology acceptance model (TAM).
Design/methodology/approach
The data collected through a survey generated 352 usable customer responses that were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).
Findings
Young consumers’ perceptions of the hedonic and utilitarian attributes of virtual tours (stimulus) shape their attitude (organism), which in turn influences their behavioural intentions of online hotel booking (response).
Originality/value
Integrating the SOR and TAM frameworks, the study empirically examines the key determinants of potential consumers’ behavioural intentions in the context of an emerging country.
This study aims to determine the effect of vividness and interactivity in AR technology on purchase intention, with consumer control as a mediating variable. This research focuses on Wardah consumers in Indonesia who use digital platforms to buy beauty products, especially those that use Augmented Reality (AR) features. This research tries to answer how AR features affect consumers' behavioral and cognitive controls and how they affect their purchasing decisions. This research uses a quantitative method with a casual design. Researchers collected data distributed to 385 respondents who had used the Augmented Reality (AR) feature online or through Wardah's official website and had an interest in buying Wardah products or had purchased Wardag products online, so respondents were selected through purposive sampling technique. To assess the relationship between the independent variable (Augmented Reality), the mediating variable (Consumers' Control) and the dependent variable (Purchase Intention) is done using a structural equation model (SEM) based on SmartPLS for data analysis. The results confirm that all constructs exhibit strong reliability and validity, with Outer Loading values exceeding 0.7 and Composite Reliability above 0.8. The R-Square (R²) value for Purchase Intention is 0.554, indicating that the model explains 55.4% of the variance in purchase intention. Furthermore, the Q-Square (Q²) value of 0.344 confirms strong predictive relevance. Path coefficient analysis shows that all relationships are positive and significant (P-value < 0.05), confirming that interactivity and vividness in AR enhance consumer control, media enjoyment, and purchase intention. Indirect effects further highlight that behavioral and cognitive control mediate the relationship between AR features and purchase intention, strengthening AR's role as a crucial digital marketing tool. These findings underscore that AR-driven marketing strategies can significantly improve shopping experiences and influence purchasing decisions for Wardah products.
This study aims to explore whether tourists perceive virtual reality (VR) technology as a valuable means of exploring tourist destinations without physically traveling, particularly through the use of museum VR panoramic technology. Using a conceptual model derived from the updated IS success model and expectancy theory, the study examines the impacts of technology quality and environmental attitudes on the intention to reuse VR technology. It investigates the relationship between tourists’ perceived value of using VR panoramic technology to virtually visit the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in China and their intention to continue using VR for tourism, thereby shedding light on the motivational processes involved in VR utilization. The model was empirically tested in a field experiment involving 320 participants, analyzed using Smart PLS.
The findings indicate that, from a technology quality perspective, while visual quality enhance perceived immersion and, consequently perceived value, information quality does not significantly impact perceived value, nor does system quality improve perceived immersion. Conversely, from an environmental attitude perspective, efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of tourism significantly influences perceived value, which positively affects sustainability, low-effort pro-environmental behaviors, and willingness to sacrifice. In turn these pro-environmental behaviors and willingness to sacrifice positively impact sustainability, thereby increasing the intention to reuse VR technology. This study highlights the motivational mechanisms linking technological quality and environmental attitudes to intentions to reuse VR technology. It also affirms the potential of VR as a tool to mitigate the adverse effects of physical tourism and promote environmental sustainability.
Purpose
Extended reality (XR), including augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), has been studied primarily for its technical attributes and direct business impacts, such as sales and customer engagement. However, the broader implications of XR on the socioeconomic and environmental aspects of operations and supply chains remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate how XR can improve economic, social and environmental business practices and operational efficiency and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of XR in transforming management landscapes.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on a grounded theory approach, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with industry experts. Three-order coding was used for the data analysis.
Findings
The results showed that XR can be a useful instrument to achieve supply chain sustainability, which includes economic, social and ecological aspects. The identified aspects are social (employed employees, cooperation and communication), economic (cost reduction and risk management) and environmental (resource efficiency and CO 2 footprint reduction) in order to uncover the effects of XR.
Practical implications
By developing a theoretical framework for XR-based sustainable supply chain management, this study adds significantly to XR, sustainability and supply chain literature. Practically, this study provides valuable insights to developers and managers in bringing more sustainability to the supply chain process.
Originality/value
This study introduced a novel theoretical framework for XR-based sustainable supply chain management.
This research aims to optimize the role of augmented reality through interactivity and vividness, increasing brand image and motivating consumer purchase intention. We use Structural Equation Modeling—Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to collect data by distributing online questionnaires to 130 respondents, using purposive sampling based on age classification from katadata.id findings. The study found that vividness influences purchase intention and a positive effect on brand image, while buying intention has an influence on the brand image. The novelty of this research lies in its use of augmented reality technology to explore its influence on brand image, with a special emphasis on deeper visual interactivity. This research highlights the importance of interactivity and vividness in understanding their influence on consumer perceptions of brands. The implications of this research bring an approach that focuses on the interactivity and clarity of augmented reality while bringing a breakthrough in methods for analyzing its impact on brand image. These innovations are expected to help e-commerce companies maximize conversion potential through a deeper understanding of consumer purchasing decisions in the era of selective consumers and provide a significant contribution to designing more targeted marketing strategies.
Brick‐and‐mortar stores in the e‐commerce era with declining revenues emphasize augmented reality (AR) to foster brand loyalty. This study examines how AR technological and cultural factors impact experiential values (EV) (playfulness and aesthetics), which subsequently influence brand loyalty in the UK and UAE, mediated by satisfaction. Whereas AR psychological engagement moderates the satisfaction‐brand‐loyalty link. Using the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) theory, data were collected via questionnaires from 500 women, with an 84% response rate. Analysis reveals AR technological and cultural factors significantly impact EVs. Meanwhile, satisfaction mediates the relationship between EV and brand loyalty. However, the magnitude of these effects differs between the UK and UAE. AR's psychological engagement as a moderator is insignificant. The study offers unique insights by framing cultural factors as contextual stimuli within the SOR framework, enriching AR research by shaping EV. The study contributes novelty by examining the impact of EV on brand loyalty via satisfaction in the beauty industry with innovative technology AR magic mirror in the UK. Additionally, pioneering AR research in the underrepresented UAE beauty industry. The study offers substantive insights for researchers and practitioners alike, recommending culturally adaptive AR solutions, personalized and playful features, and sleek interfaces for the UK and UAE markets, respectively.
With the growing integration of digital innovations in retail, a critical challenge persists: how can augmented reality (AR) applications be utilized to entice the intended target markets to engage and remain loyal? To this end, this study aims to bridge this gap by analyzing the effects of AR-based apps on consumers' brand loyalty in the beauty goods sector with specific reference to the UK and the UAE. Using the S-O-R framework as the theoretical framework of the research, the study examines the influence of experiential values such as playfulness and aesthetics in brand loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction. The results from a questionnaire completed by 550 female AR Mobile App users were examined by testing nine hypotheses. Emphasizing the research findings, it can be further determined that while evaluating the experiential value, there appears to be a significant emphasis on brand loyalty. However, aesthetic value has had minimal influence on consumers within the UAE. Also, AR psychological engagement could have been higher and interacted with satisfaction and brand loyalty in the two regions. Thus, this research extends the understanding of AR research by examining the implications for consumer behavior in the region and providing practical recommendations for managers who want to use AR apps to improve brand loyalty.
Achieving mobile shopping app engagement is challenging and far more difficult to sustain in a fiercely competitive online business landscape. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship among virtual try-on, recommendation agent, choice process satisfaction, monetary savings, customer engagement, app evangelism and cart abandonment using stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory in the context of shopping apps. A partial least squares-based structural equation modelling approach was utilized to evaluate the presented hypotheses with a sample of 482 respondents who utilized mobile applications for shopping. A multigroup study was conducted on subgroups categorized by gender, income and education. The findings indicate that monetary savings, recommendation agents, choice process satisfaction and virtual try-on positively impact shopping app engagement in a given order, which in turn impacts app evangelism and cart abandonment. A multi-group investigation indicates that the factors influencing shopping app engagement vary among different customer segments. The research provides a novel framework for the drivers and outcomes to contribute to a deeper understanding of mobile shopping app engagement. This study offers practical and theoretical implications for marketers and scholars studying shopping app engagement based on its findings.
The aim of the present study is to provide understanding on factors determining virtual try-on experience and the purchase experience itself, often explored as separate entities in earlier work. Based on profound literature review, we developed a survey tool to address the key drivers of experience evaluation when consumers use virtual try-on to select a product.
Results are clear in showing that functionality, realism and ease of use are core determinants of satisfaction with the augmented reality application experienced by consumers. Satisfaction reflected the purchase experience itself, elevating the likelihood of buying a product. Utilitarian and hedonic values further shaped the purchase experience and brand retention. Current outcomes are summarised in a holistic framework encompassing usability as well as shoppability aspects.
Consumers are influenced by a myriad of factors in their choices of brands which can be categorised differently. The impact of psychological and personal influences which comprise of factors like perception, motivation, learning and memory, and attitudes on brand consumption is considerable. This chapter features a meticulous discussion of these issues and their implications on brand consumption and branding strategies. These are underpinned by themes such as brand positioning/repositioning, the extended realities, webrooming, and showrooming and how they explain consumer day-to-day brand decisions. The understanding of consumer learning and memory are usually linked to brand awareness, brand association, brand recognition, brand recall, brand relearning and brand associative networks. These are carefully examined in this chapter. Moreover, the issues around the underpinning factors that motivate consumer brand choices, their attitude formation and change for brands are also examined with a robust discussion of their implication for strategic brand management.
This paper explores AR as a tool in the fashion and retail industry to generate a sustainable and appealing future for the consumer. To understand the influence of AR in the decision-making of potential buyers. The ethical consideration in using AR as a technology in creating sustainable practices among consumers in the digital and retail industry. The research explores the advantages and challenges of AR in the fashion industry Furthermore, the future of AR in the fashion and retail sector is emerging as a sustainable environment for the future generation.
Purpose
With technological progress, retail companies must understand how to make virtual channels and environments more interactive to enhance user engagement. In this study, we apply the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) paradigm and the Customer Engagement Theory to investigate the impact of various types of customer engagement on the connection amid interactivity and continuous metaverse-empowered marketing channel usage.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM on data collected via a representative sampling approach from 300 respondents on prolific online (the UK was fed as the country with the sample representing people with AR/VR gear).
Findings
It has been found that cognitive, emotional and social engagement positively and significantly mediates the relation between the variables studied. Personalization had a significantly negative moderating influence on the association between cognitive engagement and continuous use.
Originality/value
Besides extending existing research in the area of metaverse-empowered channels, the study’s findings provide important guidelines for retail companies to enhance customer engagement in virtual environments effectively.
Despite the growing prominence of augmented reality (AR) in marketing, there is still limited understanding of how AR affects brand-related outcomes. By integrating telepresence theory and basic marketing theory, this study explores the impact of AR perceptual interactivity on consumer engagement, the mediating role of Immersion, and the subsequent impact on brand loyalty and usage intention. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data of 403 Chinese consumers, and finally, 404 valid questionnaire results were included. The results show that interactivity positively affects Immersion and Engagement, and engagement subsequently drives brand loyalty and willingness to use a brand. This study provides empirical support for the interaction-immersion-behavior mechanism, providing new insights into how AR shapes the relationship between consumers and brands. These findings help deepen our understanding of the theoretical connections between AR, consumer behavior, and brand marketing while providing practical implications for marketers leveraging AR technology. The research contributes to the growing body of literature on AR in marketing by offering a comprehensive framework that bridges theoretical and practical applications, ultimately guiding brands in creating more effective AR-driven marketing strategies.
This study investigates how online brand interactivity fosters customer value co-creation, a collaborative process in which consumers actively contribute to co-creating value, by enhancing brand experiences at both individual and community levels. Specifically, the study compares the influence of online brand interactivity on customer value co-creation for two types of hedonic products: search-hedonic (Polygon) and experience-hedonic (Vespa) products in Indonesia. Employing a quantitative methodology, data were gathered from 836 active social media participants engaged in these brand communities through a structured online survey. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the relationships between online brand interactivity, individual and community brand experiences, and customer value co-creation.The findings reveal that online brand interactivity significantly enhances both individual and community brand experiences (β = 0.523 and β = 0.599, respectively), which, in turn, drive customer value co-creation (β = 0.147 and β = 0.446). Furthermore, the results indicate that the impact of online brand interactivity is stronger for search-hedonic products compared to experience-hedonic products. This suggests that product type moderates the effect of interactivity on brand experiences and, consequently, on customer value co-creation. These insights underscore the importance of customizing brand interactivity strategies according to product characteristics to optimize customer value co-creation, particularly within the hedonic product market.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on customer loyalty in the luxury fashion market. It explores how AI-driven tools influence customer trust, satisfaction, commitment and engagement, which in turn affect loyalty. By examining these relationships, the study provides insights into the acceptance and effectiveness of AI technologies in enhancing customer loyalty within the luxury fashion sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse data collected from 406 luxury consumers in Iran. The data was gathered using a targeted sampling procedure, leveraging DigiKala’s e-commerce platform. A comprehensive literature review informed the measurement items, and a seven-point Likert scale was used. The methodology includes confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the reliability and validity of the constructs, followed by hypothesis testing through SEM.
Findings
The study reveals that AI significantly enhances customer loyalty in the luxury fashion market by positively influencing trust, satisfaction, commitment and engagement. Satisfaction and engagement were found to be key mediators between AI and loyalty, while trust had no direct impact on loyalty. The results underscore the importance of AI-driven personalized experiences in fostering stronger customer relationships and loyalty.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to explore the impact of AI on customer loyalty in the luxury fashion market, using a comprehensive model that includes trust, satisfaction, commitment and engagement as mediators. It extends the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) and technology acceptance model (TAM) frameworks, offering valuable insights for luxury brands on how AI can be leveraged to enhance customer relationships and loyalty.
The rapid development of augmented reality (AR) is reshaping retail frontline operations by enhancing the offline and online customer experience. Drawing on mental imagery theory, this paper develops a conceptual framework to reflect how AR emulates customer’s cognitive processes offloading those to the technology. Consequently, the AR-enabled frontline improves decision comfort, motivates positive WOM and facilitates choice of higher value products. The underlying mechanism is a sequential mediation via improved processing fluency and decision comfort. The findings also demonstrate boundary conditions of customers’ visual processing styles and product contextuality. Object-visualisers benefit more from AR induced imagery processes, and the effect of processing fluency on customer decision comfort is moderated by product contextuality. The results are verified with repeat studies to control for novelty of AR, and a field study that highlights the impact of AR on customers’ choice and spending. We discuss implications for theory and practice of AR-enabled frontline retailing
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ZJ15_WfWW02a
If service quality relates to retention of customers at the aggregate level, as other research has indicated, then evidence of its impact on customers’ behavioral responses should be detectable. The authors offer a conceptual model of the impact of service quality on particular behaviors that signal whether customers remain with or defect from a company. Results from a multicompany empirical study examining relationships from the model concerning customers’ behavioral intentions show strong evidence of their being influenced by service quality. The findings also reveal differences in the nature of the quality-intentions link across different dimensions of behavioral intentions. The authors’ discussion centers on ways the results and research approach of their study can be helpful to researchers and managers.
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to broaden extant understanding of actor engagement behavior beyond its currently dominant dyadic (micro-level) focus, by examining it from multiple levels of aggregation within a service ecosystem framework.
Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper draws on service-dominant logic and structuration theory as theoretical lenses to inform engagement research.
Findings: By means of a stepwise exercise of ‘zooming out,’ the paper introduces a multi-perspective (micro-, meso-, macro- and meta-level) view of actor engagement that develops understanding of multiple engagement contexts, and suggests that balancing multiple roles may result in actor disengagement behavior. The role of reference groups and role conflict associated with balancing multiple roles is critical to understanding why engaged actor proclivities may wax and wane between contexts.
Research limitations/implications: The paper offers a set of five propositions that can be utilized by engagement scholars undertaking further research in this area.
Practical implications: Firms need to understand the values and norms embedded in diverse engagement contexts which can affect actor groups’ needs and motivations. Firms should develop appropriate organizational mechanisms to facilitate (rather than impede or obstruct) the desired behaviors of engaged actors.
Originality/value: The broader context within which engaged actors operate, and its effects on engagement, has been largely overlooked to date. By broadening the analytical perspective on engagement beyond the dyadic this paper reveals previously unaddressed aspects of this phenomenon, such as the role of disengagement behavior, and the effects of multiple engagement contexts on actors’ future behaviors.
Keywords: Actor engagement, customer engagement, roles, service ecosystems, service-dominant logic, structuration
The increasing use of social media has changed how firms engage their brands with consumers in recent times. This triggered a need for this research to further our understanding of the influence of social presence on social brand engagement (SBE) and the moderating effects of firm-generated content and consumer commitment. Employing a quantitative survey design, 738 consumers with prior experience in following or engaging with brands on social media were randomly interviewed using an online questionnaire. While social presence positively influence social brand engagement, this relationship is significantly moderated by firm-generated content and the consumers' level of commitment in engaging with the brand. The findings also indicate that SBE encourages consumers to increase their intention to use the brand as well as engage in electronic word of mouth. Further, this study provides insights into the potential role of SBE and social presence in advancing the broader understanding of brand relationship management, brand engagement and social media research. Our conceptualisation of SBE suggests a need for managers to adopt creative strategies that will arouse consumers' interest and attention to participate in such interactions
This paper furthers our understanding of online customer support with regard to online live chat systems. Online live chat systems allow customers to seek service related information from an organisation via online-based synchronous media with a human service representative who provides answers through such media. With use of a web-based survey involving 302 respondents of real-life live chat service experiences with mobile phone network providers in the UK and through the use of structural equation modelling, the aim of this research is to understand the variables capable of influencing a customer’s satisfaction with their experience during an online live chat service encounter. The results indicate the importance of service quality, information quality and system quality variables influencing satisfaction with the experience, while such influence is dependent on the purpose of use. Additionally, the results outline the role of emoticons, presence of service reps picture, automated ‘canned’ responses and the presence of response time estimations in moderating the influence of service quality, information quality and system quality variables on satisfaction with the experience
This study evaluates the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR) as an e-commerce tool using two products—sunglasses and watches. Study 1 explores the effectiveness of AR by comparing it to a conventional website. The results show that AR provides effective communication benefits by generating greater novelty, immersion, enjoyment, and usefulness, resulting in positive attitudes toward medium and purchase intention, compared to the web-based product presentations. Study 2 compares the paths by which consumers evaluate products through AR versus web with a focus on interactivity and vividness. It is revealed that immersion mediates the relationship between interactivity/vividness and two outcome variables — usefulness and enjoyment in the AR condition compared to the web condition where no significant paths between interactivity and immersion and between previous media experience and media novelty are found. Participants' subjective opinions about AR are examined through opinion mining to better understand consumer responses to AR.
In today’s connected world, customer engagement behaviors are very important. Many companies launch initiatives to stimulate customer engagement. However, despite evidence that customer engagement behavior also matters to shareholders, academic research on the firm value consequences of customer engagement campaigns is limited. This study is the first to investigate the value-related consequences of firm-initiated customer engagement behaviors, using shareholder evaluations of the public announcements of such initiatives. We find that companies’ customer engagement initiatives, on average, decrease market value, which is likely because the shareholders are sensitive to the risk of these initiatives backfiring. Nevertheless, initiatives that stimulate word-of-mouth are viewed less negatively than initiatives that solicit customer feedback, as are initiatives that are supported by social media. Companies that operate in a competitive environment or do not advertise much can create value by stimulating customer engagement, while companies with a strong corporate reputation are likely to not benefit from it.
The use of imagination is a dominant strategy for consumers to form evaluations in the e-commerce environments. Online Product Presentation Videos (OPPVs) are vivid information that can facilitate consumers this task. Following the imagery fluency approach, we analyze the impact of OPPVs on consumers’ quality of product-related thoughts, ease of imagining, and responses toward the product. A series of studies combining experimental- and survey-based procedures shows that the presence and type of OPPV improves consumers’ cognitive responses and facilitates imagination about the product, which becomes a strong determinant of attitude and purchase intention. We also control for the OPPV’s trustworthiness to isolate the effects of the content characteristics of video. Moreover, we consider the moderating role of the consumer’s motivation to process information. The results demonstrate that high and low motivated consumers use their imagination differently. In addition, when OPPVs are featured by the brand, ease of imagining does not relate to purchase intention.
Customer engagement marketing—defined as a firm’s deliberate effort to motivate, empower, and measure customer contributions to marketing functions—marks a shift in marketing research and business practice. After defining and differentiating engagement marketing, the authors present a typology of its two primary forms and offer tenets that link specific strategic elements to customer outcomes and thereby firm performance, theorizing that the effectiveness of engagement marketing arises from the establishment of psychological ownership and self-transformation. The authors provide evidence in support of the derived tenets through case illustrations, as well as a quasi-experimental field test of the central tenet of engagement marketing.
Research addressing the micro-foundational theoretical entity of customer engagement (CE) has proliferated in recent years. In parallel, the macro-foundational theory of service-dominant (S-D) logic is thriving. While the fit of CE/S-D logic has been recognized, insight into this theoretical interface remains tenuous, as explored in this paper. We develop an integrative, S-D logic–informed framework of CE comprising three CE foundational processes, which are required (for customer resource integration), or conducive (for customer knowledge sharing/learning) CE antecedents. While customer resource integration, in some form, extends to coincide with CE, customer knowledge sharing/learning can also do so. We also identify three CE benefits (customer individual/interpersonal operant resource development, cocreation) as CE consequences, which can also coincide with CE. Deploying the framework, we revise Brodie et al.’s (Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 252–271, 2011) fundamental propositions of CE and apply these to customer relationship management. We conclude with theoretical and managerial implications, followed by future research avenues.
The proliferation of social media platforms and corresponding consumer adoption in recent years has precipitated a paradigm shift, significantly altering the ways customers engage with brands. Organisations recognise the social and network value of engagement within social media, and practitioners are endeavouring to build engagement through their social media content. However, theoretically based academic guidance concerning marketing practice and engagement in new media social networks is limited. This article provides a theoretical model to explicate the role of social media content in facilitating engagement behaviour within a social media context. Based on uses and gratifications theory, it provides a model for how an organisation can stimulate positively valenced engagement behaviour through social media and dissuade negatively valenced engagement behaviour in this forum. A typology of social media engagement behaviour is proposed and a series of hypotheses exploring the relationships between social media content and engagement behaviour are presented.
Purpose
– The emergence and success of online brand communities in the marketplace have attracted considerable interest; this study seeks to determine the conditions in which people create social environments by investigating the drivers of connections to a focal online brand community and other brand communities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the composition of multi-community networks, focussing on the density and centrality of brand communities.
Design/methodology/approach
– On the basis of insights from prior literature, the proposed model examines customers’ social relationships with multiple brand communities. A survey of 290 participants spans eight brand communities. The modeling process used structural equation modeling; the analysis of the social relationship among brand communities relied on an ego network approach.
Findings
– Two drivers prompt connections to other online brand communities. First, personal identification with a core brand community enhances connections to other communities. Second, some core brand members choose a functionality-driven approach in creating social environments.
Practical implications
– For marketers, this study highlights the importance of positioning the brand community as part of a social environment. To strengthen customer-brand relationships, marketers should focus on community members’ multiple memberships.
Originality/value
– This paper extends understanding of online brand community members’ motivations to participate in a focal brand community. It also explains the creation of a social environment, through a careful consideration of participation in different brand communities and their relationships.
Innovative marketers can now leverage augmented reality to craft immersive brand experiences, create more interactive advertising, and enable consumers to experience products and spaces in novel ways. Augmented reality (AR) is the practice of displaying digital information over people’s real-time view of objects, people, or spaces in the physical world. While AR can play a valuable role in integrated marketing programs, little is known about the practice and how to execute effective AR programs in the marketplace. We address this gap and discuss a framework that describes the active and passive ingredients of augmented reality. We describe the basic design decisions that marketers need to make when planning an augmented reality campaign. We also explain how understanding and addressing the dynamics between various active and passive AR ingredients can help marketers to optimize their AR campaigns and enhance various types of consumer engagement: user-brand engagement, user-user engagement, and user-bystander engagement. Through our framework and analysis, we develop eight actionable recommendations for marketing managers. We advise marketers to follow the ENTANGLE acronym to design immersive AR experiences that maximize consumer engagement.
Many characteristics of a product are evaluated during the development phase, such as function, aesthetics and manufacturing. The conception phase is supported by drawings and computer graphics, followed by physical prototypes that help evaluating the product features. The augmented reality technology has a great potential to assist the designers in this phase, reducing the development process time and costs and improving the quality of the evaluation. This paper presents a study that intends to investigate the suitability of using augmented reality to evaluate the usability of electronic products.
Augmented reality (AR) is being developed as a part of smart tourism to provide information about destinations and attractions. Its usage will maximize tourist satisfaction, based on tourists’ active usage. Three aspects have been found to be factors encouraging tourists to actively utilize AR. The first aspect is technology readiness (TR) meaning that a tourist has an overall state of mind such that they are ready to use a technology. The second aspect is the visual factor of AR. The third aspect is the situational factor. Thus, this study conceptualizes these crucial factors of AR usage as well as how these influence visitors’ AR usage intention and destination visit intention through their beliefs and AR attitude. We collected sample from 145 people using an AR application in Deoksugung Palace, South Korea. This study analyzed hypotheses with structural equation model. The result shows that TR was a predictor of perceived usefulness. In addition, visual appeal and facilitating conditions affected perceived ease of use. Perceived ease of use affected perceived usefulness. Finally, perceived usefulness and ease of use affected intention to use AR and to visit a destination via AR attitude. This study presented theoretical and practical implications.
In the contemporary landscape, human interaction is characterized by the pervasive mediation of intelligent agents. Owing to advances in computer science and engineering, phenomena once limited to fixed locations are metamorphosing from extraneous entities to implicit components of the everyday. Computing power has simultaneously enhanced and miniaturized to the extent that contemporary consumer devices demonstrate power equivalent to or greater than that of personal computers of recent memory. At the same time, network connectivity has proliferated to ubiquitous levels, reflected in the fact that the amount of inanimate objects connected to the Internet has recently surpassed the human population of earth. Digitally mediated experiences are thus no longer the province of fixed-line terminals; rather than projecting a virtual avatar of oneself into a synthetic environment, elements of that environment are extricated and placed into the physical domain. In this landscape, the concept of augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a way to visualize the pervasive virtual information woven into the physical environment. However, research on the phenomenon has largely remained technical in nature; the collective body of work which seeks to understand its role in society has remained comparatively limited. This paper aims to bridge the divide between these hitherto disparate research avenues. The paper affords particular attention to the impact of AR on the discipline of marketing communications, as the domain's interest towards phenomenon accelerates; following the motifs of historically innovative phenomena such as television and the Internet. Through a qualitative approach, the paper derives insight from key social actors, resulting in a number of findings used as a foundation to build knowledge on the nascent role of AR in the marketing communications domain. A model is presented which schematizes an approach to the deployment of AR, formalizing the collective intelligence of those key social actors. The aim of the paper is thus to propose heuristics for marketing professionals who seek to implement AR as a component of a communications programme, and increase the collective knowledge of the discipline on this enigmatic phenomenon. The proposed model is dual-natured, highlighting not only the unique attributes of AR, but emphasizing the robustness of traditional best practice values to which its implementation must adhere. The latter represents a recurring theme throughout the research findings; a potentially significant one given the singular nature of the phenomenon and the tendency towards the novel observed in many of its early applications.
Recent market studies reveal that augmented reality (AR) devices, such as smart glasses, will substantially influence the media landscape. Yet, little is known about the intended adoption of smart glasses, particularly: Who are the early adopters of such wearables? We contribute to the growing body of research that investigates the role of personality in predicting media usage by analyzing smart glasses, such as Google Glass or Microsoft Hololens. First, we integrate AR devices into the current evolution of media and technologies. Then, we draw on the Big Five Model of human personality and present the results from two studies that investigate the direct and moderating effects of human personality on the awareness and innovation adoption of smart glasses. Our results show that open and emotionally stable consumers tend to be more aware of Google Glass. Consumers who perceive the potential for high functional benefits and social conformity of smart glasses are more likely to adopt such wearables. The strength of these effects is moderated by consumers’ individual personality, particularly by their levels of openness to experience, extraversion and neuroticism. This article concludes with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications for research on technology adoption, and with suggestions for avenues for future research.
Recent developments in marketing and service research highlight the blurring of boundaries between firms and customers. The concept of customer engagement (CE) aggregates the multiple ways customer behaviors beyond transactions may influence the firm. However, the term is embryonic and academics and practitioners alike lack understanding on how CE contributes to value co-creation. This article marks the first attempt to conceptualize the role of customer engagement behavior (CEB) in value co-creation within a multistakeholder service system. We combine the theoretical perspectives of CE and value co-creation research to the analysis of a rich case study of a public transport service system involving consumers, communities, businesses, and governmental organizations. Our findings describe drivers for CEB, identify four types of CEB, and explore the value outcomes experienced by various stakeholders. This article proposes that CEB affects value co-creation by virtue of customers’ diverse resource contributions toward the focal firm and/other stakeholders that modify and/or augment the offering, and/or affect other stakeholders’ perceptions, preferences, expectations, or actions toward the firm or its offering. Through inducing broader resource integration, CEB makes value co-creation a system-level process. We offer nine research propositions explicating the connections CEB has to value co-creation by focal customers, the focal firm, and other stakeholders. Our research suggests that firms should focus greater attention on the resources that customers can contribute, explore the potential to engage diverse stakeholders around a common cause, and employ organically emerging systems that provide opportunities for more extensive value co-creation.
Popular metrics such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) highlight many benefits of word of mouth (WOM) to
firms. Is WOM all it is claimed to be? Building on social identity theory, this research develops a conceptual
model of WOM exchange in social settings and tests the model with customer surveys of three service sectors. The findings show that the effects of (1) positive and negative WOM (P/NWOM) received about competitors and (2) perceived presence of critical incidents (PPCIs) on P/NWOM given about own service provider are far from intuitive. Responses to PWOM received counter the suggestions in the NPS literature. The findings also indicate that the best firms can hope for when receiving NWOM about competitors is that their customers remain silent. It is recommended that firms communicate a message that is consistent with the nuanced views expressed by friends in social circles, rather than a uniformly superior positioning.
The study integrated the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Technology Acceptance Model, and the Uses and Gratification Theory to predict young American consumers' mobile apps attitudes, intent and use. The model was tested by a web survey of 555 American college students in winter, 2011. SEM results show that young American consumers' attitudes and intent predict their use of mobile applications. Perceived enjoyment, usefulness, ease of use and subjective norm emerge as significant predictors of their mobile apps attitudes. Perceived behavioral control, usefulness, and mobile Internet use predict their intent to use mobile applications. Their use of mobile applications is determined by perceived usefulness, intent to use, mobile Internet use, income and gender. Implications for academia and industry are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Computer Information Systems is the property of International Association for Computer Information Systems and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
In this study, we highlight the need and develop a framework for customer engagement (CE) by reviewing the marketing literature and analyzing popular press articles. By understanding the evolution of customer management, we develop the theory of engagement, arguing that when a relationship is satisfying and has emotional connectedness, the partners become engaged in their concern for each other. As a result, the components of customer engagement include both the direct and the indirect contributions of CE. Based on the theoretical support, our proposed framework elaborates on the components of CE as well as the antecedents (satisfaction and emotion) and consequences (tangible and intangible outcomes) of CE. We also discuss how convenience, nature of the firm (B2B vs. B2C), type of industry (service vs. product), value of the brand (high vs. low), and level of involvement (high vs. low) moderate the link between satisfaction and direct contribution, and between emotions and indirect contribution of CE, respectively. Further, we show how customer engagement can be gained and how firm performance can be maximized by discussing relevant strategies.
Despite the enormous increase in active users of WeChat, research examining users’ continuance intention based on personality habits and value perceptions is very scarce. To fill this gap, the present study aims to offer a research model which examines the role of four personality drivers, namely, (1) personal innovativeness, (2) face consciousness, (3) need for uniqueness, and (4) ambiguity intolerance in WeChat users’ hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions. Further, our model examines how hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions influence continuance intention. Data were collected from 262 active users of WeChat. Structural equation modeling was employed to test study hypotheses. The findings reveal that personal innovativeness had a positive effect on users’ hedonic value. Face consciousness and need for uniqueness were found to be a strong predictor of both hedonic and utilitarian value. A negative association was found between ambiguity intolerance and utilitarian value. The hedonic and utilitarian value positively affects continuance intention. The authors offer theoretical and practical implications for Information System scholars and practitioners, and close by acknowledging the limitations and future research direction.
This study investigates whether social- versus task-oriented interaction of virtual shopping assistants differentially benefits low versus high Internet competency older consumers with respect to social (perceived interactivity, trust), cognitive (perceived information load), functional (self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness), and behavioral intent (website patronage intent) outcomes in an online shopping task. A total of 121 older adults (61–89 years) participated in a laboratory experiment with a 2 (digital assistant interaction style: (social-vs. task-oriented) × 2 (user Internet competency: low vs. high) × 2 (user exchange modality: text vs. voice) between-subjects design. The results revealed that users' Internet competency and the digital assistant's conversational style had significant interaction effects on social, functional, and behavioral intent outcomes. Social-oriented digital assistants lead to superior social outcomes (enhanced perceptions of two-way interactivity and trust in the integrity of the site) for older users with high Internet competency, who need less task-related assistance. On the other hand, low-competency older users showed significantly superior cognitive (lower perceived information load) and functional outcomes (greater perceived ease and self-efficacy of using the site) when the digital assistant employed a task-oriented interaction style. Theoretical and agent design implications are discussed.
Through undertaking a longitudinal study with 474 consumers over a 12-month period and conducting structural equation modelling, this research provides insight on the determinants and outcomes of consumer engagement with a retailer's m-commerce application. Critical outcomes of positive attitudes towards the brand and loyalty towards the brand derive from consumer engagement with a retailer's m-commerce app. Drawing upon the TAM, TTF and SDT, the research established perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, convenience and enjoyment influencing engagement with an m-commerce application, while customisation of the app has an enhancing influence on engagement. The findings assert that utilitarian variables of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and convenience become even more influential on engagement with a retailer's m-commerce application following continued retention, while enjoyment becomes less important. However, the research finds that the location of use has an effect on the variables influencing engagement with an m-commerce application.
Pokémon Go was the first mobile augmented reality (AR) game to reach the top of the download charts of mobile applications. However, little is known about this new generation of mobile online AR games. Existing theories provide limited applicability for user understanding. Against this background, this research provides a framework based on uses and gratification theory, technology risk research, and flow theory. The proposed framework aims to explain the drivers of attitudinal and intentional reactions, such as continuance in gaming or willingness to invest money in in-app purchases. A survey among 642 Pokémon Go players provides insights into the psychological drivers of mobile AR games. The results show that hedonic, emotional, and social benefits and social norms drive consumer reactions while physical risks (but not data privacy risks) hinder consumer reactions. However, the importance of these drivers differs depending on the form of user behavior.
The lack of physical contact between products and consumer represents a key characteristic of online environments that can influence consumer’s purchase behavior. In an effort to offer a close experience with the product, websites usually present vivid information in order to convince consumers about the goodness of their products. Vivid information is likely to prompt different aspects of the purchase process, like reduced feelings of uncertainty or a higher need for physical information. The goal of this research is twofold: first, we analyze how the presence and type of vivid information, in the form of product presentation videos (PPVs), affects consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward the product. Furthermore, we examine how the perceived ease of imagining the product evoked by vivid information mediates these effects. Second, we propose that individual differences, related to the consumer’s need of touching products, determine the impact of vivid information on the preferences toward the purchase channel (online or offline). The results of an experiment, which manipulated the presence and the style of PPVs, support the importance of vivid information in order to favor consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, as well as to influence the relative preference for the purchase channel. Additionally, message and consumer characteristics are found as important factors that affect these relationships.
The statistical tests used in the analysis of structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error are examined. A drawback of the commonly applied chi square test, in addition to the known problems related to sample size and power, is that it may indicate an increasing correspondence between the hypothesized model and the observed data as both the measurement properties and the relationship between constructs decline. Further, and contrary to common assertion, the risk of making a Type II error can be substantial even when the sample size is large. Moreover, the present testing methods are unable to assess a model's explanatory power. To overcome these problems, the authors develop and apply a testing system based on measures of shared variance within the structural model, measurement model, and overall model.
Para las entidades financieras la banca para móviles ha representado una innovación en términos de servicios de banca remota. Sin embargo, muchos clientes siguen considerando incierta su seguridad. Este estudio desarrolla un modelo de aceptación tecnológica que integra, en el modelo TAM clásico, la teoría de la difusión de la innovación, el riesgo percibido y la confianza, a fin de clarificar qué factores determinan la aceptación de las aplicaciones de banca para móviles por parte del usuario. Los participantes tuvieron que examinar una aplicación para móviles perteneciente al mayor banco europeo. En el modelo propuesto, se incluyó una aproximación hacia las influencias externas, que fue establecida de manera teórica y original por parte de Davis et al. (1989). El modelo propuesto se testó empíricamente utilizando la información recolectada mediante una encuesta online, aplicando el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). Los resultados obtenidos en el estudio demuestran el modo en que la actitud determina principalmente el uso previsto de las aplicaciones para móvil, descartando la utilidad y el riesgo como factores que mejoran directamente su uso. Por último, el estudio muestra las principales implicaciones para la gestión, e identifica ciertas estrategias de refuerzo de este nuevo negocio en el contexto de los nuevos avances tecnológicos.
For over 30 years, this text has provided students with the information they need to understand and apply multivariate data analysis. Hair, et. al provides an applications-oriented introduction to multivariate analysis for the non-statistician. By reducing heavy statistical research into fundamental concepts, the text explains to students how to understand and make use of the results of specific statistical techniques. In this seventh revision, the organization of the chapters has been greatly simplified. New chapters have been added on structural equations modeling, and all sections have been updated to reflect advances in technology, capability, and mathematical techniques. Statistics and statistical research can provide managers with invaluable data. This textbook teaches them the different kinds of analysis that can be done and how to apply the techniques in the workplace.
Increasingly, retailers rely on interactive technologies to improve consumers' shopping experiences. On the one side, interactive kiosks and smart mirrors make use of dedicated devices and software to explain, configure, and recommend products. On the other side, computer programs – so-called apps – are installed on the consumer's own device for the same purpose. They can be used at home, or – if installed on a mobile device – in retail outlets or on the move. In all cases, augmented reality (AR) can support these purposes by placing virtual content (e.g. new furniture) in a real environment (the consumer's home). The overall perception and acceptance toward such interactive technologies are discussed in this paper. Users' perceptions and experiences are measured by applying a modified technology acceptance model (TAM). Four experiments, two with marker-based and two with markerless AR apps are presented to support the generalization of the results, the measurement models and the measurement approach. The results are satisfactory with regard to the robustness of the TAM model. However, the relative importance of hedonic (enjoyment, pleasure, fun) and utilitarian (information) aspects varies for different kinds of AR apps and has to be considered for improvement to occur. From a measurement point of view the acquiescence bias has to be dealt with when developing scale items.
Retail settings are being challenged to become smarter and provide greater value to both consumers and retailers. An increasingly recognised approach having potential for enabling smart retail is mobile augmented reality (MAR) apps. In this research, we seek to describe and discover how, why and to what extent MAR apps contribute to smart retail settings by creating additional value to customers as well as benefiting retailers. In particular, by adopting a retail customer experience perspective on value creation, analysing the content of MAR shopping apps currently available, and conducting large-scale surveys on United States smartphone users representing early technology adopters, we assess level of use, experiential benefits offered, and retail consequences. Our findings suggest that take-up is set to go mainstream as user satisfaction is relatively high and their use provides systematic experiential benefits along with advantages to retailers. Despite some drawbacks, their use is positively associated with multiple retail consequences. MAR apps are seen as changing consumer behaviour and are associated with increasingly high user valuations of retailers offering them. Implications for more effective use to enable smart retail settings are discussed.
An explosion of smart technologies provides fashion retailers with innovative ways to transform the shopping experience and capitalise on strategic opportunities. Due to the fast growth of smart in-store technology (SIST) applications in retailing (e.g. tablets, smartphones, WiFi, augmented reality, apps, video, virtual catalogues, and smart tags), it is critical for academic researchers as well as retailers to understand consumer responses to these technologies. Thus, we examined the applicability of the technology acceptance model (TAM) for explaining consumer adoption of SIST. Online survey data (N = 657) were collected from US consumer panels managed by a marketing research firm in three different SIST settings (i.e. virtual mirror, socially interactive dressing room, and Radio Frequency IDentification music tag). The data indicated that the effects of the TAM beliefs on behavioural intention varied across the three SIST settings. Results also showed mixed evidence about the full mediating role of attitude in applying the TAM to SIST.
Co-creation for brand innovation is an intriguing and rapidly growing trend in the current competitive market. Past research emphasizes the economic gains of consumer co-creation, with limited research focusing on the psychological effects engendered in the process of consumer brand co-creation. Drawing from self-determination theory and implicit self-esteem theory, the present research proposes an integrative framework for synthesizing the perceived psychological benefits and distinctive motivations in the brand co-creation process. The results indicated that brand self–connection and three perceived benefits of brand co-creation tasks (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) facilitate consumer motivations to participate in brand co-creation campaigns. These motivations facilitate the establishment of brand co-creation engagement, which in turn leads to strengthened brand relationship behavior. This research exemplifies that a well designed brand co-creation contest is a potent means which can not only enhance consumer engagement with the co-creation contest, but also turn engaged consumers into intangible assets for brand innovation.
Microsoft Hololens and Google Glass are two examples of a new stream of wearable technology devices called ‘Augmented Reality Smart Glasses’ that might substantially influence media usage in the near future. In this study, the authors draw upon prior Technology Acceptance Research and propose an exploratory model of antecedents to smart glasses adoption. An empirical study reveals the importance of various drivers, such as functional benefits, ease of use, individual difference variables, brand attitudes, and social norms. Although, smart glasses are worn in a similar manner to fashion accessories and capture various personal information, self-presentation benefits and potential privacy concerns seem to be less likely to influence smart glasses adoption. The findings provide pre-market knowledge about smart glasses that can help scholars and managers understand this new technology.
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
The increased availability of smartphone and mobile gadgets has transformed the tourism industry and will continue to enhance the ways in which tourists access information while traveling. Augmented reality has grown in popularity because of its enhanced mobile capabilities. In tourism research, few attempts have been made to assess user satisfaction with augmented reality applications and the behavioral intention to recommended them. This study uses a quality model to test users’ satisfaction and intention to recommend marker-based augmented reality applications. By applying process theory, this study also investigates the differences in these constructs between high- and low-innovativeness groups visiting a theme park in Jeju Island, South Korea. Questionnaires administered to 241 theme park visitors revealed that content, personalized service, and system quality affect users’ satisfaction and intention to recommend augmented reality applications. In addition, personal innovativeness was found to reinforce the relationships among content quality, personalized service quality, system quality, and satisfaction with augmented reality.
Although in recent years research in innovation management in retail industries have increased drastically, most of these industries have focused only on addressing consumers' acceptance of the most effective novel systems. For these reasons, a deeper understanding is needed in three main areas: the innovation management approaches in retail industry, the degree of innovation heterogeneity, and the innovation drivers. Starting from these evidences, this paper identifies to what extent there are similarities and differences in the main innovation drivers in retailing if compared to other sectors (i.e. education, game, etc.).
The current research explores the role of Web site characteristics, such as animation and iconic navigation aids, in predicting consumers’ self-reported intentions to revisit a retailer's Web site. An experimental study (n = 339) shows that Web site characteristics do not affect revisit intentions directly but through the vividness of mental images that consumers hold of the Web site as a whole. Vivid mental Web site imagery is stimulated by animation and facilitated by individual tendencies to put faith in intuitive rather than rational thinking, while it does not relate to the use of icons in navigation. The implications of these findings for researchers, Web designers and marketers are discussed.
Purpose
– Employees have traditionally played a major role in the customer ' s service experience. Yet self-service technology (SST) replaces the customer-service employee experience with a customer-technology experience. This paper seeks to use a service-dominant logic lens to gain fresh insight into the consumer experience of SST. In particular, it aims to consider the resources that are integrated when consumers use SSTs, their co-production role and what might constitute value.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper presents findings from 24 semi-structured interviews that focus on the everyday experiences of consumers in using SST. Both genders and all socio-economic categories within all adult age groups from 18 to 65+ were included.
Findings
– There is a danger that organizations embrace SST as an economic and efficient mechanism to “co-create” value with consumers when they are merely shifting responsibility for service production. The paper identifies risks when customers become partial employees and concludes that customers should perceive the value they gain from using SST to be at least commensurate with their co-production role.
Research limitations/implications
– The qualitative study was confined to the consumer perspective. Future research within organizations and among employees who support consumers using SST would extend understanding, as would research within the business-to-business (B2B) context. Quantitative studies could measure the frequency and extent of the phenomena the authors report and assist with market segmentation strategies.
Practical implications
– The application of service-dominant logic highlights potential risks and managerial challenges as self-service, and consequent value co-creation, relies on the operant resources of customers, who lack the tacit knowledge of employees and are less easy to manage. There is also the need to manage a new employee role: “self-service education, support and recovery”.
Originality/value
– The paper draws attention to managerial challenges for organizations to ensure that SST adoption enhances and does not destroy value. Additionally, it highlights the importance of distinguishing between co-production and co-creation.
In the last three decades, an influential research stream has emerged which highlights the dynamics of focal consumer/brand relationships. Specifically, more recently the ‘consumer brand engagement’ (CBE) concept has been postulated to more comprehensively reflect the nature of consumers' particular interactive brand relationships, relative to traditional concepts, including ‘involvement.’ However, despite the growing scholarly interest regarding the undertaking of marketing research addressing ‘engagement,’ studies have been predominantly exploratory in nature, thus generating a lack of empirical research in this area to date. By developing and validating a CBE scale in specific social media settings, we address this identified literature gap. Specifically, we conceptualize CBE as a consumer's positively valenced brand-related cognitive, emotional and behavioral activity during or related to focal consumer/brand interactions. We derive three CBE dimensions, including cognitive processing, affection, and activation. Within three different social media contexts, we employ exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to develop a reliable, 10-item CBE scale, which we proceed to validate within a nomological net of conceptual relationships and a rival model. The findings suggest that while consumer brand ‘involvement’ acts as a CBE antecedent, consumer ‘self-brand connection’ and ‘brand usage intent’ represent key CBE consequences, thus providing a platform for further research in this emerging area. We conclude with an overview of key managerial and scholarly implications arising from this research.
This study investigates the benefits of simulated social interaction (social presence) through virtual agents for older users’ experience in retail Web sites, particularly with respect to age-related barriers to the adoption of online retailing. In Study 1, through four focus group interviews, we identified six social–psychological barriers to the adoption of online shopping among older users (mean age of 73 years). These included barriers relating to perceived risks, trust, social support, familiarity, experience, and search. In Study 2, a laboratory experiment with older users (mean age of 69 years) demonstrated that embedding a virtual agent that serves search and navigational/procedural support functions in the online store leads to increased perceived social support, trust, and patronage intention for the online store. Mediational analyses further revealed that the effect of virtual agents: (1) on trust is mediated by perceived social support; and (2) on patronage intentions is mediated in part by trust and perceived risks. The study provides important implications on the design of virtual agents for older users of e-commerce applications, and on building online trust and e-service patronage through virtual agents.