Telepresence, time distortion, and consumer traits of virtual reality shopping

Even though VR(Virtual Reality) shopping provides new opportunities for today’s marketers, it is not readily embraced by consumers. In this research, we aim to understand the underlying factors that facilitate the adoption of VR technology, by incorporating the consumer flow theory and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Specifically, we find that factors that enhance consumer flow (i.e., telepresence, challenge, body ownership, and control) are positively associated with antecedent factors of technology acceptance (i.e. playfulness and usefulness), which are, in turn, associated with greater intentions to adopt and utilize VR technology in a consumer setting. We also investigate the moderating role of technology readiness and time distortion on the relationship between telepresence and playfulness. Data was collected by having participants use VR glasses in an actual VR supermarket that was created for this study. By elucidating factors that help consumer adoption of VR technology and emphasizing unique factors inherent to VR (i.e. telepresence and time distortion), this paper provides important contributions to the literature and implications for marketing managers.