Enabling smart retail settings via mobile augmented reality shopping apps

Abstract

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Augmenting the eye of the beholder: exploring the strategic potential of augmented reality to enhance online service experiences

“…In Table 1 we summarize selected relevant literature, revealing common research themes and gaps. In particular, recent research emphasizes that AR is able to deliver a compelling user experience (e.g., Poushneh and Vasquez-Parraga 2017), and AR is also expected to benefit customer decision making (Dacko 2016). Many studies share an appreciation for AR's ability to embed virtual content into reality and enable interactions with the content.…”

“…As part of an innovative service strategy, AR-based service augmentation offers firms the means to achieve favorable customer behavioral outcomes (e.g., purchase behavior, word-of-mouth) and enhance their bottom lines (Dacko 2016). It is a readily adoptable technology that works on existing (customer-owned) devices (McKone et al 2016), and AR-enhanced online service experiences may help deliver on services marketing imperatives (Berry 2016): competing on value, meeting or exceeding customer expectations, saving customers time and effort (including enhancing decision making ability), and being generous.…”

“…Extant research has shown that customers expect not only experiential benefits from AR use for online shopping but also reduced decision uncertainty (Dacko 2016). In support of this view, many service delivery models emphasize the importance of achieving consumer comfort in service interactions (Spake et al 2003).…”

“…However, due to inflated expectations there are concerns about the business reality of these market projections (Gartner 2015). Customers expect AR to deliver experiential benefits while also reducing their decisionmaking uncertainty (Dacko 2016), but most extant research into AR is limited to a focus on generic technology acceptance models (e.g., Rese et al 2016). Furthermore, compound annual growth rates for AR are estimated primarily using device types and industry segmentation, rather than specific online customer needs (e.g., visualization of offerings) and concerns (e.g., privacy).…”

“…We anticipate that the spatial presence offered by AR may have a stronger impact on the value perceptions of those who are inclined to rely on semantic processing (i.e., verbalizers), such that AR-enabled visualizations might complement their verbal processing style. Because AR technologies also record personal data (e.g., facial recognition), customer concerns about privacy are another pertinent issue (Dacko 2016). Perceptions of risk and vulnerability are associated with data privacy (Martin et al 2017) and could interfere with the comforting effect of spatial presence for customer decision making.…”