Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR), an immersive computing technology (ICT) that incorporates multiple technologies to submerge the user in a responsive virtual world (Berg and Vance 2016; Brooks 1999), is receiving increasing attention from marketers. Because of increasing interest in VR applications, several researchers have begun to investigate how to use these applications to engage consumers with brands. For instance, research suggests that increasing the number and intensity of sensory inputs increases the imagination potential of VR. Existing technologies and applications offer a high degree of visual and auditory output, though the development of other sensory input is ongoing; the advancement of VR to facilitate the stimulation of all five senses has been a topic since the 1960s (Burdea and Coiffet 2003; Guttentag 2010; Gutiérrez et al. 2008; Price et al. 2013). Thus, the aim of this investigation is to test the effects of two sensory inputs – smell and sound – on consumer responses in a VR setting.
In study 1, fifty-four undergraduate students (male = 16; mean age = 22) from a French university participated in a 2-level (smell: yes vs. no) between-subjects experience involving a virtual reality experience with chocolate (Villakuyaya). In study 2, sixty-one undergraduate students (male = 20; mean age = 23) from a French university participated in a 2-level (sound: yes vs. no) between-subjects experiment involving a virtual reality experience with tequila (Hacianda Patrón). The results of both studies indicate that the presence of an additional sensory input beyond the visual domain (either smell or sound) enhance purchase intentions toward the brand due to increased engagement with the experience.
The findings underscore the need for marketers to incorporate multiple modalities in virtual reality experiences to increase consumer responses – doing so can increase competitiveness in the marketplace. This finding is especially important in digital marketing, especially in the contexts of online retail spaces and social media experiences.
Future research should test these effects in additional sensory domains, including taste and touch. Further, scholars should investigate the influence that combinations of multiple sensory domains with a visual virtual reality experience can have on consumer responses. Additionally, given that the present investigation focuses on food and beverages, in what other product contexts might multisensory virtual reality experiences be effective, such as furniture, tourism, apparel, health and beauty care, and automotive?