Understanding the virtual tours of retail stores: how can store brand experience promote visit intentions?

Abstract

PurposeAs consumers spend more time shopping online, traditional retailers are facing a decline in on-site shoppers. To help the industry in the omnichannel era, we propose that a virtual tour of a store could affect brand equity and promote store visit intentions, based on a well-established brand experience account.Design/methodology/approachThe virtual tour stimuli were created using 360-degree photos of real stores. Participants explored the store virtually and then completed an online survey. With 240 responses drawn from the general population in the US, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used.FindingsResults showed that store brand experiences significantly affected consumers and the four brand experience dimensions exerted differentiated effects. Sensory and behavioural experiences directly increased intentions to visit the store, whereas intellectual and emotional experiences promoted visit intentions via enhanced brand equity.Originality/valueThis is the first retail study investigating a virtual tour through the lens of brand experience. It is also one of a handful that examined the distinctive effects of the four brand experience dimensions, which deserve scholars’ attention and further inquiry. The virtual tour can be a powerful branding tool in the online-dominant retailing era. Retailers can employ a virtual tour not only to increase brand equity but also to cultivate consumers’ intentions to visit their stores. Furthermore, the use of 360-degree interactive media to evoke the virtual experience of a store renders higher generalizability and extendibility in future research and practice.

Consumer store experience through virtual reality: its effect on emotional states and perceived store attractiveness

“…Previous studies pointed out the need for virtual environments other than 3D types (Gabisch, 2011 ) and of a virtual shop to portray a real-life retail store (Lau & Lee, 2018 ). While the replication of the actual place was used in tourism fields (e.g., Deng et al, 2019 ; Griffin et al, 2017 ), and a study in retail incorporated only static VR photos (Baek et al, 2020 ), this study extended the use of VR videos to the actual store context that was untested in previous literature.…”

“…The use of VR-view videos showing actual places is limited to the tourism field (Deng et al, 2019 ; Griffin et al, 2017 ). In apparel retailing, Baek et al ( 2020 ) conducted a study of virtual tours using 360-degree photos of a physical store. However, though they used VR with an actual store, they did not incorporate video stimuli, which can provide more realistic experiences than static photos.…”

The impact of K-beauty social media influencers, sponsorship, and product exposure on consumer acceptance of new products

“…Their content has rapidly expanded and been reproduced worldwide via social media (Jung 2020 ). Additionally, traditional retailers are facing a decline in on-site shoppers as consumers spend more time shopping online (Baek et al 2020 ). The K-beauty industry, which is suffering due to the spread of COVID-19, is actively targeting the Chinese online market.…”

Narrativas que venden moda: el visual merchandiser

“…Y el escaparate como elemento principal en el entorno competitivo y dinámico de la moda (Nobbs et al, 2015). En la era omnicanal se ha demostrado que elementos de branding como el tour virtual de fotos de la tienda real incrementan la intención de visita a la tienda (Baek et al, 2020).…”