Do virtual reality experiments replicate projection bias phenomena? Examining the external validity of a virtual supermarket

Abstract

We examine whether projection bias is also present in virtual environments. Two hypotheses were tested using a between‐subject experiment with three conditions: (i) experimental context (virtual vs. real); (ii) consumption periods (today vs. tomorrow); and (iii) appetite level (hungry vs. satiated). An exact replication of the virtual supermarket was performed in a real supermarket setting to test for robustness. The findings indicate the presence of a projection bias in the virtual reality setting. The robustness test used to compare a virtual and a real purchase at the supermarket showed that subjects in the virtual environment behave similarly to those in a real supermarket. These results validate our findings and highlight virtual reality use as a new tool for investigating consumer behaviour in food research.

Virtual Technology (VR) Attractiveness Attributes in Influencing House Buyers’ Intention to Purchase

“…It can be inferred that house buyers' intention to purchase has a significant positive relationship with the AR application attributes, as the correlation value of 0.793 falls into the area of strong correlation. This result is in line with prior studies [9,10,11,7,20] which found a positive impact of VR application in influencing consumer behaviour of intention to purchase a product. Replication of positive findings of researches that relates to impact of VR application on intention behaviour due to the attributes of VR that enable the housing buyers to shape their experiences as well as fell the sense of presence with the real house which enhance their reactions and responses [39,40].…”

“…Interestingly, the emergence of mobile technology such virtual reality (VR) has attract a lot attention among the marketing researchers in various field which focused on adoption of VR as marketing tool in influencing the consumer behavior. For example, in the field of retail stores [9,10,11], tourism [12,13] and virtual mobile gaming [14,15,16].…”

The Suboptimal Future Outcome of Consumer Decisions: A Survey on Projection Bias

“…Smokers, people with physical inactivity and spending much time on the internet or in virtuals extenuate the future consequences of their habits on their health. de-Magistris et al (2021) verify by experiments that projection bias also arises in virtual environments. This finding may encourage further research in this field as online shopping increases rapidly worldwide.…”

The development of an immersive mixed-reality application to improve the ecological validity of eating and sensory behavior research

“…For example, dark chocolate in a virtual live concert was found to significantly improve consumers’ hedonic response and emotions when compared to a sensory booth control and a sightseeing tour ( 61 ). Additionally, the usage of new digital real-world environments such as VR buffets and VR supermarkets provide insight into consumer responses ( 26 , 62 ). Food selection within an immersive VR buffet was validated by correlating the selection of food in a VR buffet and a real-world buffet.…”