Keywords

1 Introduction

Retailers want to sell their products. They invest much time and effort in presenting a product in an appealing way that attracts potential customers and arouses their interest. As soon as a potential customer is interested in a product, retailers need to provide detailed information about it in order to facilitate a positive purchase decision.

However, when it comes to high-priced products and services, consumers may not decide only on appealing product presentations and dry facts [1]. Often, emotional aspects have a major influence on the purchase decision. [1]. However, creating an emotional experience when presenting products can be a challenge for retailers.

We assume that product presentations using virtual reality (VR) can create an emotional product experience that can lead to increased readiness for the regular use of product presentations in VR. The unique visualization opportunities of VR applications can give potential customers the feeling of being in a different place [2]. The consumers are immersed in the virtual world and are engaged in exploring it. The free exploration entertains the potential customers and arouses their curiosity [1]. As a result of the immersion and engagement, customers experience an intrinsically enjoyable and optimal state [3,4,5], which can positively affect their behavioral intentions, such as purchase decisions or frequency of use [4, 6].

For example, a couple plan to visit the Maldives for their honeymoon. They want to have an unforgettable holiday and probably plan to spend a large amount of money. They want to be sure that, for example, the hotel will fulfill their expectations. The travel agency can show the couple many images of the hotel and share plenty of information about the rooms and the facilities. However, the couple will still struggle to imagine how it really feels to be in the hotel. We suggest that it would be beneficial if the travel agency could provide the couple with a virtual hotel presentation to promote a subjective product experience. The couple would feel they were actually in the hotel and could engage with the virtual world by exploring the hotel resort. The couple would be curious to explore everything and would feel entertained by this innovative way of product presentation. They may enter a state of focused attention and enjoyment and decide to book the hotel because they have been able to judge from a personal experience that the hotel will meet their expectations.

In this paper, we claim that VR product presentations can support customers in emotionally engaging with a virtual product experience by immersing them in a virtual world and causing them to interact with it. We further claim that this intensive engagement will increase their readiness to reuse VR product presentation applications in the future.

2 Related Work and Hypotheses Development

The feeling of being there is often described in literature as telepresence. Telepresence occurs when consumers engage with and directly react to a virtual environment created by a medium [4, 7,8,9]. In line with other researchers, we assume that due to its unique visualization opportunities, VR technology can provide a high degree of telepresence [1, 10, 11].

The immersion in the virtual world attracts the consumers’ full attention and causing them to interact with it. This state of deep engagement and focus is widely known as the flow experience. Csikszentmihalyi [12] describes flow as an intrinsically optimal state that results in intense focus, time distortion, loss of self-consciousness and increased motivation [3,4,5]. Numerous scientific indications support the theoretical assumption that telepresence can trigger such a flow experience. For example, several researchers report that telepresence positively affects enjoyment, curiosity, focused attention and control in social media or online games [1, 4, 10, 13]. All these aspects are reported regularly to be part of the theoretical construct of flow [3,4,5].

Enjoyment is an inherent part of the flow construct, since flow itself is described as pleasant, interesting, exciting and fun [4]. In VR, interesting and exciting virtual worlds can be created that offer users an entertaining new (product) experience [1]. On the one hand, this extraordinary human-computer interaction is perceived as enjoyable by the users [14]. On the other hand, the novel and exciting stimuli of the virtual environment, such as the 360° panoramic images or interactive menus [4, 15], can arouse users’ curiosity [4]. Moon and Kim describe curiosity as a combination of inquisitiveness and technical competence while engaged in an activity [16]. Users can escape into a virtual world and freely explore it on their own. In this context, previous research has shown that telepresence is an important predictor that increases user curiosity [1].

To reach a flow state, the users’ attention needs to focus deeply on the action performed [4]. The more a user is absorbed by and immersed into an activity, the greater their concentration is [17]. For VR, head-mounted displays are often used, which completely enclose the user’s field of view. Therefore, the users are visually isolated from the physical world, which facilitates focused attention, directed entirely at the virtual world.

Flow is also characterized by control [18]. Control refers to the users’ ability to successfully navigate through the virtual environment, without being frustrated [19] and to understand how the virtual world responds to inputs [20]. As suggested by Wang et al. [21] responsive interactive elements can create a feeling of control. In VR worlds, for example, users can explore the environment around them by simply turning their heads and they can navigate via gaze interaction. We therefore expect that these intuitive interaction functions could convey a sense of control to users.

In accordance with the mentioned studies, the following hypotheses are examined in the context of VR product presentations:

  • H1: The feeling of telepresence created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the user’s perceived enjoyment of such an application.

  • H2: The feeling of telepresence created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the curiosity aroused in the user through such an application.

  • H3: The feeling of telepresence created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the user’s perceived control of such an application.

  • H4: The feeling of telepresence created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the user’s focused attention.

Previous research studies have shown the positive effects of flow on the behavioral intentions of consumers, such as purchase decisions or frequency of use [4, 6]. For example, Pelet et al. have shown that social media users experience a state of flow during usage, which results in a behavioral intention to frequently reuse social media [4]. In another work, Liu investigated the relation between the state of flow users experience while playing online games and their intention to replay the game [13]. The results reveal that a flow experience is an important predictor of the users’ replay intention [13]. There is also evidence in tourism research that flow facilitates behavioral intentions: Ali has studied the relationship between the quality of a hotel website and the consumers’ purchase intentions [6]. The results show that the quality of a hotel website (e.g. usability, functionality) affects users’ perceived flow, which has a positive effect on their satisfaction and on their intention to purchase [6].

We assume that this positive effect between a flow state and the users’ behavioral intentions also applies for product presentations in VR. Based on the previous findings the hypotheses to be tested are as follows (Fig. 1):

Fig. 1.
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Conceptual research framework.

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  • H5: The user’s perceived enjoyment created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the behavioral intention to reuse such an application.

  • H6: The curiosity aroused in the user through a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the behavioral intention to reuse such an application.

  • H7: The user’s perceived control mediated by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the behavioral intention to reuse such an application.

  • H8: The user’s focused attention created by a VR product presentation has a positive influence on the behavioral intention to reuse such an application.

3 Study

3.1 Study Participants

A total of 569 people took part in the study, including 334 students from a German university and 235 non-students from companies and organizations. Eighteen questionnaires had to be excluded due to missing values, thus 551 study participants reached the final sample for data evaluation.

The gender distribution was 45.2% female and 54.8% male (Table 1). The majority of respondents (58.8%) were aged between 20 and 29 at the time of the survey. Approximately one-third of the study participants stated that they were older than 29 years. Almost all respondents owned a smartphone (98.2%) and had heard the term “virtual reality” at least once before the survey (94.0%). VR systems were already used by half of the respondents (49.6%) before the survey.

Table 1. Characteristics of respondents (n = 551).
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The data were analyzed using the PLS-SEM method, which is often used in the context of new technologies and is well established in behavioral research [22, 23]. The SmartPLS 3.2.6 software was used to calculate the structural equation model [24].

3.2 Task: VR Product Presentation

Since VR systems represent a rather new way of communication, it could not be assumed at the beginning of the study that the participants already had experience with this new technology and are therefore not able to assess the technology. For this reason, a VR application was created using 43 professional 360-degree panoramic images of a hotel (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.
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Screenshot from VR product presentation.

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The tour was displayed on the Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone in combination with the corresponding Gear VR headset. Within the application, the participant could visually fix predefined points in the room in order to change the viewpoint. Study participants were also able to access other areas of the hotel, like the lobby, by using an additional menu.

3.3 Operationalization

The multi-item scales for the operationalization of all constructs have been adapted from previous research and transferred to the present research. The individual items were measured using a seven-point Likert-scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (7). In order to operationalize perceived enjoyment (five items), the scale devised by Childers et al. was used [25]. The construct of curiosity was based on three items by Agarwal and Karahanna [5]. The scale of Ghani and Deshpande [20] was used to operationalize the constructs focused attention (four items) and control (three items). The operationalization of telepresence (three items) was based on the scale by Klein [26]. Four items were used to measure behavioral intention based on the work by Venkatesh [27] and Lee and Lehto [28].

3.4 Design of the Study

The study was conducted between November 2016 and February 2017 under laboratory conditions. The experiment was divided into four phases (Fig. 3). The first phase served to introduce the study. The participants watched a video explaining VR systems and the further steps of the study. Subsequently, the participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire that contained questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, past experiences with VR systems, and personal travel habits (Phase 2). At the beginning of the third phase, the participants were introduced to the VR system. After the participants put on the VR headset and adjusted it to their personal needs, an audio file was played presenting the study scenario. In the scenario, the study participants had to imagine being in the final stage of planning a holiday trip, and they had an opportunity to get a first impression of the preferred hotel by using a VR system. The maximum duration of the virtual hotel tour was limited to ten minutes. After the end of the tour, the study the participants were asked to evaluate the VR experience in a second questionnaire (Table 2).

Fig. 3.
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Design of the study.

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Table 2. Validity and reliability of the constructs.
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4 Results

4.1 Assessment of the Measurement Model

The assessment of the measurement model is based on internal consistency, convergence and discriminant validity [23]. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α) and the factor reliability (ρc) were used to evaluate the internal consistency of the measurement model [22]. Since each construct of the measurement model met the minimum requirements of both criteria, internal consistency can be confirmed.

In order to evaluate the convergence validity, outer loadings, indicator reliability and the average variance extracted are analyzed. For this purpose, it was first verified whether the individual indicators had a high outer loading on the assigned construct. In this context, a significant outer loading above 0.7 is regarded as an acceptable value [23]. This minimum requirement was met by all indicators (Table 2). Furthermore, the indicator reliability was determined by the squared factor loadings, whose required limit value of 0.5 was exceeded by all factor loadings with a value of 0.708 [23]. The mean value of all squared factor loadings assigned to a construct represents the average variance extracted (AVE). This should also exceed the limit value of 0.5, which is fulfilled by all constructs [22]. Thus, the convergence validity is proven.

The determination of discriminant validity is based on the Fornell-Larcker criterion. To fulfill this criterion, the AVE of a latent variable must be greater than the squared correlation with the other latent variable [29]. Table 3 shows that the Fornell-Larcker criterion was met by all constructs. The heterotrait monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) was additionally used to check discriminant validity. As shown in Table 3, the conservative limit of 0.85 was not exceeded and discriminant validity was confirmed [30].

Table 3. Squared-inter-correlations between constructs (AVE shown in bold on diagonal) and HTMT.85 criterion (gray).
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Table 4. Results of hypothesis testing.
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4.2 Assessment of the Structural Model

For evaluating the structural model, the coefficients of determination (R2), predictive relevance (Q2), standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and the strength and significance of the path coefficients were examined.

The significance of the path coefficients was determined by the interpretation of Cohen [31]. The model had a high explanatory quality, since the value of the declared variance was above the threshold for almost all endogenous variables.

The cross-validated redundancy approach (Stone-Geisser criterion) was used to determine the forecast relevance of the structural model. It is characterized by the systematic replacement of the data points of the original data set by estimation parameters [32,33,34]. To calculate the predictive relevance, the blindfolding procedure was chosen, which confirms the predictive relevance (Q2 > 0) for all endogenous variables. Thus, the Stone-Geisser criterion was fulfilled and the predictive capability of the structural model was proven. With a value of 0.057, the SRMR was below the recommended threshold value of 0.08, so that a high quality of adjustment can be observed for the overall model [22, 23].

In order to verify the research hypotheses, an analysis of the path coefficients was carried out. The strength of the path coefficients was determined using the PLS algorithm, whereas the significance of the path coefficients was determined using the bootstrapping method (5,000 subsamples). As illustrated in Table 4, seven of the eight proposed relationships were highly significant. Based on the theoretical assumption, the extraordinary feeling of telepresence has a positive influence on the occurrence of a flow experience. Besides focused attention (β = 0.638***), telepresence also has a significant influence on perceived enjoyment (β = 0.499***), curiosity (β = 0.489***) and control (β = 0.194***). In addition, our results provide empirical evidence that the flow dimensions enjoyment (β = 0.231**), curiosity (β = 0.306***) and focused attention (β = 0.204***) positively influence the users’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future. Only the assumed relationship between control (β = 0.003) and the users’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future could not be confirmed (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.
figure 4

PLS results of the structural model.

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5 Discussion and Recommendations

This study presents a conceptual research framework that investigates the relationships between the extraordinary feeling of being there, called telepresence, and its impact on the occurrence of a flow experience in the context of VR hotel presentations. Furthermore, the study discovers what effects this flow state has on consumers’ behavioral intention to use a VR system for product presentations in the future. The validation of the postulated relationships was conducted based on a study with 551 participants.

As our study confirms, the extraordinary feeling of being there creates a flow experience for the potential customer, which significantly influences the users’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future. In accordance with Pelet et al. [4], we empirically prove that telepresence has positive effects on the flow dimensions enjoyment, control, curiosity and focused attention. The strength of the identified relationships is also approximately consistent with the findings of Pelet et al. [4], which the researchers were able to demonstrate in relation to social media use. As our results show, the feeling of telepresence in VR hotel presentations has a significant influence on the focused attention (β = 0.638***), enjoyment (β = 0.499***), curiosity (β = 0.489***) and control (β = 0.194***). Especially due to the system-inherent visual isolation of the user from the real world, the feeling of telepresence generates a high degree of focused attention. In virtual worlds, potential customers can thus concentrate almost entirely on the visualized product information. In addition, the results show that this novel form of product presentation is perceived as enjoyable and arouses the users’ curiosity about the product. Simultaneously, telepresence enhances the sense of control for the user.

In contrast to previous research [4, 6], we investigated the impact of the flow experience on users’ behavioral intention to use a VR system for product presentation in the future. In this context, our results demonstrate that the flow experience determines the behavioral intention of the users primarily through the aroused curiosity (β = 0.306***) and enjoyment (β = 0.231**). Retailers who want or need to appeal to their customers on an emotional level can therefore derive particular benefit from VR product visualization in the future.

Contrary to the hypothesis, we could not find empirical evidence for the relationship between control and users’ behavioral intention to reuse a VR system. Although the perceived control of the VR hotel presentation was considered by the study participants to be high (MV = 6.42, SD = 0.88), this high level of control did not influence users’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future. A possible explanation for this result is that the participants considered the use of the VR hotel presentation to be inherently easy [35, 36]. The usability of the VR hotel presentation could not have been an obstacle for the users, since the interaction with such the application occurred in a natural, intuitive way. Therefore, this inherent system characteristic could be a reason why study participants did not attribute any significant influence to the flow dimension control when assessing future intentions of use. This could be a further advantage for retailers, as this novel form of product presentation is considered by potential customers to be highly controllable, and technical hurdles in human-computer interaction could be reduced.

6 Conclusion

Giving potential customers the computer-mediated feeling of being in a different place is a powerful marketing tool that could change the traditional way of presenting products and services [1, 2, 10]. In this respect, it is crucial for retailers to develop an understanding of the factors that can significantly influence consumers’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future.

The results of the study reveal that the extraordinary feeling of telepresence conveyed by VR systems has a positive influence on the flow dimensions of enjoyment, curiosity, control and focused attention. Based on these findings, we conclude that the results support the positive effects of a VR hotel presentation on the flow experience. This new type of product presentation is an interesting experience for the users, in which they like to linger, and therefore they want to reuse it in the future.

The results of the study provide several basic recommendations for the development of a successful VR product presentation. When creating VR applications, developers should pay special attention to the two influencing factors of curiosity and enjoyment. Since these two factors are crucial for consumers’ behavioral intention to use a VR system in the future, VR applications should arouse curiosity (e.g. various points of interest, interactive menus) and be enjoyable (e.g. pleasant ambiance, colorful panoramic images). Although our results do not confirm that the sense of control has an influence on the intention to reuse a VR system, the intuitive handling (e.g. gaze interaction) of VR applications should be maintained. Otherwise, the inherent sense of control could possibly be negated, which would have a negative impact on users’ behavioral intention to reuse a VR system.

If these recommendations are carefully considered, the VR product presentation for marketing purposes can be valuable for both retailers and consumers. While consumers experience a new and exciting product experience, retailers could improve their customer relationships through VR product presentations and thus increase revenue [1].

6.1 Limitations and Future Research

A limitation of the study is the large proportion of participants under 30 years of age. By distributing the study participants more diversely among the different age groups, future studies could identify age-specific characteristics that could contribute to a more general understanding of the occurrence of the flow experience and users’ behavioral intention to reuse a VR system in the future.

Although our study has a large sample size, the cultural background of the study participants is homogenously distributed. Replication of the study with participants having a different cultural background could therefore lead to different research results. Both the occurrence of the flow experience and users’ behavioral intention to reuse a VR system in the future could be influenced by cultural differences such as technology affinity. Further studies should therefore address this limitation and investigate these cultural differences.

Furthermore, the present study could not determine any evidence of a significant relationship between the flow dimension control and users’ behavioral intention to reuse a VR system. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to investigate whether the sense of control, mediated through telepresence, is perceived by users as an inherent system characteristic. In particular, future studies could examine how factors such as navigation, controller handling, or the positioning of control elements (e.g. buttons) in virtual space influence the user’s sense of control. Based on these findings, the usability of VR applications could be further improved in the future.