I Like Your Product When I like My Photo: Misattribution Using Interactive Virtual Mirrors

Abstract

Recent technological advances in interactive marketing allow consumers to use a ‘virtual mirror’ (created with their own digital photo uploaded to a retailer's Web site) to see how products would look on them. The virtual mirror can be used for simulated product experiences in virtual shopping environments (e.g., trying a garment or a pair of sunglasses in an Internet shopping mall). To enhance our understanding of the managerial implications of this new marketing tool, we test whether the images consumers select to construct their ‘virtual mirror’ influence their product evaluations. Psychological theorizing suggests that it is difficult to distinguish one's reaction to the product from one's reaction to the personal image to which the product is applied, giving rise to misattribution effects. Consistent with this assumption, three studies show that consumers evaluate a product more favorably the more they like the image used to construct a virtual mirror (for themselves or for someone they personally know); the variables used to enhance consumers’ liking of their virtual mirror include the consumer's own facial expression (Study 1), a visual enhancement of the image (Study 2), and a regular vs. mirror image format (Study 3).

‘It’s an illusion, but it looks real!’ Consumer affective, cognitive and behavioural responses to augmented reality applications

“…While VR exists as a separate entity, AR is the closest one to the physical environment -it is more integrated with it and interactive with it in real time (Milgram & Kishino, 1994;Preece et al, 2015). Virtual imitations of the products that are directly situated in the surrounding space or virtual try-on of apparel on the self are thus a step further away from the 3-D simulations that appear on an avatar (Kim & Forsythe, 2008a) or a user's photo (Cho & Schwarz, 2012) but do not interact with the physical context. While research on VR has yielded rich findings about consumer behaviour in virtual worlds (Blascovich & Bailenson, 2011;Papagiannidis et al, 2013;Saren, Harwood, Ward, & Venkatesh, 2013), less is known about changes in consumer behaviour that are triggered by use of AR technology.…”

Enabling the digital fashion consumer through fit and sizing technology

“…Augmented reality has played a large role in the development of virtual try-on in stores, through virtual mirrors in both product simulation and consumer try-on (Cho & Schwarz 2012;Verhagen, Vonkeman, Feldberg, & Verhagen, 2014). The areas of AR and virtual reality (VR) should not be dismissed when testing consumer responses to fit and sizing technologies due to general widespread consumer awareness of the retailing potential of such apps.…”

“…Often purchase intention is the outcome variable in previous research. However, one way this may be initially tested in conjunction with previous methods, is through the availability of in-store virtual try-on or e-sizing tools, similar to the previous launch of virtual mirrors (Cho & Schwarz, 2012). Outcomes could also include fit and sizing evaluations immediately after product selection, because the consumer can access the physical product immediately in store and evaluate it in accordance with his or her experience with the technology.…”

Revealing the Shopper Experience of Using a "Magic Mirror" Augmented Reality Make-Up Application

“…Another kind of AR app that has appeared for commercial purpose is the virtual try-on. Early types of virtual try-on technology comprised either a) avatar-based simulations where products are not tried on in real time on the users themselves but rather on a virtual proxy that resembles the user's features and that the user can then manipulate [14,17] or b) photo-based try-ons where products are tried on a user's photo, which provides a static 2D experience [9,21]. The effect that both create is to show someone how they would appear with the product (make-up, glasses, apparel) on by placing the particular item on the uploaded user photo or on a customized avatar.…”