How Immersive Retailing Affects Consumers’ Urge to Buy: Impacts of Self-Imagery, Positive Emotion, and Self-Relevance

Abstract

The rise of immersive retailing, which employs cutting-edge technology, such as virtual reality (VR), has accelerated empirical research on consumer behavior in these new retail contexts. This research examines how VR retail experiences cause consumers’ impulsive buying through two studies to add knowledge from multiple perspectives, including the dark side of this experience. Study 1 revealed that non-immersive VR fashion stores (i.e., using desktop computer system) can elaborate on consumers’ self-imagery processing, which results in pleasure and the urge to buy. In addition, processing varied according to the level of self-relevance to the VR store; higher self-relevance activates a more elaborate self-imagery. However, Study 2, which compared non-immersive and immersive VR system (i.e., using head-mounted display and controllers) for experiencing a virtual fashion store, showed that immersive VR media system can evoke a higher level of self-imagery process of urge to buy even when self-relevance is relatively low, owing to its technological ability to facilitate high telepresence. These findings suggest that the impact of the VR store experience can be expanded to include impulsive/compulsive purchases.

Keywords:

• Immersive retailing
• telepresence
• self-imagery
• positive emotion
• pleasure
• impulsive buying
• self-relevance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ju Yeun Jang

Ju Yeun Jang is a research assistant professor in the School of Fashion and Textiles at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her primary research focuses on digital marketing communication, especially the use of advanced technology, such as virtual reality, and its impact on consumer responses for developing creative business strategies.

Do Yuon Kim

Do Yuon Kim is an assistant professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Gachon University. Her research interest is centered on the cognitive and emotional processing of digital consumers when evaluating information and making decisions.