Role of Augmented Reality in Changing Consumer Behavior and Decision Making: Case of Pakistan

Abstract

Marketers and advertisers ignore new technology and diverse marketing tactics when attempting to increase product exposure, customer engagement, customer behavior and buying intention in fashion accessory marketplaces in developing countries. This research sought to discover how the Augmented Reality (AR) experience influenced consumer behavior, buying intention and pleasure when purchasing a fashion item in developing countries. This study employs positivist ideas to investigate the connections between various factors, believing that reality is unwavering, stable, and static. Experiential marketing following stimulus exposure will gather cross-sectional data. The undertaken study has developed proper experimental design (within group) from business innovation models, for instance, uses and gratification and user experience models. User experience is disclosed by its four defining characteristics: hedonic quality (identification and simulation), aesthetic quality, and pragmatic quality. After encountering an enhanced user experience, users have a more favorable attitude about purchasing; in contrast, pleasure from using the application directly impacts buying intention. It was also shown that knowledge of AR apps impacts user experience and attitude. The novelty of this research is multifarious, for instance, the smart lab was used as a marketing technology to explore a virtual mirror of the Ray-Ban products. Secondly, the augmented reality experiential marketing activities have been developed by the developers as bearing in mind the four different aspects of the user experience—haptic, hedonic, aesthetic, and pragmatic. It should be functional, simple to learn and use, symmetrical, pleasant, and appealing, while fulfilling the unconscious emotional elements of a customer’s purchase. The research is the first known study in Pakistan to evaluate the influence of augmented reality on consumer proficiency and its consequent effects on attitude and satisfaction for fashion accessory brands. The research also advances the notion that application familiarity is the most important moderator between attitude and an augmented reality-enriched user experience, contradicting the prior studies, which focus on gender and age. This research has important theoretical implications for future researchers, who may wish to replicate the proposed final model in developed and developing countries’ fashion brands. This research also has imperative managerial implications for brand managers and marketing managers, who could include the recommendations of this study in their marketing strategies.