Assessing the impact of immersive versus desktop virtual reality shopping experiences in the fashion industry metaverse

Abstract

The digital transition towards the Metaverse deeply permeated by digital technologies is the core of current debates. In this shift, fashion emerges as a relevant context for analyzing the implications of the Metaverse, with fashion companies being among the first industries to implement projects in this persistent virtual space. Today, with fashion being such a relevant global business, but one of the most polluting industries, its transition towards "hybrid" experience modes can produce significant impacts in terms of more efficient and sustainable modes of production.Also, in the existing spectrum of digital technologies, Virtual Reality (VR) represents an opportunity and a tool from which the fashion industry can benefit. However, although VR has proven its effectiveness in fashion retail, the scientific literature still presents limited studies; yet there is plenty of scope for its potential use in the fashion industry. Also, there is a lack of studies comparing Immersive VR (IVR) to non-immersive shopping experiences, such as Desktop Virtual Reality (DVR). Therefore, researchers must identify the differences between IVR and DVR systems since they may affect users during their evaluation. For this reason, further research is needed to assess how VR technology can improve the shopping experience towards the Metaverse.The aim of the research is to compare the experience of buying an accessory (i.e., a luxury handbag) on a desktop computer, DVR, with that in IVR, assessing the impact in terms of system usability. To test the differences in terms of usability, we developed two versions of the application. The first is developed as a traditional desktop application and the second is developed for the IVR Head-Mounted Display (Oculus Quest 2).We hypothesized that IVR modes can be more easily used and accessed by the user. To this aim, we conducted a within-subject experiment with 60 participants by administering the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire to compare the DVR and IVR applications.Thus, the paper shows that display, interaction, and locomotion in the design of shopping experiences can generate different feedback on the system usability, and therefore IVR could be a more suitable tool for novel shopping modes in the fashion industry towards the Metaverse.