An Exploration of the Impact of Virtual Reality Interfaces on Online Shopping

Abstract

Virtual reality presents exciting new opportunities for e-commerce with regard to the development of innovative shopping services. This article reports on an experimental investigation into the coordinated use of two human-computer interfaces (HCIs) for online shopping: virtual reality (VR) and webpages. We adopted the uses and gratification theory and technology acceptance model to determine how these HCIs affect online shopping intentions. Data from 98 participants revealed that entertainment value, informativeness, perceived ease-of-use, and perceived usefulness are the primary factors influencing the intention to use the VR HCI for online shopping (p < 0.05). Informativeness, perceived ease-of-use, and perceived usefulness are the main factors influencing the intention to use the webpage HCI for online shopping (p < 0.05). This study provides insights for businesses how to develop innovative shopping services using VR.

Factors Affecting the Intention to Use Virtual Stores: Perspectives of Consumers in Saudi Arabia

“…tom Dieck et al [32] indicated that PU influences VR adoption. In addition to that, Hsu et al [33] confirmed that PU positively influences the attitude towards using a VR shopping interface. In turn, attitude towards using a VR shopping interface positively influences the purchase intention.…”

“…More specifically, they state that if consumers perceive the technology to be relatively difficult to use, their attitude toward adopting online shopping will be negatively affected. Finally, a study was reported by Hsu et al [33], who made a study about VR interface and found that PEOU positively influenced the attitude towards using a VR shopping interface. In this research, although we had a significant outcome, the achieved power was too low, and therefore, we cannot accept this hypothesis.…”

“…Finally, both Wu and Liao [37] and Reyes-Mercado et al [31] concluded that consumers' attitudes to Internet shopping had a positive influence on their behavioral intention to shop online. Finally, a study was reported by Hsu et al [33], who made a study about VR interface and found that attitude positively influences the purchase intention.…”

Technology driven change in the retail sector: Implications for higher education

“…One of the critical factors for the successful implementation of a mobile strategy involves educating and training retail associates in the use of different mobile devices and tools (Hsu et al, 2020; Lee, 2015; Nickson et al, 2017). Too often, retailers take it for granted that their employees who they believe to be tech-savvy will somehow automatically understand the workings of their mobile devices.…”

The effect of touch simulation in virtual reality shopping

“…Product-related factors include various product presentations, such as 360° and three-dimensional images (Martínez-Navarro et al, 2019 ), product types, and product information (Ketelaar et al, 2018 ; Peukert et al, 2019 ; Zhao et al, 2017 ). System-related factors include the characteristics of VR environments identified by comparing the differences between VR and physical (Lombart et al, 2020 ; van Herpen et al, 2016 ; Waterlander et al, 2015 ) or online environments (Hsu et al, 2020 ) and examining the degrees of immersion driven by various types of hardware, such as head-mounted displays, body-tracking sensors, and motion-tracked controllers that enable walk-around navigation (Alshaer et al, 2017 ; Gorini et al, 2011 ; Lee & Chung, 2008 ; Shin & Shin, 2011 ). Similar to immersions, researchers have also explored other determinants that induce virtual experience for consumers, such as vividness and interactivity (Hur et al, 2019 ; Kang et al, 2020 ; Kim et al, 2021 ; Park et al, 2018 ; Violante et al, 2019 ), impressiveness (Peukert et al, 2019 ; Violante et al, 2019 ), and customization/personalization (Elboudali et al, 2020 ; Lau & Ki, 2021 ; Shuai et al, 2018 ).…”