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Marketing Technology (Martech) is the cornerstone of creating digital experiences and interactive marketing, providing consumers with high experiential value. Drawing on the mindfulness theory, this study aims to explore how to achieve close psychological distance and experiential value in Martech servicescape (such as augmented reality [AR]).

We employed mixed methods research to clarify the research question. In Study 1, we conducted a systematic literature review of psychological closeness (PC) using a bibliographic coupling approach, identifying gaps in the research stream and discussing the research implications for the interactive marketing field. In Study 2, we used a task-based laboratory assessment to empirically verify our hypotheses and research framework. Two virtual try-on environments, AR and non-AR (e.g. traditional webpage browsing), were applied in a virtual fitting context. The two e-shopping environments were directly compared in terms of their moderating effects on the relationships among the mindfulness-oriented MarTech servicescape, PC and experiential value.

This study elucidates the antecedent of close psychological distance formation, indicating that the features of the mindfulness-oriented Martech servicescape – vivid sensory experience, consumer-focused shopping information and autonomous navigation, then result in creating experiential value. Moreover, this study also revealed that compared to a non-AR e-shopping environment, AR makes the better effect of the mindfulness-oriented Martech servicescape driving experiential marketing.

This study extends the research stream on mindfulness-oriented service to the Martech servicescape (e.g. AR try-on). In this way, this study’s findings will contribute to clarifying the interactive elements and design principles of mindfulness-oriented service in the Martech servicescape. By establishing the association between these three theoretical perspectives—mindfulness-oriented service research stream, construal level theory and experience economy paradigm—the study provides valuable insights into how Martech can enhance experiential marketing. Such research insights can help digital marketing managers shape appropriate Martech servicescape for effective experiential marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors influencing the encountering information adoption of virtual live streaming from the perspective of the immersion experience. In addition, the paper aims to provide new theoretical perspectives and analytical frameworks for virtual live information behavior.

Based on a review of relevant literature and theories, a model of the encountering information adoption of virtual live streaming users is constructed. In order to complete the empirical study, two experiments and questionnaires have been designed to investigate the relationship between high and low immersion experiences. A total of 1,332 valid survey samples were collected and analyzed, utilizing the structural equation model. In order to delineate the regimes, Gradient Boosted Regression Tree (GBRT) and Lasso regression were further utilized.

The research findings indicate that users' immersion experience in virtual live streaming has a positive effect on perceived usefulness, trust, and commitment. Furthermore, perceived usefulness and trust have a positive effect on users' emotional arousal and enhance the content experience, while commitment has a negative effect on the content experience. The emotional arousal and content experience of users contribute to their encountering information adoption. The effect of immersion experience on encountering information adoption is partially mediated by perceived usefulness, trust, commitment, emotional arousal, and content experience. The relationship between content experience and encountering information adoption is moderated by digital literacy to a significant extent. In the context of virtual live streaming, the factors influencing users' encountering information adoption can be divided into three distinct regimes. The most significant factors affecting encounter information adoption are trust and commitment, which are located in the first regime. Emotional arousal and digital literacy are situated in the third regime, with the least significant influence on encountering information adoption.

This study constructs a model of virtual live streaming users' encountering information adoption and explores the formation mechanism of encountering information adoption from the perspective of immersion experience, which provides a new perspective for further understanding the influence of virtual live-streaming users' encountering information adoption.

Virtual clothing presentation has a visual 3D effort and allows consumers to interact. Currently, most scholars make virtual clothing presentations as a whole or focus on one element to study its impact on consumers’ purchase intentions. This study disassembles the components of virtual clothing presentation in Taobao and explores how each component (virtual clothing, virtual model, presentation space, presentation technology and system quality) affects consumers’ purchase intention, which can provide clothing companies recommendations for developing it and help improve consumers’ online shopping experience.

This study created the parts of a virtual clothing presentation and took advantage of Taobao’s 3D interactive module to simulate a shopping scenario. Participants experienced a 3D interactive virtual clothing presentation in which they could change clothing colors, show actual clothing sizes, try different model poses, switch presentation backgrounds and unfold clothing structure through interactive buttons. Then they were randomly assigned to view two kinds of images and videos of experiment clothing (real images and videos vs virtual ones), respectively. Hypotheses were tested using SEM and applying SmartPLS 4.

The results demonstrated that five components of virtual clothing presentation have different degrees of influence on consumers’ purchase intention through different consumer perceptions (perceived usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment). It is necessary to consider the design of the virtual clothing presentation in those five dimensions for different needs. In addition, it is feasible to replace images and animated videos of real clothing with virtual ones in Taobao.

Different types of virtual clothing presentations can lead to various results in terms of diverse impacts. This study disassembles and researches each component of a virtual clothing presentation. Overall, this study could provide guidance and suggestions for clothing companies to develop and design or invest in virtual clothing presentations.

The objective of this study is to examine how perceived augmentation of virtual makeup influences consumers’ perceived value (utilitarian and hedonic value).

This research conducts an empirical study, and investigates 474 respondents.

The results show that perceived augmentation positively influences utilitarian and hedonic value. The wow-effect mediates the impact of perceived augmentation on utilitarian value. Immersion mediates the impact of perceived augmentation on two types of perceived value. Perceived ease of use moderates the influence of perceived augmentation on utilitarian value. Recreational shopper does not moderate the effect of perceived augmentation on hedonic value.

The study provides practical implications for beauty e-retailers.

This study examines the effect of perceived augmentation, supplements the literature on virtual makeup and AR technology application and enriches the literature on consumer experience of using AR technology.

This study proposes a framework that demonstrates how the perceived value of augmented reality (AR) shopping influences the formation of psychological ownership of product and technology. The mediating role of flow experience and the moderating role of perceived control are identified.

An online survey study recruiting 480 participants who experienced AR shopping was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Functional value is negatively related to psychological ownership of product and technology whereas emotional value shows opposite effects. Flow experience mediates the relationships between functional/emotional value and psychological ownership of product and technology. Perceived control moderates the relationship between emotional value and flow experience, as well as the relationship between functional/emotional value and psychological ownership of product and technology.

The findings suggest the importance of AR’s functional and emotional values in developing psychological ownership of product and technology. To mitigate the negative effect of functional value, AR designers should focus on creating emotionally engaging apps that induce a flow experience, thereby enhancing psychological ownership. Furthermore, AR apps should be designed to empower users with a sense of control in the AR experience.

This research contributes to the AR and psychological ownership literature. It introduces a model that can explain both the formation of psychological ownership of product and psychological ownership of technology, thereby expanding the current understanding. By adding perceived values as antecedents of psychological ownership, it enriches the psychological ownership literature. Moreover, it enhances the flow experience literature by demonstrating the role of flow experience in the formation of psychological ownership of product and technology.

Despite the promising development and marketing potential of the metaverse, our understanding of how realistic metaverse environments impact user engagement and behaviours remains limited. This study investigates the role of perceived realism in influencing user engagement, thereby affecting external search behaviour and visit intentions.

We surveyed 270 active metaverse users to test the research model. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The results of our study show that three dimensions of realism – avatar involvement, perceptual pervasiveness and social realism – significantly enhance user engagement, which in turn influences external search behaviour and visit intention. In contrast, simulation realism and freedom of choice have minimal effects on absorption and dedication.

This study highlights the role of perceived realism in enhancing user engagement with the metaverse and its impact on physical world behaviours. It contributes to metaverse literature by demonstrating that engagement within the metaverse significantly influences physical world behaviours, including visit intentions and external search behaviours.

This study offers practical guidance for developers to enhance user engagement in metaverse environments. Specifically, our findings advocate for visual and audio quality enhancements, greater persuasiveness of virtual spaces, improved avatar representativeness and a closer alignment of metaverse activities with real-life events.

This study advances the theoretical understanding of perceived realism by examining how its dimensions – such as visual and audio quality, avatar representativeness and alignment with real-life events – impact user engagement in the metaverse. It also explores how this engagement influences offline behaviours, thus bridging the gap between virtual and real-world interactions.

Previous studies on social influence and virtual product adoption have mainly taken users’ purchase behavior as a dichotomous variable (i.e. purchasing or not). Given the prevalence of competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product in online communities, this paper investigated the differences in the effect of social influence on users’ adoption of basic and upgraded choices of a virtual product. It also examined how the effect varies with users’ social status and user-level network density.

A natural experiment was conducted in an online game community. Two competing versions (basic vs upgraded) of a virtual product were provided for in-game purchase while a random set of users selected from 897,765 players received the notification of their friends’ adoption information. A competing-risk model was used to test the hypotheses.

Social influence exerts a stronger positive effect on users’ adoption of the upgraded virtual product than of the basic virtual product. Middle-status users have the greatest (least) susceptibility to social influence in adopting the upgraded (basic) virtual product than low- and high-status users. User’s network density enhances the effect of social influence on adoption of both virtual products, even more for the upgraded one.

This research contributes to the social influence and product adoption literature by disentangling the different effects of social influence on basic and upgraded versions of a virtual product. It also identifies the boundary conditions that social influence works for each version of the virtual product.

Understanding how to retain users of augmented reality (AR) shopping apps and to motivate them to purchase is vital to the success of AR apps. This study assessed the chain effect of AR attributes on purchase intention and reuse intention through cognitive and affective factors.

The data were collected from Thai users of the IKEA Place app using an online survey. A link to the survey was posted on Thai furniture groups on social media platforms. The 439 responses were analysed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach.

The results revealed that all four AR attributes, namely interactivity, vividness, novelty and spatial presence, significantly influence perceived enjoyment, perceived diagnosticity and perceived value. Brand attitude, as a key driver of purchase intention, is influenced by perceived value. Attitude towards the app significantly affects reuse intention and is affected by affective and cognitive factors.

The findings enable shopping app designers and marketers to successfully promote the brand, retain users and boost sales by effectively incorporating AR.

The study extends the literature on the impacts of AR apps on customer behaviours by including affective factors in addition to cognitive factors to explain why AR attributes influence customer attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the serial causal paths from AR attributes to customer behaviours.

This study aims to answer the following research questions: (1) How do features of sports and fitness live streaming content influence individuals’ viewing experiences? (2) How do these antecedents interact with each other to influence individuals’ intentions to exercise in the context of sports and fitness live streaming?

We employed both symmetric (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric (fsQCA) analyses using data from 886 participants. A mixed approach addresses the complex nature of the decision-making process among sports and fitness live streaming users.

The findings reveal that individuals’ appraisal of their interactions with sports and fitness streamers (i.e. instant feedback, interactivity) significantly affects their perceptions of telepresence, entertainment, and flow. These, in turn, positively influence their intention to exercise in live sports and fitness streaming sessions. The study also uncovers various combinations of causal conditions leading to exercise intention, a detail overlooked by the PLS-SEM method alone.

This research contributes to the literature on cognitive appraisal theory, particularly in the context of sports and fitness live streaming, by integrating symmetric and asymmetric analyses. Practically, strategic implications are provided for practitioners in sports and fitness industry.

Recently, short-form video apps, as a new form of social media, have attracted users and rapidly emerged by virtue of their personalized recommendation algorithms, interesting forms of live interaction, and diverse interactive functions, which may lead to excessive use. From the perspective of IT affordances, this study combines the cognitive-affective-behavioral model and perceived values theory to examine the formation mechanism of the excessive use of short-form video apps.

We surveyed a total of 351 users who have used Tiktok, a typical short-form video app, and used their questionnaires to test the research model.

Searching affordance has a positive impact on perceived information value and perceived entertainment value. Furthermore, meta-voicing, recommending, and livestreaming affordance have a positive impact on perceived information value, perceived entertainment value, and perceived social networking value, which also have a positive impact on negative affect anticipation. In addition, negative affect anticipation is significantly positively correlated with excessive use.

In terms of theory, this study introduces the theory of IT affordances and perceived values into the cognitive-affective-behavioral model, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Furthermore, it conducts situational research on the formation mechanism of excessive use of short-form video apps and makes up for the lack of studying of excessive use behavior from the perspective of technical factors.