AR

has the potential to be such an innovative new channel of communication, which might break through
the multitude of information consumers face every day. Therefore, it is essential for brands to gain
an understanding of how AR can help them engage consumers and meet the shift in consumer
expectations and behavior the digital age has brought about (Burdett et al., 2013).

The first characteristic of AR, augmentation, concerns the fact that AR inherently augments reality
with virtual information. In relation to using AR applications in the marketing context, this feature
offers great advantages to the marketer. For one, it ensures that consumers feel immersed in the
experience. (2016: 413) define immersion as “the degree to which the user has a feeling
of ‘being there.’” Other researchers also refer to this as presence, or if mediated by technology
telepresence (Sheridan, 1995; Steuer, 1992). As AR applications use the actual physical location of
the user as its main component, the user cannot help but feel like he is in the AR scene.
Moreover, the augmentation of the real world allows the user to feel presence and telepresence at
the same time, which is unique to AR. Other media like television or VR might provide the consumers
with a mediated feeling of being there, yet they fail to also give the consumer a natural perception of
their surroundings (Steuer, 1992). Consequently, AR is not only a medium with very high media
richness, but also has the potential, through its augmentation, to offer a new type of information,
which makes it invaluable to marketers (Maity & Dass, 2014; O’Mahony, 2015).

Further, the AR augmentation provides the consumer with a highly-personalized experience. While
using an AR application, users interact with the brand in their own context, e.g. in their own living
room or with their own body, which allows the consumer to connect the information provided by the
brand directly to themselves. This makes it easier for the consumer to see the relevance of the
information (Olsson & Salo, 2012; Shankar et al., 2016). Combined with the interactivity of AR this
accumulates to a rich customer experience (Parise et al., 2016).

Conversely, the augmentation of the consumer’s personal context also leads to consumers
expanding their search activities, e.g. by trying products within the AR application that they would
not ordinarily have tried (Javornik, et al., 2016). The reason for this, may, on the one hand, lie in the
positive emotions consumers experience when augmenting themselves, which makes them want to
extend their experience (Olsson & Salo 2012). On the other hand, the visual placement of virtual
information into their relevant context gives the consumer a better understanding of how the product
would fit into his own situation, thus making it easier for the consumer to process the information and
reducing the cost of extending one’s search (Hugues et al., 2011).

Moreover, the mere fact that AR applications visualize information makes it easier for consumers to
process the information (Samek et al., 2016). Human beings can extract more information from
visuals in less time, due to cognitive processes such as feature extraction and pattern perception
(Jun et al., 2011). As a consequence, their decisions also become more efficient and effective
(Samek et al., 2016). This coincides with the findings of Maity & Dass (2014), who discovered that
consumers preferred using channels with high media richness, which often entails visual
representations of information, for more complicated tasks. The sense of efficient information
gathering and processing gained through these media typically generates a feeling of satisfaction,
which in turn makes it easier for the consumer to remember the experience (Olsson & Salo 2012).

Overall, we found that mobile AR has a significant influence on both the emotional and the cognitive
dimension of the consumer experience during search and evaluation. AR elicits positive emotions
with varying degrees of strength depending on the type of product and its relation to the consumer’s
identity. Moreover, AR increases the user's explorative behavior and provides valuable information,
which in turn improve the consumer’s understanding of the product. Our research further expands
on the findings of Javornik (2016) regarding the impact of the AR media characteristics on consumer
behavior by providing new insights in relation to search and evaluation behavior when making a
purchase decision. Both interactivity and augmentation were found to positively influence the
emotional and cognitive dimension of the consumer experience. Further we argue that registration
acts like Herzberg’s hygiene factors, only impacting the experience when lacking, and then
negatively. The findings with regards to registration address a key theoretical gap, by looking into
the influence of registration on consumer perceptions and behavior. Lastly, the influence of all three
AR media characteristics was found to be affected by the application’s technological quality, which
we discovered to be of significant importance to the consumer’s experience.

When conducting this research, there are some key ethical principles that need to be
addressed. In practice, these principles imply that, in this paper, none of the principles listed
above are going to be violated:
 PRINCIPLE ONE: Minimising the risk of harm
This paper does not intent to harm participants in any way; in the unlikely event of a
participant being harmed, these should be strong justification given. Examples of harm:

 Physical harm to participants.

 Psychological distress and discomfort.
 Social disadvantage.
 Harm to participants’ financial status.
 An invasion of participants’ privacy and anonymity

 PRINCIPLE TWO: Obtaining information consent:

Informed consent assures that participants understand that they are taking part in a
research and what does that research require them to do. They should be given information
about: the purpose of the research, methods used, outcomes of the research etc.
Another aspect of informed consent is the acknowledgement that participants are
volunteers, taking part voluntarily and without being deceived or coerced.
 PRINCIPLE THREE: Protecting anonymity and confidentiality
The research should protect the anonymity and confidentiality of its participants, as
participation is voluntary (with special regards to information that s private or sensitive in
nature). Data must be treated confidentially by any means.
However, there are situations when some type of data may not be kept confidential, like
disclosing some views or identities of participants at certain stages of the research.
Nonetheless, any of these actions should be done after seeking permission from the
participants.
 PRINCIPLE FOUR: Avoiding deceptive practices
This principle is connected to informed consent and implies that deceiving manners should
not be applied to participants.
However, in some cases, this may be considered justifiable. For example, when wanting to
observe the behaviour of people in a certain setting, as part of a research, if known they are
being monitored and observed, people may behave differently, altering the results of the
research.
  PRINCIPLE FIVE: Providing the right to withdraw
Participants should have the right to withdraw from the research at any point of the
research. If choosing to do so, they should not be pressured or coerced in an attempt to stop
them from withdrawing.

Marketing effectiveness can be measured by applying the concept of purchase intention

(Andrews, Akhter, Durvasula & Muehling, 1992; Beerli & Santana 1999, Li, Daugherty &
Biocca, 2002, cited in Stoyanova, 2014) as a metric for predicting the consumer purchasing
behaviour (Bonnie, Teresa, Yingjiao, & Raul, 2007, cited in Stoyanova, 2014). Previous
research shows that attitude (Prendergast & Hwa 2003, cited in Stoyanova, 2014),
innovativeness (Bopeng Zhang & Jung-Hwan Kim, 2013, cited in Stoyanova, 2014) knowledge
(Chang, 2004, cited in Stoyanova, 2014) and demographics (Prendergast et al., 2003, cited in
Stoyanova, 2014) are the variables that have the biggest impact on consumer purchase
intentions.

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