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Modeling innovative points of sales through virtual and immersive technologies
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 19 (2012) 279–286
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser
Modeling innovative points of sales through virtual and immersive technologies Eleonora Pantano a,n, Rocco Servidio b a b
Department of Business Science, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, cubo 3/b, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende – CS, Italy Department of Linguistics, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, cubo 17/b, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende – CS, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o
abstract
Available online 15 March 2012
This study examines the benefits of virtual and augmented reality for retailing in order to propose a theoretical framework for the development of innovative and efficient stores. The purpose is to investigate the relevance of advanced technologies in the points of sale from user’s standpoint for deeply understanding their influence on consumer’s perception. The study gathers data from 150 respondents for investigating the influence on consumers in terms of ease of use, enjoyment and store perception. To achieve this goal, the research focuses on Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach to map the correlations among variables. The results illustrate consumer’s response towards the introduction of virtual and immersive technologies in traditional points of sales. Specifically, they are prompted to use these stores, which became more attractive and appealing. Managerial and marketing implications are also theoretically discussed, showing how an immersive store might represent the starting point for further advances in retailing. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Technology management Human–Computer Interaction Retailing Consumer behavior
1. Introduction The current advances in the field of Virtual Reality offer efficient and novel tools to create innovative online stores. These tools are capable of giving consumers a more realistic representation of the point of sale and enhancing their feeling of presence (Borgers et al., 2010). Furthermore, the introduction of virtual stores produces important effects for retail sector, by providing innovative consumers interaction systems (Chen, 2010). The online stores have attracted the attention of researchers who studied the applications of virtual technologies to enhance user’s shopping experience, by influencing product quality judgments, consumer satisfaction, permanence in the store, frequency of visits and visualized products, and to finalize the subsequent purchasing process (Catterall and Maclaran, 2001). The success of these technologies mainly depends on the choice of the channel used for purchasing, as well as on the increasing purchases through online systems (Liu and Forsythe, 2011). The current studies on online stores are largely based on the analysis of brand loyalty, trust, perceived risk (Luo et al., 2010; Doong et al., 2011; Shen and Chiou, 2010; Udo et al., 2010; Li and Yeh, 2010; Chiu
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Corresponding author. Fax: þ39 0984494110. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (E. Pantano), [email protected] (R. Servidio). 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.02.002
et al., 2010; San Martı´n Gutie´rrez et al., 2010; Pantano and Timmermans, 2011), and consumer’s acceptance of virtual stores in terms of attitude and behavioral intention, as well as on their characteristics such as system interfaces and quality (Chen and Tan, 2004; Ganesh et al., 2010); whereas other studies pointed out the importance of employed interactive tools, which deliver high personalized products, and e-windows which represent innovative elements capable of catching consumer’s attention and motivating people to visit the online store (Ganesh et al., 2010). In particular, the advantages of virtual stores can be described in terms of time saving, by reducing the operational costs and offering more products than a traditional one 24/7, due to the possibility for consumers to access to the store directly from their place, by supporting in this way also clients with disabilities in reaching the store (Lee, 2007). As a consequence, the increasing competition in the retail sector forces marketers to design and develop more appealing stores, by capitalizing the recent advances in information and communication technologies, in order to extend the use of these ones as innovative and more efficient marketing channel (Parsons and Conroy, 2006; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004). In this scenario, just few studies focus on the link between online services quality and consumer’s satisfaction or behavioral intentions (Pantano et al., 2010), without finding any important correlations (Udo et al., 2010; Hausman and Siekpe, 2009); as well as on the relationship between environmental stimuli and user’
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attention level, in order to improve the online interaction quality (Breugelmans et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2007). Despite the large deal of research in both online retail patronage behavior and virtual stores (Ganesh et al., 2010), the potentiality of advanced technologies such as augmented reality, ubiquitous computing, and pervasive environments is not fully exploited yet. The aim of this study is to investigate consumer’s response towards the introduction of immersive environments based on the 3D virtual reality in traditional points of sale, in order to understand to what extend these technologies make store more attractive and how they are capable of influencing consumer’s shopping mode choice, as well as their effective integration within traditional retail tools. The first part of the paper is devoted to the current literature on virtual stores characteristics, as well as on their influences on consumer behavior; whereas the subsequent section concerns the employed quantitative methodology and results. The last section highlights the main implications of the research and the related contribution to the literature.
2. Theoretical background 3D computer graphics technologies provide powerful tools to design virtual stores, by adding innovative elements (e.g., realistic interactions, customized virtual products, etc.), which are more efficient in catching consumer’s attention (Lee and Chung, 2008). In fact, the stores based on 3D virtual environments display on computer scenarios and objects which users can explore and experience directly through Internet in a more entertaining way (Lee and Chung, 2008; Liu, 2010). Thus, users can perform various activities such as interacting with the products, visualizing details, requesting and findings customized information capable of influencing their purchasing decision (Liu, 2010). Consumer’s choice to buy in an online virtual store, as well as in a traditional offline point of sale, is affected by several attributes which can be expressed in numerous dimensions such as time dimension, place dimension, and acquisition dimension (Yoon and Kim, 2007). The time dimension refers to a lack of time or to time pressure in terms of time of shopping trip, purchasing delivery, and waiting (Lee, 2007). This dimension represents an important component of the consumer’s convenience in the shopping mode choice, and it plays a key role for their judgments, with consequences on the subsequent satisfaction level; whereas the place dimension consists of making the place more convenient for consumers, according to their preferences; and acquisition dimension concerns the possibility to purchase products in an easier way (Yoon and Kim, 2007). Therefore, these factors might improve the perception of the utilitarian benefits in terms of saving time and effort (Kim et al., 2007; Yoo et al., 2010). The introduction of advanced technologies in the point of sale might positively influence all these dimensions in several ways. Since the realistic Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) studies, virtual environments, and products displays have increased the visual appeal of web sites and affected consumer’s behavior in terms of frequency of visit and purchase intention (Chen David and Cheng John, 2009; Kim et al., 2007; Suh and Sunhye, 2006). In fact, the digital storefront of the virtual store represents the online version of the physical shop window (Chen and Tan, 2004), thus the quality of both navigation and provided contents/services plays a key role for determining the level of attractiveness of the store (Ha and Stoel, 2009). Since the ease of use of the system can be represented in terms of the degree to which a consumer believes that using these interactive stores does not require a cognitive effort (Davis, 1989), hard navigation,
as well as difficulties in searching and finding products and information might negatively affect the shopping experience (Yoon and Kim, 2007; Kowatsch and Maass, 2010; Udo et al., 2010). Hence, these factors are capable of influencing the consumer’s perception of the digital point of sale. Therefore, the aforementioned considerations lead to the following research hypothesis: H1. Perceived ease of use has a positive influence on store perception. Furthermore, an entertaining and emotional shopping context positively affects consumer’s satisfaction (Diep and Sweeney, ¨ 2008; Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Newsom et al., 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Penz and Hogg, 2011), with benefits for the purchasing decision process (Kim and Kim, 2008). Enjoyment can be defined as the degree to which carrying out a task is perceived as providing pleasure, aside from activity consequences (Venkatesh, 2000). Indeed, if consumer’s intentions are driven by intrinsic motivation like interest and enjoyment, they are more willing to persist in online shopping (Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Lee and Chang (2011)). In fact, several studies showed the stronger value of perceived enjoyment in virtual stores if compared to the traditional ones (Lee and Chung, 2008), due to the possibility to play with the available items with ease and interactive tools. Hence, the level of interactivity of the virtual environment interface influences the fun provided by the virtual store (Kim et al., 2007). Therefore, we hypothesize: H2. Perceived ease of use has a positive influence on perceived enjoyment. Due to the characteristics of virtual stores in terms of utilitarian benefits, these points of sale might be perceived by consumers as a more convenient shopping mode (Hsiao, 2009; Lee and Chung, 2008; Yoon and Kim, 2007). In addition, several researches carried out the convenience as the major advantage of Internet shopping (Yoon and Kim, 2007), by considering convenience an influencing factor during the consumer’s satisfaction (Thirumalai and Sinha, 2011). Satisfaction is a feeling, or the overall pleasure, emerging from the past experience with a product, service, and system (Tseng and Lo, 2011; Kang and Lee, 2010; Taylor and Strutton, 2011). Since perceived ease of use represents a key factor for the consumer’s satisfaction capable of measuring the system quality and subsequent adoption (Yoon, 2010), the usability of the visual system interface and the ease of navigation, as well as the possibility to reach any place in the store directly from any other place of the point of sale, affect consumer’s perception of provided fun and of the store overall quality (Vrechopoulos et al., 2004; Vieira, 2010). Therefore, we hypothesize: H3. Perceived ease of use has a direct effect on consumer satisfaction. H4. Perceived enjoyment affects store perception. H5. Perceived enjoyment influences consumer satisfaction. H6. Consumer satisfaction is positively influenced by store perception. Furthermore, the effect of product rotation in online stores might improve the products knowledge transfer process, by supporting consumers to realize a consistent perception of the virtual environment (Park et al., 2008). Katterattanakul and Siau (2003) summarize the characteristics of the virtual store compared with the physical one according to
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3.2. Measurement scale
the following factors: physical facilities, which consist of layout and architecture, are more flexible in case of virtual stores, as well as the response time of the virtual environment system is fast; products presentation is richer and more detailed in the case of virtual store; services, the virtual stores offer a wider range of services, such as delivery policies, purchasing and decision support systems; convenience, which consists of the convenient location and parking in the traditional stores, represents the organization of the website in the online context; visual appearance, in terms of store atmosphere and attractiveness; institutional factors, such as reputation and company’s information. Therefore, immersive stores represent an advanced virtual point of sale, enriched with more functionalities. The key factors which determine the consumer’s preference and satisfaction are still basic elements in the development of effective immersive stores. Some current researches focus on the possibility to adopt immersive technologies for marketing purposes by exploiting the current advances in the field of Virtual Reality for retailing, even if they do not provide any data on consumer’s acceptance of this introduction (Laria and Pantano, 2011; Laria and Pantano, 2012). Hence, the main purpose of our study is to understand to what extent immersive environments represent the basis for an innovative store. To achieve this goal, investigating consumer’s response regarding the 3D immersive retail environments plays a key role for defining a new framework for the development of innovative and more efficient stores. Fig. 1 provides the research model, based upon the current scientific literature. 3. Research methodology 3.1. Research model The research model is based on an experimental study design. The variables are store perception, ease of use, enjoinment, and consumer’ satisfaction, as summarized in Table 1.
Fig. 1. Research framework.
A questionnaire was developed on the literature review and a pilot study using a convenient sample was performed. The questionnaire included 19 items: 13 items on store perception, ease of use, enjoyment, convenience and satisfaction which were measured using a five-points Likert scale (1¼strongly disagree; 5¼strongly agree), and six items on consumer profile, including gender, age, education, experience with online purchasing, knowledge of Virtual Reality and interest towards new technologies. Structural Equation Model (SEM) has been applied to many researches for solving problems related to casual relationships between latent construct measured by observed variables (Reisinger and Turner, 1999). Furthermore, it has been largely exploited for expressing complex variables through hierarchical or non-hierarchical and recursive or non-recursive structural equations, as well as to model several paths among variables in one analysis (Gefen, 2003). For this reason, the current study involves the SEM method for testing the research model through a confirmatory analytical technique. Therefore, the both factor analysis and hypotheses are valuated in the same analysis. In particular, LISREL statistical software has been involved for analyzing the covariance-based SEM.
3.3. Participants and procedure The data has been collected from 150 potential consumers at University of Calabria (Italy) during November 2010. All participants were Italian undergraduate university students and they were recruited during the normal educational activities. Among the available respondents, female sample represents the majority of total ones, with a percentage of the 92%. Since the majority of respondents bought less than five products through online channels (77.3%), the sample has a scarce experience in online shopping. In fact, just the 11.3% of the participants bought between 6 and 10 products in the online channel; while the 7.3% more than 10. Finally, most of the participants (76.6%) consider positively their knowledge on Virtual Reality, as well as they showed an interest towards new technological applications (34.7% sufficient and 56.7% good). The demographic characteristics of participants are based on gender, age, education, as well as on the previous experience on online shopping (in terms of purchased products through Internet), knowledge of Virtual Reality and interest towards new technologies, as presented in Table 2. This data allows understanding the level of technology is being used by participants, both in terms of online purchases and virtual navigation. In this study, the chosen virtual environment focuses on a decentralized computing landscape based on a digital world, which displays 3D virtual products, furniture and other store components, and the physical one, represented by the real
Table 1 Constructs and definitions. Variables
Description
Source
Store perception
The degree to which a consumer perceive a store as more convenient if compared to other shopping mode, in terms of utilitarian benefits The degree to which a consumer believes that using these interactive stores does not require effort The degree to which carrying out a task is perceived as providing pleasure, aside from activity consequences The degree to which shopping in the store is perceived as a satisfying experience which influences consumer’s intention to continue in such behaviors
Hsiao, 2009; Lee and Chung, 2008; Yoon and Kim, 2007; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004 Kim et al., 2007; Yoon and Kim, 2007
Perceived ease of use Perceived enjoyment
Consumer satisfaction
¨ Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Venkatesh, 2000 Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010
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Table 2 Sample characteristics. Measure
Item
Number Percent
Gender
Male Female
12 138
8.0 92.0
Age
Under 25 26–35 Over 36 Missing
139 7 3 1
92.7 4.7 2.0 0.6
Education
High school Master degree
148 2
98.7 1.3
Experience in online shopping
Less than 5 purchases 116 17 6–10 online purchases More than 10 11 Missing 6
77.3 11.3
Knowledge of virtual reality
Scarce Sufficient Good Missing
35 79 35 1
23.3 52.7 23.3 0.7
Interest towards new technologies
Scarce
12
8.0
Sufficient Good Missing
52 85 1
34.7 56.7 0.6
Fig. 3. Products visualization.
7.3 4.1
studies identified the most common layout typologies in traditional stores (Grid, Freeform, and Racetrack/Boutique) (Levy and Weitz, 2001), whereas other ones indicated that layouts employed for offline stores usually cannot be adopted in the online context (Manganari et al., 2009; Krasonikolakis and Vrechopoulos, 2009). Despite these elements, the research in this direction is still in progress. Participants explored freely the immersive point of sale as a real one without time constraints, by virtually touching the products and visualizing the different digital scenarios connected to each product. In this way, the access to the information related to the each product was easier and funnier (Fig. 3). The immersive environment was designed to give to the final user’s information about preferred products in an interactive way. During the visualization phase users were stimulated to navigate in the virtual store to both create a mental model of the environment and to evaluate the related interactivity level.
4. Key findings
Fig. 2. User’s interaction in the immersive store.
consumers who have the feeling of immersion in the virtual scenario (Wright and Steventon, 2006; Hansmann, 2003). Immersive environments can be realized through several techniques. We based our experiment on stereoscopic technology. This one consists of a large screen connected to a computer, which combines two images of the same object from two different points of view displayed by two overlying projectors, in order to create the 3D effect. Therefore, consumers are able to visualize 3D images through the use of glasses with polarized lens. Fig. 2 shows consumer’s exploration of the immersive store reproduced in the university laboratory (Fig. 2). Although there are several store layout configurations, in this research we did not consider the effects of different configurations on consumer’s behavior. In this study, we consider only the visual appeal of the 3D virtual store, but not the consumer’ purchase process. In fact, different layout configurations affect the purchasing process, store exploration and products visualization, as well as permanence in the store (Vrechopoulos et al., 2004). Previous
The sample generated 150 usable responses. Each measurement item has been previously validated through the Cronbach’s alpha statistical analysis. Since each value meets the suggested acceptable ones (Cronbach and Shavelson, 2004), the proposed research model satisfies the reliability criteria (Table 3). The statistical validity of the proposed model constructs and their relationships have been further investigated by assessing the fit indexes value for evaluating the quality of the results. LISREL software allows testing the unidimensionality of the scale for the identified items (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991). The goodness-of-fit statistics are: w2/degrees of freedom¼2.6, p¼.00, GFI (goodness-of-fit index)¼.92, AGFI (adjusted goodnessof-fit-index)¼0.91, NFI (normed fit index)¼0.93, CFI (comparative fit index)¼0.91, and RMSEA (root mean square error of approximation)¼0.03. Since the fitness measures are in accordance with the values suggested by literature (Li and Yeh, 2010; Park et al., 2008), the model yields a suitable fit. Afterwards, the test of the hypothesized relationships among the research variables has been performed by focusing on the analysis of the path coefficient and R2 values. The results support the proposed relationships as presented in Fig. 4. Table 4 summarizes the correlations among the research variables after the SEM statistical analysis. The results suggest that the hypothesized model fits the data. An important trait of our model concerns the significant role of enjoyment on consumer’s store perception and on the subsequent satisfaction process towards the adoption of the immersive environment. Furthermore, the results show also the moderating
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role of ease of use of the innovative tools available to explore the store. As a consequence, especially the provided fun and the store perception, influenced by the innovativeness, convenience and utility, are capable of increasing the consumer satisfaction and their shopping mode choice, in accordance with the literature ¨ review (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Yoon and Kim, 2007).
Table 3 Cronbach’s alpha values. Factor
a Cronbach
Store perception Perceived ease of use Perceived enjoyment Consumer satisfaction
0.72 0.76 0.86 0.82
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5. Discussion
Fig. 4. Structural Equation analysis results.
Table 4 Tested hypotheses results. Hypothesized relationship
H1 Perceived ease of use-Store perception H2 Perceived ease of use-Enjoyment H3 Perceived ease of use-Consumer satisfaction H4 Enjoyment-Store perception H5 Enjoyment-Consumer satisfaction H6 Store perception-Consumer satisfaction n
Path coefficient
Test result
0.55n 0.41n 0.38n
Supported Supported Supported
0.73n 0.98n 0.68n
Supported Supported Supported
p o .001.
Our findings show the validity of the model and the robustness of the hypothesized relationships. In particular, they suggested that consumer’s satisfaction towards the introduction of immersive environments in the traditional points of sale is influenced by three main dimensions: (1) perceived ease of use of the innovative tools, (2) provided enjoyment, and (3) new store perception. The explained variance value (91%) of the second factor, enjoyment, is greater than the other ones, accounting for the greatest proportion of variation in overall user satisfaction, and emerging as the most powerful predictor of consumer’s response towards the innovative shopping experience. In addition, results demonstrate the important role of enjoyment for both store perception and consumer’s satisfaction as it permits potential clients to live a more engaging experience during their interactions in the new point of sale. Hypothesis H1, which states a causal positive relationship between the ease of use and store perception is also strongly supported, with a standardized coefficient of 0.55; whereas H2, which assumes a positive causal relationship between perceived ease of use and enjoyment, is supported, with a standardized coefficient of 0.41. In particular, the value of R2 indicates that the at least 0.27 of variance is explained, implying that other variables may not be involved in the relationships. The impact of ease of use on consumer satisfaction (H3) is also supported by a coefficient of 0.38.
Table 5 Comparison between virtual and immersive stores.
Facilities
Virtual store
Immersive store
Fast response Secure transaction System flexibility
Fast response Secure transaction System flexibility Entertainment
Product variety Detailed products information Personalized information
Product variety Detailed products information Personalized information
Product selection assistance
Product selection assistance Virtual salesperson
Product information
Service
Payment selection Online support
Online support
Convenience Details about the firm Location indicator Navigational efficiency Appearance
Details about the firm Navigational efficiency More realistic navigation and interaction
Pleasant Attractive
Pleasant Attractive More realistic appearance
Requirements related to consumer’s profile Firm’s information
Requirements related to consumer’s profile Firm’s information Consumer’s position tracer while in the immersive store
Institutional factors
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This study provides important insights also for the Human– Computer Interaction field, by investigating the design of suitable Graphical User Interfaces for virtual store (Ganesh et al., 2010; Parsons, and Conroy, 2006). In fact, our findings highlight how the user interaction mechanisms would fit consumer’s needs. Shopping is a complex, collaborative and social activity and supports customers decision process with a large amount of information provided through virtual and immersive technologies (Liu, 2010; Yoon and Kim, 2007). Consumer is not only a final user, but also an expert who needs to operate with interactive systems and products easily. Thus, the development of virtual stores would reinforce the researches between Human–Computer Interaction studies and consumers behavior. In our opinion, these studies will ensure the realization of virtual environments capable of providing efficient services and specific functions for supporting consumer’s behavior. The challenge of virtual stores environments is identifying and modeling visual interfaces for influencing consumer’s behavior by reducing the cognitive load mechanisms and then encouraging the decision-making process.
enjoyment emerges from the results of this study, in accordance ¨ with the results of previous researches (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010). Hence, the association between perceived enjoyment and consumer’s satisfaction in an immersive store can be a first step for synthesizing and integrating models of consumer’s acceptance towards advanced technologies in the traditional points of sale. This research provides a basis for an evaluating framework for highlighting the potential consumer’s behavior towards the introduction of virtual and immersive technologies in traditional retailing. Furthermore, the results outline issues for practitioners in terms of new strategies for renewing traditional stores and make them more convenient for a wider target. In fact, the importance of enjoyment in the point of sale and the subsequent influence on store perception and consumers satisfaction would force retailers to adopt new interactive and enjoying tools in the stores to catch consumer’s interest as in the virtual ones. Since the immersive environments increase consumer’s satisfaction towards the shopping experience, these environments become an innovative tool for the development of a new model of store based on the application of advanced technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. From a managerial point of view, our results provide information on new retail tools capable of monitoring consumer’s behavior in the immersive store. This information might be used to develop new efficient marketing strategies which can be tested in a faster and easier way. The immersive systems affect user’s perception of both the store and available products, by providing them an innovative and high customized service through an interactive and enjoying interface. This one will be tailored to the single consumer’s needs and position. Moreover, the service would represent a better substitute while the standard one is not available (i.e., not sufficient salespersons, the store is too small to show all the collections available, etc.). The transformation of the physical store into a virtual and immersive one requires testing these new environments by also evaluating specific usability issues and human factors criteria. As a consequence, further researches would take into account an interdisciplinary approach which involves different disciplines such as Human–Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Marketing, and Management Engineering. In conclusion, these innovative systems should minimize the consumer’s cognitive load by providing suitable visual interfaces capable of supporting them to finalize the purchase intention. Therefore, virtual stores should adopt new and easier user’s interfaces for an intuitive user’s learning process. These factors might satisfy consumer’s requirements and make the products displaying more evocative, with consequences on both the effectiveness of the mediated message and the cognitive response.
6. Conclusions
7. Limitations and future works
The results of our study outline several issues for retail sector for both researchers and practitioners. In particular, our findings demonstrate that consumer’s perceived enjoyment as a motivating factor for the store choice, as well as for the quality of shopping experience. A contribution of this study carries out also the moderating role of ease of use of the interactive tools on enjoyment, store perception and satisfaction process in the innovative immersive store. Although previous studies highlighted the importance of ease of use in the user’s acceptance of a new technology, just few researches focused on the integration of Virtual Reality applications in a real point of sale. The recognition of the role of
Although this study offers important issues, there are some limitations which should be taken into account. The first limitation is related to the involvement of a student sample in combination with the laboratory experiment. In fact, this type of experiment might partially reduce the external validity of the research. Furthermore, the graphics quality of the immersive store was optimized for all respondents before the experiment, by using high performing computers and displays, thus, as suggested by Lee and Chung (2008), the study might achieve different results in ‘‘real condition’’, with slower system responses to users queries and so on.
Since hypotheses H4 and H5, which assumes a positive effect of enjoyment factor on both store perception and consumer’ satisfaction, are supported by a high standardized coefficient of, respectively 0.73 and 0.98. The variable enjoyment is one of the major influencing factors. This construct is also supported by the high value of R2 which explains the 0.91 of the variance and, as a consequence, excludes the presence of other latent variables. The last supported hypothesis, H6, is related to the causal positive relationship between store perception and consumer satisfaction. The value of the standardized coefficient ( ¼0.68) supports the strong effect of store perception on the satisfaction process, thus we can assume that if the store is perceived positively then the consumers satisfaction increases, whereas the R2 ¼0.84 explains most of the variance and excludes the influence of other external variables. Hence, according to Katterattanakul and Siau (2003), it is possible to compare the characteristics of immersive and physical store, as presented in Table 5. Although the direct effect of ease of use on store perception and consumer’s satisfaction emerged from our findings, the direct and indirect effects of enjoyment seems to be even stronger for consumer’s satisfaction and for his/her subsequent shopping mode choice. This result indicates a positive user’s response towards the introduction of immersive environments in the traditional points of sale, in accordance with the literature which outlines on the importance of enjoyment in the shopping experi¨ ence (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010). 5.1. Implications for Human factors studies
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Another limitation is related to the consumer’s experience in the new retail environment. In fact, our study focuses on the introduction of a new technology in a traditional store, thus the sample had not experience with that specific technology, and the relationship between the perception of the new retail modality and the purchasing experience emerged from previous studies has not been considered (Hernandez et al., 2010). Since the sample consist of students who individually attended the experiment, the study does not take into account the possible role of social influences, as recognized in current researches on e-commerce context (Shin, 2009; Kulviwat et al., 2009). Hence, future studies might investigate the effects of different demographics beyond gender and age, as well as the exploration of the virtual store as a social activity. Furthermore, other researches might focus on the consumer’s acceptance of the immersive environments by exploiting the use of Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), in order to carry out consumer’s behavioral intention towards the use of these new technologies, as well as they might focus on the importance of interaction mechanisms between consumers and online retailers.
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Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser
Modeling innovative points of sales through virtual and immersive technologies Eleonora Pantano a,n, Rocco Servidio b a b
Department of Business Science, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, cubo 3/b, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende – CS, Italy Department of Linguistics, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, cubo 17/b, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende – CS, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o
abstract
Available online 15 March 2012
This study examines the benefits of virtual and augmented reality for retailing in order to propose a theoretical framework for the development of innovative and efficient stores. The purpose is to investigate the relevance of advanced technologies in the points of sale from user’s standpoint for deeply understanding their influence on consumer’s perception. The study gathers data from 150 respondents for investigating the influence on consumers in terms of ease of use, enjoyment and store perception. To achieve this goal, the research focuses on Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach to map the correlations among variables. The results illustrate consumer’s response towards the introduction of virtual and immersive technologies in traditional points of sales. Specifically, they are prompted to use these stores, which became more attractive and appealing. Managerial and marketing implications are also theoretically discussed, showing how an immersive store might represent the starting point for further advances in retailing. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Technology management Human–Computer Interaction Retailing Consumer behavior
1. Introduction The current advances in the field of Virtual Reality offer efficient and novel tools to create innovative online stores. These tools are capable of giving consumers a more realistic representation of the point of sale and enhancing their feeling of presence (Borgers et al., 2010). Furthermore, the introduction of virtual stores produces important effects for retail sector, by providing innovative consumers interaction systems (Chen, 2010). The online stores have attracted the attention of researchers who studied the applications of virtual technologies to enhance user’s shopping experience, by influencing product quality judgments, consumer satisfaction, permanence in the store, frequency of visits and visualized products, and to finalize the subsequent purchasing process (Catterall and Maclaran, 2001). The success of these technologies mainly depends on the choice of the channel used for purchasing, as well as on the increasing purchases through online systems (Liu and Forsythe, 2011). The current studies on online stores are largely based on the analysis of brand loyalty, trust, perceived risk (Luo et al., 2010; Doong et al., 2011; Shen and Chiou, 2010; Udo et al., 2010; Li and Yeh, 2010; Chiu
n
Corresponding author. Fax: þ39 0984494110. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (E. Pantano), [email protected] (R. Servidio). 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2012.02.002
et al., 2010; San Martı´n Gutie´rrez et al., 2010; Pantano and Timmermans, 2011), and consumer’s acceptance of virtual stores in terms of attitude and behavioral intention, as well as on their characteristics such as system interfaces and quality (Chen and Tan, 2004; Ganesh et al., 2010); whereas other studies pointed out the importance of employed interactive tools, which deliver high personalized products, and e-windows which represent innovative elements capable of catching consumer’s attention and motivating people to visit the online store (Ganesh et al., 2010). In particular, the advantages of virtual stores can be described in terms of time saving, by reducing the operational costs and offering more products than a traditional one 24/7, due to the possibility for consumers to access to the store directly from their place, by supporting in this way also clients with disabilities in reaching the store (Lee, 2007). As a consequence, the increasing competition in the retail sector forces marketers to design and develop more appealing stores, by capitalizing the recent advances in information and communication technologies, in order to extend the use of these ones as innovative and more efficient marketing channel (Parsons and Conroy, 2006; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004). In this scenario, just few studies focus on the link between online services quality and consumer’s satisfaction or behavioral intentions (Pantano et al., 2010), without finding any important correlations (Udo et al., 2010; Hausman and Siekpe, 2009); as well as on the relationship between environmental stimuli and user’
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attention level, in order to improve the online interaction quality (Breugelmans et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2007). Despite the large deal of research in both online retail patronage behavior and virtual stores (Ganesh et al., 2010), the potentiality of advanced technologies such as augmented reality, ubiquitous computing, and pervasive environments is not fully exploited yet. The aim of this study is to investigate consumer’s response towards the introduction of immersive environments based on the 3D virtual reality in traditional points of sale, in order to understand to what extend these technologies make store more attractive and how they are capable of influencing consumer’s shopping mode choice, as well as their effective integration within traditional retail tools. The first part of the paper is devoted to the current literature on virtual stores characteristics, as well as on their influences on consumer behavior; whereas the subsequent section concerns the employed quantitative methodology and results. The last section highlights the main implications of the research and the related contribution to the literature.
2. Theoretical background 3D computer graphics technologies provide powerful tools to design virtual stores, by adding innovative elements (e.g., realistic interactions, customized virtual products, etc.), which are more efficient in catching consumer’s attention (Lee and Chung, 2008). In fact, the stores based on 3D virtual environments display on computer scenarios and objects which users can explore and experience directly through Internet in a more entertaining way (Lee and Chung, 2008; Liu, 2010). Thus, users can perform various activities such as interacting with the products, visualizing details, requesting and findings customized information capable of influencing their purchasing decision (Liu, 2010). Consumer’s choice to buy in an online virtual store, as well as in a traditional offline point of sale, is affected by several attributes which can be expressed in numerous dimensions such as time dimension, place dimension, and acquisition dimension (Yoon and Kim, 2007). The time dimension refers to a lack of time or to time pressure in terms of time of shopping trip, purchasing delivery, and waiting (Lee, 2007). This dimension represents an important component of the consumer’s convenience in the shopping mode choice, and it plays a key role for their judgments, with consequences on the subsequent satisfaction level; whereas the place dimension consists of making the place more convenient for consumers, according to their preferences; and acquisition dimension concerns the possibility to purchase products in an easier way (Yoon and Kim, 2007). Therefore, these factors might improve the perception of the utilitarian benefits in terms of saving time and effort (Kim et al., 2007; Yoo et al., 2010). The introduction of advanced technologies in the point of sale might positively influence all these dimensions in several ways. Since the realistic Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) studies, virtual environments, and products displays have increased the visual appeal of web sites and affected consumer’s behavior in terms of frequency of visit and purchase intention (Chen David and Cheng John, 2009; Kim et al., 2007; Suh and Sunhye, 2006). In fact, the digital storefront of the virtual store represents the online version of the physical shop window (Chen and Tan, 2004), thus the quality of both navigation and provided contents/services plays a key role for determining the level of attractiveness of the store (Ha and Stoel, 2009). Since the ease of use of the system can be represented in terms of the degree to which a consumer believes that using these interactive stores does not require a cognitive effort (Davis, 1989), hard navigation,
as well as difficulties in searching and finding products and information might negatively affect the shopping experience (Yoon and Kim, 2007; Kowatsch and Maass, 2010; Udo et al., 2010). Hence, these factors are capable of influencing the consumer’s perception of the digital point of sale. Therefore, the aforementioned considerations lead to the following research hypothesis: H1. Perceived ease of use has a positive influence on store perception. Furthermore, an entertaining and emotional shopping context positively affects consumer’s satisfaction (Diep and Sweeney, ¨ 2008; Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Newsom et al., 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Penz and Hogg, 2011), with benefits for the purchasing decision process (Kim and Kim, 2008). Enjoyment can be defined as the degree to which carrying out a task is perceived as providing pleasure, aside from activity consequences (Venkatesh, 2000). Indeed, if consumer’s intentions are driven by intrinsic motivation like interest and enjoyment, they are more willing to persist in online shopping (Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Lee and Chang (2011)). In fact, several studies showed the stronger value of perceived enjoyment in virtual stores if compared to the traditional ones (Lee and Chung, 2008), due to the possibility to play with the available items with ease and interactive tools. Hence, the level of interactivity of the virtual environment interface influences the fun provided by the virtual store (Kim et al., 2007). Therefore, we hypothesize: H2. Perceived ease of use has a positive influence on perceived enjoyment. Due to the characteristics of virtual stores in terms of utilitarian benefits, these points of sale might be perceived by consumers as a more convenient shopping mode (Hsiao, 2009; Lee and Chung, 2008; Yoon and Kim, 2007). In addition, several researches carried out the convenience as the major advantage of Internet shopping (Yoon and Kim, 2007), by considering convenience an influencing factor during the consumer’s satisfaction (Thirumalai and Sinha, 2011). Satisfaction is a feeling, or the overall pleasure, emerging from the past experience with a product, service, and system (Tseng and Lo, 2011; Kang and Lee, 2010; Taylor and Strutton, 2011). Since perceived ease of use represents a key factor for the consumer’s satisfaction capable of measuring the system quality and subsequent adoption (Yoon, 2010), the usability of the visual system interface and the ease of navigation, as well as the possibility to reach any place in the store directly from any other place of the point of sale, affect consumer’s perception of provided fun and of the store overall quality (Vrechopoulos et al., 2004; Vieira, 2010). Therefore, we hypothesize: H3. Perceived ease of use has a direct effect on consumer satisfaction. H4. Perceived enjoyment affects store perception. H5. Perceived enjoyment influences consumer satisfaction. H6. Consumer satisfaction is positively influenced by store perception. Furthermore, the effect of product rotation in online stores might improve the products knowledge transfer process, by supporting consumers to realize a consistent perception of the virtual environment (Park et al., 2008). Katterattanakul and Siau (2003) summarize the characteristics of the virtual store compared with the physical one according to
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3.2. Measurement scale
the following factors: physical facilities, which consist of layout and architecture, are more flexible in case of virtual stores, as well as the response time of the virtual environment system is fast; products presentation is richer and more detailed in the case of virtual store; services, the virtual stores offer a wider range of services, such as delivery policies, purchasing and decision support systems; convenience, which consists of the convenient location and parking in the traditional stores, represents the organization of the website in the online context; visual appearance, in terms of store atmosphere and attractiveness; institutional factors, such as reputation and company’s information. Therefore, immersive stores represent an advanced virtual point of sale, enriched with more functionalities. The key factors which determine the consumer’s preference and satisfaction are still basic elements in the development of effective immersive stores. Some current researches focus on the possibility to adopt immersive technologies for marketing purposes by exploiting the current advances in the field of Virtual Reality for retailing, even if they do not provide any data on consumer’s acceptance of this introduction (Laria and Pantano, 2011; Laria and Pantano, 2012). Hence, the main purpose of our study is to understand to what extent immersive environments represent the basis for an innovative store. To achieve this goal, investigating consumer’s response regarding the 3D immersive retail environments plays a key role for defining a new framework for the development of innovative and more efficient stores. Fig. 1 provides the research model, based upon the current scientific literature. 3. Research methodology 3.1. Research model The research model is based on an experimental study design. The variables are store perception, ease of use, enjoinment, and consumer’ satisfaction, as summarized in Table 1.
Fig. 1. Research framework.
A questionnaire was developed on the literature review and a pilot study using a convenient sample was performed. The questionnaire included 19 items: 13 items on store perception, ease of use, enjoyment, convenience and satisfaction which were measured using a five-points Likert scale (1¼strongly disagree; 5¼strongly agree), and six items on consumer profile, including gender, age, education, experience with online purchasing, knowledge of Virtual Reality and interest towards new technologies. Structural Equation Model (SEM) has been applied to many researches for solving problems related to casual relationships between latent construct measured by observed variables (Reisinger and Turner, 1999). Furthermore, it has been largely exploited for expressing complex variables through hierarchical or non-hierarchical and recursive or non-recursive structural equations, as well as to model several paths among variables in one analysis (Gefen, 2003). For this reason, the current study involves the SEM method for testing the research model through a confirmatory analytical technique. Therefore, the both factor analysis and hypotheses are valuated in the same analysis. In particular, LISREL statistical software has been involved for analyzing the covariance-based SEM.
3.3. Participants and procedure The data has been collected from 150 potential consumers at University of Calabria (Italy) during November 2010. All participants were Italian undergraduate university students and they were recruited during the normal educational activities. Among the available respondents, female sample represents the majority of total ones, with a percentage of the 92%. Since the majority of respondents bought less than five products through online channels (77.3%), the sample has a scarce experience in online shopping. In fact, just the 11.3% of the participants bought between 6 and 10 products in the online channel; while the 7.3% more than 10. Finally, most of the participants (76.6%) consider positively their knowledge on Virtual Reality, as well as they showed an interest towards new technological applications (34.7% sufficient and 56.7% good). The demographic characteristics of participants are based on gender, age, education, as well as on the previous experience on online shopping (in terms of purchased products through Internet), knowledge of Virtual Reality and interest towards new technologies, as presented in Table 2. This data allows understanding the level of technology is being used by participants, both in terms of online purchases and virtual navigation. In this study, the chosen virtual environment focuses on a decentralized computing landscape based on a digital world, which displays 3D virtual products, furniture and other store components, and the physical one, represented by the real
Table 1 Constructs and definitions. Variables
Description
Source
Store perception
The degree to which a consumer perceive a store as more convenient if compared to other shopping mode, in terms of utilitarian benefits The degree to which a consumer believes that using these interactive stores does not require effort The degree to which carrying out a task is perceived as providing pleasure, aside from activity consequences The degree to which shopping in the store is perceived as a satisfying experience which influences consumer’s intention to continue in such behaviors
Hsiao, 2009; Lee and Chung, 2008; Yoon and Kim, 2007; Vrechopoulos et al., 2004 Kim et al., 2007; Yoon and Kim, 2007
Perceived ease of use Perceived enjoyment
Consumer satisfaction
¨ Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Venkatesh, 2000 Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010
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Table 2 Sample characteristics. Measure
Item
Number Percent
Gender
Male Female
12 138
8.0 92.0
Age
Under 25 26–35 Over 36 Missing
139 7 3 1
92.7 4.7 2.0 0.6
Education
High school Master degree
148 2
98.7 1.3
Experience in online shopping
Less than 5 purchases 116 17 6–10 online purchases More than 10 11 Missing 6
77.3 11.3
Knowledge of virtual reality
Scarce Sufficient Good Missing
35 79 35 1
23.3 52.7 23.3 0.7
Interest towards new technologies
Scarce
12
8.0
Sufficient Good Missing
52 85 1
34.7 56.7 0.6
Fig. 3. Products visualization.
7.3 4.1
studies identified the most common layout typologies in traditional stores (Grid, Freeform, and Racetrack/Boutique) (Levy and Weitz, 2001), whereas other ones indicated that layouts employed for offline stores usually cannot be adopted in the online context (Manganari et al., 2009; Krasonikolakis and Vrechopoulos, 2009). Despite these elements, the research in this direction is still in progress. Participants explored freely the immersive point of sale as a real one without time constraints, by virtually touching the products and visualizing the different digital scenarios connected to each product. In this way, the access to the information related to the each product was easier and funnier (Fig. 3). The immersive environment was designed to give to the final user’s information about preferred products in an interactive way. During the visualization phase users were stimulated to navigate in the virtual store to both create a mental model of the environment and to evaluate the related interactivity level.
4. Key findings
Fig. 2. User’s interaction in the immersive store.
consumers who have the feeling of immersion in the virtual scenario (Wright and Steventon, 2006; Hansmann, 2003). Immersive environments can be realized through several techniques. We based our experiment on stereoscopic technology. This one consists of a large screen connected to a computer, which combines two images of the same object from two different points of view displayed by two overlying projectors, in order to create the 3D effect. Therefore, consumers are able to visualize 3D images through the use of glasses with polarized lens. Fig. 2 shows consumer’s exploration of the immersive store reproduced in the university laboratory (Fig. 2). Although there are several store layout configurations, in this research we did not consider the effects of different configurations on consumer’s behavior. In this study, we consider only the visual appeal of the 3D virtual store, but not the consumer’ purchase process. In fact, different layout configurations affect the purchasing process, store exploration and products visualization, as well as permanence in the store (Vrechopoulos et al., 2004). Previous
The sample generated 150 usable responses. Each measurement item has been previously validated through the Cronbach’s alpha statistical analysis. Since each value meets the suggested acceptable ones (Cronbach and Shavelson, 2004), the proposed research model satisfies the reliability criteria (Table 3). The statistical validity of the proposed model constructs and their relationships have been further investigated by assessing the fit indexes value for evaluating the quality of the results. LISREL software allows testing the unidimensionality of the scale for the identified items (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991). The goodness-of-fit statistics are: w2/degrees of freedom¼2.6, p¼.00, GFI (goodness-of-fit index)¼.92, AGFI (adjusted goodnessof-fit-index)¼0.91, NFI (normed fit index)¼0.93, CFI (comparative fit index)¼0.91, and RMSEA (root mean square error of approximation)¼0.03. Since the fitness measures are in accordance with the values suggested by literature (Li and Yeh, 2010; Park et al., 2008), the model yields a suitable fit. Afterwards, the test of the hypothesized relationships among the research variables has been performed by focusing on the analysis of the path coefficient and R2 values. The results support the proposed relationships as presented in Fig. 4. Table 4 summarizes the correlations among the research variables after the SEM statistical analysis. The results suggest that the hypothesized model fits the data. An important trait of our model concerns the significant role of enjoyment on consumer’s store perception and on the subsequent satisfaction process towards the adoption of the immersive environment. Furthermore, the results show also the moderating
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role of ease of use of the innovative tools available to explore the store. As a consequence, especially the provided fun and the store perception, influenced by the innovativeness, convenience and utility, are capable of increasing the consumer satisfaction and their shopping mode choice, in accordance with the literature ¨ review (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010; Yoon and Kim, 2007).
Table 3 Cronbach’s alpha values. Factor
a Cronbach
Store perception Perceived ease of use Perceived enjoyment Consumer satisfaction
0.72 0.76 0.86 0.82
283
5. Discussion
Fig. 4. Structural Equation analysis results.
Table 4 Tested hypotheses results. Hypothesized relationship
H1 Perceived ease of use-Store perception H2 Perceived ease of use-Enjoyment H3 Perceived ease of use-Consumer satisfaction H4 Enjoyment-Store perception H5 Enjoyment-Consumer satisfaction H6 Store perception-Consumer satisfaction n
Path coefficient
Test result
0.55n 0.41n 0.38n
Supported Supported Supported
0.73n 0.98n 0.68n
Supported Supported Supported
p o .001.
Our findings show the validity of the model and the robustness of the hypothesized relationships. In particular, they suggested that consumer’s satisfaction towards the introduction of immersive environments in the traditional points of sale is influenced by three main dimensions: (1) perceived ease of use of the innovative tools, (2) provided enjoyment, and (3) new store perception. The explained variance value (91%) of the second factor, enjoyment, is greater than the other ones, accounting for the greatest proportion of variation in overall user satisfaction, and emerging as the most powerful predictor of consumer’s response towards the innovative shopping experience. In addition, results demonstrate the important role of enjoyment for both store perception and consumer’s satisfaction as it permits potential clients to live a more engaging experience during their interactions in the new point of sale. Hypothesis H1, which states a causal positive relationship between the ease of use and store perception is also strongly supported, with a standardized coefficient of 0.55; whereas H2, which assumes a positive causal relationship between perceived ease of use and enjoyment, is supported, with a standardized coefficient of 0.41. In particular, the value of R2 indicates that the at least 0.27 of variance is explained, implying that other variables may not be involved in the relationships. The impact of ease of use on consumer satisfaction (H3) is also supported by a coefficient of 0.38.
Table 5 Comparison between virtual and immersive stores.
Facilities
Virtual store
Immersive store
Fast response Secure transaction System flexibility
Fast response Secure transaction System flexibility Entertainment
Product variety Detailed products information Personalized information
Product variety Detailed products information Personalized information
Product selection assistance
Product selection assistance Virtual salesperson
Product information
Service
Payment selection Online support
Online support
Convenience Details about the firm Location indicator Navigational efficiency Appearance
Details about the firm Navigational efficiency More realistic navigation and interaction
Pleasant Attractive
Pleasant Attractive More realistic appearance
Requirements related to consumer’s profile Firm’s information
Requirements related to consumer’s profile Firm’s information Consumer’s position tracer while in the immersive store
Institutional factors
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This study provides important insights also for the Human– Computer Interaction field, by investigating the design of suitable Graphical User Interfaces for virtual store (Ganesh et al., 2010; Parsons, and Conroy, 2006). In fact, our findings highlight how the user interaction mechanisms would fit consumer’s needs. Shopping is a complex, collaborative and social activity and supports customers decision process with a large amount of information provided through virtual and immersive technologies (Liu, 2010; Yoon and Kim, 2007). Consumer is not only a final user, but also an expert who needs to operate with interactive systems and products easily. Thus, the development of virtual stores would reinforce the researches between Human–Computer Interaction studies and consumers behavior. In our opinion, these studies will ensure the realization of virtual environments capable of providing efficient services and specific functions for supporting consumer’s behavior. The challenge of virtual stores environments is identifying and modeling visual interfaces for influencing consumer’s behavior by reducing the cognitive load mechanisms and then encouraging the decision-making process.
enjoyment emerges from the results of this study, in accordance ¨ with the results of previous researches (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010). Hence, the association between perceived enjoyment and consumer’s satisfaction in an immersive store can be a first step for synthesizing and integrating models of consumer’s acceptance towards advanced technologies in the traditional points of sale. This research provides a basis for an evaluating framework for highlighting the potential consumer’s behavior towards the introduction of virtual and immersive technologies in traditional retailing. Furthermore, the results outline issues for practitioners in terms of new strategies for renewing traditional stores and make them more convenient for a wider target. In fact, the importance of enjoyment in the point of sale and the subsequent influence on store perception and consumers satisfaction would force retailers to adopt new interactive and enjoying tools in the stores to catch consumer’s interest as in the virtual ones. Since the immersive environments increase consumer’s satisfaction towards the shopping experience, these environments become an innovative tool for the development of a new model of store based on the application of advanced technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. From a managerial point of view, our results provide information on new retail tools capable of monitoring consumer’s behavior in the immersive store. This information might be used to develop new efficient marketing strategies which can be tested in a faster and easier way. The immersive systems affect user’s perception of both the store and available products, by providing them an innovative and high customized service through an interactive and enjoying interface. This one will be tailored to the single consumer’s needs and position. Moreover, the service would represent a better substitute while the standard one is not available (i.e., not sufficient salespersons, the store is too small to show all the collections available, etc.). The transformation of the physical store into a virtual and immersive one requires testing these new environments by also evaluating specific usability issues and human factors criteria. As a consequence, further researches would take into account an interdisciplinary approach which involves different disciplines such as Human–Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Marketing, and Management Engineering. In conclusion, these innovative systems should minimize the consumer’s cognitive load by providing suitable visual interfaces capable of supporting them to finalize the purchase intention. Therefore, virtual stores should adopt new and easier user’s interfaces for an intuitive user’s learning process. These factors might satisfy consumer’s requirements and make the products displaying more evocative, with consequences on both the effectiveness of the mediated message and the cognitive response.
6. Conclusions
7. Limitations and future works
The results of our study outline several issues for retail sector for both researchers and practitioners. In particular, our findings demonstrate that consumer’s perceived enjoyment as a motivating factor for the store choice, as well as for the quality of shopping experience. A contribution of this study carries out also the moderating role of ease of use of the interactive tools on enjoyment, store perception and satisfaction process in the innovative immersive store. Although previous studies highlighted the importance of ease of use in the user’s acceptance of a new technology, just few researches focused on the integration of Virtual Reality applications in a real point of sale. The recognition of the role of
Although this study offers important issues, there are some limitations which should be taken into account. The first limitation is related to the involvement of a student sample in combination with the laboratory experiment. In fact, this type of experiment might partially reduce the external validity of the research. Furthermore, the graphics quality of the immersive store was optimized for all respondents before the experiment, by using high performing computers and displays, thus, as suggested by Lee and Chung (2008), the study might achieve different results in ‘‘real condition’’, with slower system responses to users queries and so on.
Since hypotheses H4 and H5, which assumes a positive effect of enjoyment factor on both store perception and consumer’ satisfaction, are supported by a high standardized coefficient of, respectively 0.73 and 0.98. The variable enjoyment is one of the major influencing factors. This construct is also supported by the high value of R2 which explains the 0.91 of the variance and, as a consequence, excludes the presence of other latent variables. The last supported hypothesis, H6, is related to the causal positive relationship between store perception and consumer satisfaction. The value of the standardized coefficient ( ¼0.68) supports the strong effect of store perception on the satisfaction process, thus we can assume that if the store is perceived positively then the consumers satisfaction increases, whereas the R2 ¼0.84 explains most of the variance and excludes the influence of other external variables. Hence, according to Katterattanakul and Siau (2003), it is possible to compare the characteristics of immersive and physical store, as presented in Table 5. Although the direct effect of ease of use on store perception and consumer’s satisfaction emerged from our findings, the direct and indirect effects of enjoyment seems to be even stronger for consumer’s satisfaction and for his/her subsequent shopping mode choice. This result indicates a positive user’s response towards the introduction of immersive environments in the traditional points of sale, in accordance with the literature which outlines on the importance of enjoyment in the shopping experi¨ ence (Soderlund and Julander, 2009; Pantano and Naccarato, 2010). 5.1. Implications for Human factors studies
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Another limitation is related to the consumer’s experience in the new retail environment. In fact, our study focuses on the introduction of a new technology in a traditional store, thus the sample had not experience with that specific technology, and the relationship between the perception of the new retail modality and the purchasing experience emerged from previous studies has not been considered (Hernandez et al., 2010). Since the sample consist of students who individually attended the experiment, the study does not take into account the possible role of social influences, as recognized in current researches on e-commerce context (Shin, 2009; Kulviwat et al., 2009). Hence, future studies might investigate the effects of different demographics beyond gender and age, as well as the exploration of the virtual store as a social activity. Furthermore, other researches might focus on the consumer’s acceptance of the immersive environments by exploiting the use of Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), in order to carry out consumer’s behavioral intention towards the use of these new technologies, as well as they might focus on the importance of interaction mechanisms between consumers and online retailers.
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