Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

Exploring the stimulating role of augmented reality features in

E-commerce: A three-staged hybrid approach
Xiao-Yu Xu a, Qing-Dan Jia a, *, Syed Muhammad Usman Tayyab b
a
School of Economics and Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
b
Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords:
Augmented eality (AR) retailing
Stimuli-organism-response (S–O-R)
Structural equation modeling (SEM)
Artificial-neural-network (ANN)
Mixed-method
The application of Augmented Reality (AR) in business applications has seen colossal growth in recent years with
even healthier future growth expectations. To advance the understanding of the paramount role played by AR
features in shaping consumers’ perceptions and behaviors. Applying a mixed-method approach, this study en­
deavors to contextualize the Stimuli-Organism-Response (S–O-R) framework in a novel context of AR retailing.
Specifically, this study aims to determine the key influential AR features in the context of e-commerce and ex­
plores their relevant effects on facilitating consumers’ in-depth understanding of the products and producing a
playful atmosphere for customers resulting in enhanced consumer experiences. A three-stage hybrid research
design is adopted in this study. First, an in-depth qualitative interview is applied to produce a comprehensive list
of context-dependent key AR features. The SEM analysis using survey data in stage two and the artificial neural
network (ANN) analytical technique in stage three unveil how the AR features influence customers’ different
reactions and rank the significance of AR features. Some cardinal theoretical and practical implications are also
provided in the end.

1. Introduction
The novel technologies of augmented reality (AR) are bringing dig­
ital revolution and moving from the laboratory into the retailing in­
dustry. The global augmented reality (AR) market size is expected to
reach $89 billion by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate of 46.3%
(KBV research, 2021). Moreover, approximately 75% of consumers are
expected to experience AR services when shopping online (Forbes,
2020). In addition, leading companies, including Google, Apple, Ali­
baba, Amazon, and Facebook, have actively incorporated AR services
into their business territory (Grand-view-research, 2021). This means
that AR plays a central strategic fulcrum position, allowing retailers to
enrich customer experiences innovatively across touchpoints in the
customer journey (Kowalczuk et al., 2021).
Distinctive AR features create a shift in the way people shop by
seamlessly superimposing virtual products on consumers’ real sur­
roundings (Whang et al., 2021). These AR features are designed to
augment (by adding graphics, sound, or videos), enhance consumer
experiences (Jung et al., 2021), produce the sense that virtual products
are present in reality, and give the impression of “being there” (Daassi
and Debbabi, 2021). For example, the powerful features of AR allow
consumers to see the effects of a virtual wardrobe placed in their bed­
rooms. Consumers can manipulate and interact with virtual products,
such as 360◦ rotation and zooming in and out. Importantly, imple­
menting and combining 3D interfaces, dynamic animation, sound,
video, and graphics allows AR retail companies to display virtual
products in more vivid and novel ways (Whang et al., 2021; Yuan et al.,
2021). On the one hand, rich AR features embedded in shopping sce­
narios provide intuitive cues to facilitate an in-depth understanding of
products. On the other hand, AR creates an exciting, pleasant, and
playful atmosphere and provides consumers with a fun online shopping
experience (Qin et al., 2021b). Enabled by these novel features, AR
retailing enhances consumer engagement and promotes sales in heu­
ristic and effective ways (Arghashi and Yuksel, 2022).
Given that AR features play an indispensable role in facilitating
customer–environment interactions and increasing product awareness
(Castillo et al., 2021), researchers have highlighted several main focuses
when investigating AR retailing. First, it is critical to scrutinize AR
features (Kowalczuk et al., 2021). Second, researchers should explore
the underlying mechanism of how AR features can affect customers’
reactions (Barhorst et al., 2021). Third, it is important to determine the
most influential factors among AR features, since these investigations

* Corresponding author. School of Economics and Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No.74 Yanta West Road, Yanta District, Xi ’an City, Shaanxi Province, China.
E-mail addresses: xuxiaoyu@xjtu.edu.cn (X.-Y. Xu), qingdan@stu.xjtu.edu.cn (Q.-D. Jia), syed.tayyab@mail.mcgill.ca (S.M.U. Tayyab).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103682
Received 26 September 2023; Received in revised form 11 November 2023; Accepted 10 December 2023
Available online 3 January 2024
0969-6989/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X.-Y. Xu et al.
can offer an in-depth understanding of the significance of different AR
features in impacting different customers’ reactions.
In reference to the first issue proposed, the existing literature has
merely addressed AR features in a research model and has commonly
adopted the structural equation modeling (SEM)-based quantitative
approach to examine the effect of these features (Barhorst et al., 2021;
Nikhashemi et al., 2021; Qin et al., 2021a; Arghashi and Yuksel, 2022).
However, these studies mainly adopted predetermined factors from
prior literature, which could either be limited in number or have focused
on other contexts. Thus, the features of AR have not yet been investi­
gated scrupulously (Kowalczuk et al., 2021). The deficiencies in existing
studies can mainly be attributed to the research design adopted (Leong
et al., 2020; Venkatesh et al., 2016). To fill this research gap, it is rec­
ommended that an exploratory qualitative approach be applied in cases
of emergent phenomena. Moreover, prior to a quantitative approach, a
qualitative approach can elicit a comprehensive list of antecedents and
facilitate an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of interest
(Venkatesh et al., 2013).
To address the second issue, the contextualization of the stimulus-
organism-response (S–O-R) framework in AR retailing can unveil how
AR features (as stimuli) elicit consumers’ behavioral responses through
their emotional and cognitive decision processes. In addition, AR fea­
tures offer rich and heuristic cues embedded in the environment, which
engender great potential for investigating the mechanism of multidi­
mensional reactions (such as cognitive, emotional, and behavioral)
(Cheung et al., 2012), and thus comprehensively unraveling the com­
plexities of behavioral formation processes in AR retailing. Existing
studies have mainly investigated purchase intentions and technology
adoption as behavioral reactions by applying several theoretical per­
spectives, such as customer value (e.g., Qin et al., 2021a), technology
acceptance (McLean and Wilson, 2019), and the organizational
perspective (Chandra and Kumar, 2018). Compared to the commonly
investigated reactions (e.g., purchase intentions and technology adop­
tion), the exploration of multi-dimensional reactions (e.g., absorption,
dedication, and vigor) can provide a more holistic view of the consumer
decision mechanism in AR retailing.
Third, from a methodological perspective, traditional SEM can be
limited to determining the key factors among AR features when studying
behavioral responses in AR retailing, since it is only capable of esti­
mating linear causal relationships in a compensatory model (Leong
et al., 2020; Raut et al., 2018). Thus, prior studies that applied SEM
could not correctly estimate the comparative predictive power of each
AR feature and how they affect different behavioral reactions (Barhorst
et al., 2021; Kowalczuk et al., 2021; Qin et al., 2021b). In comparison,
artificial neural network (ANN) analysis has the advantages of being
able to recognize non-linear and non-compensatory relationships, rank
the importance of input factors that affect the outcome, and determine
the key influencing factors (Wang et al., 2022). In particular, existing
studies have mainly adopted a single analytical approach, which can
limit the rigor and comprehensiveness of research results in an emerging
context. Consequently, hybrid analytical techniques that incorporate
both SEM and ANN should be applied. In addition to testing the linear
associations related to AR features, this could enable to rank the
importance of the significant AR features of behavioral reactions based
on the S–O-R framework. Addressing the research gaps outlined previ­
ously, this study aims to produce a comprehensive list of AR features,
then explore how these features are related to behavioral reactions, and
finally, rank the effects of key AR features by applying hybrid analytical
techniques. To achieve these objectives, a three-staged hybrid approach
was adopted to explore how critical AR features influence consumer
reactions. The S–O-R framework was employed as an overarching
research framework to reveal how the particular stimuli (e.g., AR fea­
tures) evoked internal psychological states (e.g., cognitive assimilation
and positive affection) that eventually resulted in behavioral responses
(e.g., purchase intentions and multi-reactions of engagements).
In Stage 1, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted to elicit a
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
comprehensive list of AR features as stimuli. In Stage 2, the critical
stimuli identified in Stage 1 were then applied in research model
development based on the S–O-R framework. In addition, SEM-based
survey research was conducted to reveal the correlations between the
S–O-R elements. In Stage 3, ANN analysis was employed to rank the key
AR features, validating and compensating for the SEM results produced
through Stage 2. This study contributes to the literature in two signifi­
cant ways. First, the research results generated from mixed methods can
provide a comprehensive list of AR features as stimuli and unveil their
underlying mechanism of determining customer multidimensional
behavioral reactions. Second, the study demonstrates how to contextu­
alize the focal theory (S–O-R) with a three-stage hybrid approach, which
provides a comprehensive and robust design to explore an emerging
phenomenon.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 provides the
theoretical background and literature review on the S–O-R framework in
AR retailing. Section 3 illustrates the research design of this study and
the process of qualitative research (stage 1). The research model and
hypotheses development are presented in Section 4. Section 5 illustrates
the research methods for stage 2 (SEM) including measurement devel­
opment, data collection, and data analysis. Section 6 offers a complete
analysis using ANN (stage 3) to unveil the relative importance of the
antecedents and their importance rank. The discussion elicited from the
three stages is presented in Section 7 and the contribution and limita­
tions of this study are in the last section.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Stimuli-Organism-Response framework
The S–O-R framework proposed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974)
comprises a sequence of events starting with exposure to environmental
cues (stimuli) that cause changes to the user’s internal state (organism),
leading to behavioral reactions (response) (Donovan and Rossiter,
1982). The model has been applied successfully in information systems
research as a robust and parsimonious framework to investigate con­
sumers’ behavioral responses when interacting with modern technolo­
gies (Shiau and Huang, 2022). Based on a systematic literature review,
Suh and Prophet (2018) suggest that the S–O-R framework is naturally
appropriate for studying immersive technologies (e.g., AR and VR) since
it reveals how the stimuli of technology embedded in the environment
may influence consumers’ decision mechanisms. For example, several
studies applied S–O-R to investigate either purchase or AR technology
adoption intentions and identified a variety of environmental stimuli,
including augmentation quality, ease of use, and usefulness (Daassi and
Debbabi, 2021; Hsu et al., 2021; Nikhashemi et al., 2021; Qin et al.,
2021a; Shiau and Huang, 2022; Wang et al., 2021). Further, AR has been
regarded as a novel technology with unique features (as stimuli)
embedded in environments, stimulating consumers while also gener­
ating consequential cognitive and emotional reactions that can result in
behavioral responses in AR retailing. Hence, the S–O-R framework lays
the foundation for providing an opportunity to comprehend how AR
features (stimuli) elicit consumers’ behavioral responses through their
emotional and cognitive decision processes.
2.2. Stimulus in augmented reality
The term stimulus refers to environmental cues that can influence
people’s psychological states (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). Since
novel technological features can facilitate users indulging in a techno­
logically empowered environment, these features have been regarded as
influential stimuli on users’ perceptions and attitudes (Suh and Prophet,
2018). In AR retailing, technological features are the eye-catching ele­
ments that attract consumers and evoke psychological reactions directly
(Nikhashemi et al., 2021). Being intensively incorporated into the pre­
sented interface, these technological features develop a shopping
X.-Y. Xu et al.
scenario that includes appealing functions, the remarkable effects of
marketing, and customized situational settings of products (e.g., the
virtual trial of makeup, clothes, and furniture) to stimulate consumers’
interests and facilitate better understandings of the products.
Researchers have widely indicated the importance of scrutinizing
stimuli in a particular setting. For example, Suh and Prophet (2018)
categorized the stimuli of immersive technology into three types (sen­
sory, perceptional, and content) to reveal their association with the use
of immersive technologies. Moreover, Chan et al. (2017) identified two
broad classifications of stimuli in online shopping (external and inter­
nal) to investigate the interrelationships between these stimuli and on­
line impulse buying. Focusing on a specific research context (such as AR
retailing) can contribute precise and detailed knowledge to the litera­
ture. Although it has been established that AR features exert stimulating
effects, related existing studies either address stimuli irrelevant to AR
features (Daassi and Debbabi, 2021) or only explore selected features
based on predetermined research models (Hsu et al., 2021; Nikhashemi
et al., 2021; Qin et al., 2021b). For example, Kowalczuk et al. (2021)
regarded the following as AR features: interactions with virtual products
(Whang et al., 2021), virtual product presentations (Barhorst et al.,
2021), processing quality (Smink et al., 2020), information about dis­
played products (Chiu et al., 2021), and the handling of personal in­
formation (Smink et al., 2019). Several other features were also
proposed from different perspectives, including novelty (McLean and
Wilson, 2019), real congruence (Kowalczuk et al., 2021), and modality
richness (Huang et al., 2019). As stimuli, these AR features are either
proposed based on prior literature or researchers’ understandings,
experience, and synthesis.
Consequently, existing studies have not investigated all the potential
explanatory AR features to examine their importance from the view­
points of real consumers. This could result in a deviation in the under­
standing of the real consumption environment in AR retailing. Thus,
prior research does not provide an in-depth understanding of AR fea­
tures as stimuli in AR retailing. Accordingly, to remedy this defect, a
qualitative approach has natural advantages when exploring emerging
AR features. This is because face-to-face interviews with real users and
experts can produce comprehensive understandings regarding the AR
features perceived by actual users, in addition to developing a holistic
view of the focal context. Moreover, qualitative interviews can generate
a heterogeneous data set, which could provide cross-examination results
for AR features using the qualitative approach.
At last, the majority of empirical studies have used explanatory
methods (such as SEM) to examine causal relationships between stimuli,
organisms, and responses in AR retailing (Daassi and Debbabi, 2021;
McLean and Wilson, 2019; Nikhashemi et al., 2021; Qin et al., 2021b;
Song et al., 2020). For example, the correlations between perceived
augmentation and intention to reuse AR are examined in the work of
Daassi and Debbabi (2021), while Qin et al. (2021a) suggest that AR
features such as vividness and virtuality are positively associated with
consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. Hsu et al. (2021), Jiang
et al. (2021), and Whang et al. (2021) also conducted linear regression
to investigate the association between AR features and intention to
purchase (and continue to use). Although researchers have repeatedly
suggested that implementing advanced data analytics tools can provide
rich results beyond correlations among constructs (Sharma et al., 2021),
few studies have attempted to conduct further explorations and analyses
of AR stimuli beyond SEM.
Consequently, the ranking of critical AR stimuli for determining
consumers’ psychological states and behavioral decisions remains un­
explored. In particular, after obtaining a comprehensive list of several
stimuli, further exploration of their relative importance can generate
more delicate and precise results from a predictive perspective. These
results would enable researchers to determine the importance rank
regarding the effects of each stimulus, allowing them to compare, vali­
date, and compensate for the SEM results. Importantly, identifying the
most prominent stimuli in determining consumers’ internal emotional
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
and cognitive processes and their behavioral reactions would demon­
strate the contextualization of the S–O-R framework in more detail.
2.3. Organism
The term organism represents internal emotional and cognitive
processes through which users can evaluate stimuli in context, resulting
in a specific set of responses (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). These in­
ternal states transfer a holistic impact of the AR features (stimuli)
embedded in AR online shopping scenarios to predict consumers’ re­
sponses (Nikhashemi et al., 2021). Moreover, incorporating creative AR
features in consumption environments can enrich customers’ experi­
ences and increase perception value during their journey. Thus, AR
features can induce consumers to generate positive affection toward the
novel shopping manner (Kowalczuk et al., 2021), while also helping
consumers to understand, evaluate, and easily accept this novel shop­
ping approach (Qin et al., 2021b). Accordingly, it would be useful to
identify the organism constructs evoked by AR features, which would
enable revealing specific stimuli–organism linkages and highlight the
contextualization of S–O-R in AR retailing. Hence, the consumer’s psy­
chological process (organism) is operationalized as positive affection
toward AR retailing (emotional organism) and cognitive assimilation
(cognitive organism) to represent the cognitive decision-making
process.
The term emotional organism reflects an emotional state inspired by
retail environmental characteristics (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). In a
simulated experience that combines digital products and real sur­
roundings, AR users can experience fun and pleasure while interacting
with virtual products, as they appear in real surroundings. Furthermore,
they can be impressed by the vivid interface and delicate displayed ef­
fects and be excited by this novel shopping scenario (McLean and Wil­
son, 2019). Thus, we define positive affection as the extent to which a
consumer feels enthusiastic, excited, and inspired by AR retailing (Chan
et al., 2017).
Cognitive assimilation refers to an internal cognitive process in
which consumers encounter environmental stimuli and is closely asso­
ciated with how online consumers process shopping scenario-related
information displayed through AR (Xu et al., 2020). In the context of
AR retailing, consumers can view the virtual appearance of products,
compare different products to make considered evaluations, and use
features such as 360◦ rotations and zooming in and out to observe
product details. All these AR features facilitate consumers’ active eval­
uation of products shown in AR images, comprehension of acquired
product information, and development of positive attitudes toward
products of interest. Therefore, in this study, we adopt cognitive
assimilation as the cognitive organism and define it as follows: the
extent to which consumers’ existing beliefs, evaluations, or attitudes are
adjusted through the acquisition, assimilation, and absorption of infor­
mation acquired using AR technology (Eroglu et al., 2003).
2.4. Responses in augmented reality
The term response means the outcome of an individual’s intellectual
and emotional processes that are evoked by environmental stimuli (such
as approach or avoidance reactions) (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974).
Existing studies have mainly focused on two behavioral responses:
purchase intentions and technology adoption in AR retailing. For
example, enjoyment, immersion, satisfaction, perceived ownership, and
shopping benefits are identified as determinants of purchase intentions
in AR retailing (Kowalczuk et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2021; Jung et al.,
2021). With regard to AR technology adoption, usefulness, trust, flow,
and perceived augmentation have been identified as the determinants of
adoption intentions (Arghashi and Yuksel, 2022; Daassi and Debbabi,
2021; McLean and Wilson, 2019). Similarly, studies have studied AR
consumers’ intentions toward continuous usage (Jiang et al., 2021;
Nikhashemi et al., 2021), recommendations (Javornik, 2016a), and
X.-Y. Xu et al.
brand usage (McLean and Wilson, 2019). In addition, researchers have
highlighted the important effects that AR retailing has on promoting
sales and enhancing customer value and user stickiness (Suh and
Prophet, 2018). In our study, on the one hand, we adopted purchase
intention as the research target, since it captures the eventual goal of
commercial activities. On the other hand, we investigated a multidi­
mensional view of engagement, as it represents a user-centered
approach (Molinillo et al., 2020).
Customer engagement usually represents the frequency and intensity
of consumers’ interactions with objects (e.g., brands, websites, and
apps), active participation in activities, concentration on shopping ac­
tivities, and the maintenance of desired relationships with increasing
energy. Customer engagement has been understood to be a series of
cardinal reactions that can enhance consumers’ relationships with the
service provider (Arghashi and Yuksel, 2022). Further, AR retailing can
facilitate consumer engagement by attracting consumers’ attention,
evoking curiosity and enthusiasm, and promoting involvement in the
customer’s journey (Alimamy and Nadeem, 2021). Consumers are
naturally more willing to invest energy in, develop a strong and close
connection with, and have a higher propensity to participate in AR
retailing. Thus, investigating consumer engagement represents a
prominent consumer response in this specific context (Molinillo et al.,
2020).
Recent marketing studies have conceptualized consumer engage­
ment through three reactions: cognitive (absorption), emotional (dedi­
cation), and behavioral (vigor) (Alimamy and Nadeem, 2021). This
multidimensional view of engagement indicates that it reflects the na­
ture of the relationships developing and can most effectively capture the
breadth and complexity of consumers’ responses when experiencing AR
retailing (Molinillo et al., 2020). As mentioned previously, three
distinguishable consumer engagement behaviors, absorption, dedica­
tion, and vigor, are useful for representing multidimensional reactions
when engaged in AR retailing: (Cheung et al., 2011). First, absorption
indicates that consumers are using AR for shopping with full concen­
tration and immersion (Molinillo et al., 2020). For example, facilitated
by the interactive interface and 3D special effects, consumers may
respond by concentrating on a particular task, such as evaluating how
different furniture might fit into their living room. Second, dedication
suggests that consumers are using AR-facilitated functions with enthu­
siasm and interest (Cheung et al., 2011). Consumers can be persuaded to
try AR in a variety of shopping scenarios, such as enthusiastically trying
different customized effects of virtual makeup on their faces. Third,
vigor means that consumers will devote time, energy, and effort to
exploring AR-enabled activities, functions, and applications (Alimamy
and Nadeem, 2021). This could include the frequent use of AR to enable
virtual products to appear in real surroundings or spending time
exploring the function of being able to drag and move virtual furniture
in their physical surroundings. Hence, these AR-based stimuli can
encourage consumers to exhibit engagement responses from different
perspectives.
In conclusion, this study will allow us to identify critical AR features
(stimuli) and propose the effects of stimuli on cognitive assimilation and
positive affection (organism), resulting in multiple reactions to con­
sumer engagement and purchase intentions (response). Accordingly,
this will enable a particularized contextualization of S–O-R with the help
of a novel methodological approach in this emerging AR-embedded
online shopping context.
3. Research design
Since AR remains in the early stages of adoption, existing studies
have not fully explored the effects of AR features as stimuli on consumer
behavior in this emerging phenomenon. Thus, this study applies a three-
staged hybrid approach to produce scientifically robust research results.
The three-staged hybrid approach systematically integrates the
strengths of both qualitative and quantitative research methods and
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
utilizes the power of both linear and non-linear analytic techniques to
comprehensively explore the focal phenomenon (Venkatesh et al., 2016;
Wang et al., 2022).
In stage 1, in-depth interviews were conducted to identify critical AR
features that attract consumers and evoke psychological reactions
directly. A semi-structured interview technique was selected to over­
come the validity constraints of self-reported data, gain rich insights into
the research topic, and provide exploratory insights into the underlying
mechanism and a list of critical constructs in the phenomenon of interest
(Venkatesh et al., 2013). Thus, the qualitative interview in stage 1 was
employed to identify the contextualized AR features from the users’
perspectives regarding their interactions with the environment of AR
retailing (Riegger et al., 2021).
The SEM-based quantitative research method employed in stage 2
enables us to estimate the theoretical correlations developed based on
the constructs concluded in Stage 1. We developed a research model to
hypothesize the underlying associations between the identified critical
AR features in stage 1, consumers’ internal emotional and cognitive
states (cognitive assimilation, and positive affection), and their behav­
ioral response in AR retailing. An examination of the research model can
provide an empirical explanation regarding the hypothesized consumer
decision-making mechanisms in AR retailing. In addition, SEM-based
quantitative analyses can offer stronger external validity and general­
izability, and the verifying results are drawn from qualitative
interviews.
Moreover, considering SEM based on linear analysis is likely to
oversimplify the complexity entailed in consumers’ decision-making
processes, it is still unclear how the effects of a variety of stimuli on
responses can be ordered according to their significance based on the
analysis of complex linear and nonlinear relationships. Thus, in stage 3,
we applied ANN analysis to provide significantly higher predictive ac­
curacy toward the rank of significant stimuli verified by SEM (stage 2).
Since ANN incorporates both linear and non-linear interpretations by
modeling the analysis mechanism in which humans perform tasks or
make decisions (Wang et al., 2022), it can capture the complexity of
consumers’ decision-making processes and provide higher accuracy
regarding the relative importance of proposed AR features on purchase
intention, multi-dimensional engagement, cognitive assimilation, and
positive affection (Raut et al., 2018). However, ANN is inappropriate for
hypothesis testing because of the “black-box” operation mechanism
(Henseler et al., 2009). Thus, the SEM (Stage 2) and ANN (Stage 3) are
naturally complementary and offer comprehensive and robust results.
The three stages of this study are depicted in Fig. 1.
4. Stage 1: qualitative research
Based on the theoretical assumptions of S–O-R, qualitative in­
terviews are adopted to elicit the perceived AR features that would
induce the behavioral outcomes from the perspective of consumers in
AR retailing, such as purchase intention and engagement. This study
endeavors to comply with the steps of conducting interviews and con­
tent analysis of qualitative data (Venkatesh et al., 2016).
First, the experts are identified based on their experience of AR
retailing by a leading e-commerce company through their system and
connections. For example, interviewees who have designed or studied
AR in multiple retailing scenarios (e.g., AR managers, designers, and
researchers) and the experienced consumers who have frequently used
and purchased products via AR retailing for at least half a year. They
have several subsequent purchasing behaviors after using AR and have
continuously used AR for at least half a year. Snowball sampling was
applied to identify more qualified consumers in AR retailing to partici­
pant in interview. The research context and the research purpose of our
study perfectly fit the scenario that can be addressed by snowball sam­
pling. First, the purpose of the qualitative research is to extract the most
representative features and in-depth understanding of AR retailing from
the interviewees. Hence, the experts in AR retailing should be recruited
X.-Y. Xu et al.
Fig. 1. Research design.
as the ideal interviewees for satisfying our research purpose. The
representative experts are often experienced AR retailing managers or
designers in different e-commerce companies, fans or frequent users of
AR retailing, and senior researchers in this field. Hence, the advantage of
snowball sampling in finding relevant experts helps us to easily access
the most qualified interviewees. Second, the development of AR
retailing is still at an early stage and has not been widely used in a large
population. Hence, the most qualified interviewees are hard to identify
or locate from the general population. Considering the advantage of
snowball sampling in finding the target respondents that are hard to
identify, we believe that this sampling method is proper to achieve our
research purpose.
Following the standard steps commonly applied in exiting literature
and the methodological guidance identify the targeting interviewees for
qualitative research (Noy, 2008). Firstly, we contacted several targeting
interviewees via social connections, such as the AR managers and senior
researchers. Second, we carefully examined their background and
expertise in AR retailing. Third, the most representative interviewees are
encouraged to recommend other qualified experts they are familiar
with. In other words, we used these connections to reach out to more
experienced AR retailing consumers for interviews. Fourth, the re­
searchers also examined all the interviewees’ expertise and experience
to ensure their qualifications in our research context. As a result, this
study can obtain the most relevant interviewees and access informants
through the contact information provided by other informants. Mone­
tary incentives were provided to encourage the recommendations of
qualified interviewees.
Guiding questions comprised two sections including background
information and perceived critical AR features. The question “Do you
have the experience of using AR for shopping?” was proposed at the
beginning of the interviews, followed by a set of questions, such as:
“What shopping scenarios do you use AR? How long have you been using AR
shopping? Do you buy products via AR-facilitated shopping scenarios? Do
you have enthusiasm and interest in using AR? Are you greatly attracted by
AR effects while using it? Do you spend time and effort exploring AR func­
tions and applications?” These questions provided background informa­
tion and assisted consumers to recall their experience of using AR
retailing.
The following questions are proposed to investigate the important
features of AR influencing customers’ purchase intention and engage­
ment in AR shopping. Several examples are listed, such as “What AR
features do you think are important? Could you please name the AR effects
impressive to you? What AR functions do you use frequently? What AR
features can facilitate your shopping decisions? What AR features attracted
you? What AR functions do you like to spend time exploring? What AR effects
are you most interested in?“.
During the interview, all the responses were audio-recorded and
transcribed verbatim to ensure accuracy. The coding procedure involved
three coders. At the beginning of the coding process, the three coders
discussed several times outlining the coding approach and principles
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
such as what kind of information should be extracted, the combination
rules of labeled codes, and naming and defining principles of coded
results.
During the analysis process, the researchers identified the relevant
concept through the systematic reading of the interview transcript and
labeling the contents (Xiao et al., 2020). The thematic analysis approach
was applied to code and analysis interviews since it is one of the
best-known methods for extrapolating meaningful results in qualitative
studies (Braun and Clarke, 2021). Following the standard operational
process of thematic analysis, first, the keywords, phrases, and sentences
were labeled from the original interview transcripts to identify the
critical information and descriptions of AR features. Second, we further
brought together and summarized similar content labeled based on their
relationships and connections. Finally, we reviewed the related litera­
ture in AR retailing to draw the conceptual foundation and description
of various AR features, as well as the associated academic vocabulary to
interpret the information finally coded from interviews.
The interview transcripts are recorded by two independent re­
searchers to scrutinize the responses and identify stimulated AR fea­
tures. After completing the coding process, the evaluators compared
their independent coding results, the inconsistencies in the coding re­
sults were resolved via discussions to ensure consistent coding. A coding
result will be dismissed and not regarded as an identified feature if a
consensus cannot be made in the discussion. Finally, the inter-coder
reliability meets the acceptable level of 98% (Lombard et al., 2002).
To further ensure the rigor of the coding process, we employed an extra
“verification process”. The third coder joined in the coding verification
process by conducting independent coding toward 25% of the interview
transcripts that were randomly selected. His coding results showed high
consistency with the results of the other two coders (Leonidou et al.,
2022). Thus, the standard and scientific coding process allowed this
study to generate a list of AR retailing features regarded as critical from
the perspective of AR retailing experts. Each finding was supported by
multiple pieces of evidence (i.e., the answers from different re­
spondents) to ensure reliability (Appendix I).
Telepresence is the feature mentioned most frequently by in­
terviewees. Daassi and Debbabi (2021) referred to telepresence as con­
sumers experiencing an authentic, situated experience, in which virtual
content is located in physical reality. As one example, Wu said: I have a
sense of virtual furniture that seems to be placed in my home. More quota­
tions and examples from the respondents are presented in Appendix II.
The second feature identified from the interviews is modality rich­
ness. Modality richness refers to the types of products provided by the
AR that can appear in different formats, such as voice narrative, video,
images, text, and others. As one example, Yu said: AR has many ways to
display products, such as sounds, images, videos, animations, etc. This study
identifies novelty as the third feature. Novelty is understood as new,
unique, personalized, and different content experienced through AR
technology (McLean and Wilson, 2019). For one example, Li said: that
using AR functions (on this website) is novel to me. It is different from the old
X.-Y. Xu et al.
way of shopping.
As referred to as the fourth factor, interactivity is another acknowl­
edged feature. Interactivity is defined as the extent to which consumers
can directly control/interact with virtual products by using AR for
shopping (Whang et al., 2021). As one example, Wu said: I can switch and
adjust different makeup effects on my face. I mean it is a kind of
human-computer interaction, its response to my orders. The interview re­
sults reveal the fifth feature, namely vividness. Vividness has been
interpreted as the quality and appeal of product presentations (Liu et al.,
2007). As one example, Sun said: AR effect presents the product vividly.
The sixth factor identified is reality congruence. Reality congruence
is the extent to which the displayed product matches the real product
(Kowalczuk et al., 2021). As one example, Wu said: AR truly reflects the
real appearance of the product. The last factor identified in the study is
informativeness. Informativeness is defined as the degree to which
consumers can receive resourceful and helpful information by using AR
technology (Yuan et al., 2021). As one example, Li said: The AR functions
show me a lot of details about the products.
As refer to the factors that have only been mentioned once, they were
regarded as less important and thus were not adopted in model devel­
opment (French et al., 2017). Thereby, automatic recognition, ease of
use, and convenience are excluded. In addition, two elements are
excluded since they are similar or overlapping with other elements.
Usefulness is mentioned by five respondents. Whereas usefulness may
have a high correlation probability with several other elements. For
example, usefulness may result from informativeness. People may feel
AR is useful since it provides rich information. It is evident from the
responses. Wu said: I feel AR functions provide useful aids since the infor­
mation presented is rich and complete. A similar principle is adopted to
exclude augmentation quality, since it may be manifested by multiple
Fig. 2. Research model.
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
features of AR. Augmentation quality refers to the output quality that
results from interaction with virtual content and the integration of vir­
tual and real content into reality in terms of information quality, cor­
respondence quality, or mapping quality et al. (Poushneh, 2018). In
other words, telepresence, modality richness, novelty, interactivity,
vividness, and reality congruence, informativeness may present
different dimensions of augmentation quality respectively. To conclude,
seven AR features are identified from stage 1 and thus are integrated into
study 2 for research model development.
5. Stage 2: structural equation modeling (SEM)
5.1. Research model and hypotheses
Incorporating the research results generated in stage 1, this study
constructs a research model based on the S–O-R framework to examine
the correlations among stimulus, organism, and responses identified in
AR retailing. The stimuli identified in stage 1, namely interactivity,
telepresence, novelty, vividness, real congruence, modality richness,
and informativeness, will influence the consumers’ positive affection
and cognitive assimilation (organism), which lead to purchasing inten­
tion and multiple actions of engagement (response). The research model
is shown in Fig. 2.
The high degree of interactivity allows AR to respond to consumers’
manipulations effectively. For example, AR retailing allows consumers
to move, rotate, and zoom in or out the digital products as consumers’
fingers slide across the screen. Interactivity enables consumers to
absorb, acquire and assimilate information effectively, thus naturally
influencing their attitudes toward this novel shopping approach. The
positive impact of interactivity on users’ cognition development has
X.-Y. Xu et al.
been evidenced in prior studies (e.g., Kang et al., 2020). Similarly, on­
line retailing research confirms that interactivity facilitates consumers’
strong feelings of familiarity with desired products, which often leads to
greater positive affection (Kim et al., 2021).
H1a. Interactivity is positively associated with cognitive assimilation.
H1b. Interactivity is positively associated with positive affection.
Telepresence brings virtual products to the consumers’ real sur­
roundings, thus creating an intensive illusion that the product is
appearing in physical reality (Daassi and Debbabi, 2021). By visualizing
how the product works in real-time contexts, consumers can acquire rich
visual sensory cues and understandings of the products (Song et al.,
2020). Thus, positive beliefs are generated regarding AR capability since
it provides product information in a more reliable manner (Smink et al.,
2020). Telepresence evokes consumers’ confidence, attitude, and cog­
nitions regarding AR retailing. In addition, the experience of trying the
functions of telepresence is entertaining and interesting, which often
contributes to the development of positive affection (Whang et al.,
2021).
H2a. Telepresence is positively associated with cognitive assimilation.
H2b. Telepresence is positively associated with positive affection.
Berlyne et al. (1963) viewed novelty as the combined attributes of
new or unusual stimuli. The augmented real-virtual combination in­
novates the traditional shopping way and results in a feeling of adven­
ture in exploring new experiences (McLean and Wilson, 2019).
Excitement and curiosity are aroused, and consumers’ subsequent
emotions are often shaped by this innovative technology. Thus, a posi­
tive affection toward AR retailing is generated naturally. Novelty also
influences information processing (Barhorst et al., 2021), as novel
stimuli draw the attention of consumers leading to being deeply
engrossed (Fazal-e-Hasan et al., 2021). The unusual sensory stimulus
can change consumers’ past ideas and original preferences. Hence, the
feature of novelty evokes cognitive assimilation in AR retailing.
H3a. Novelty is positively associated with cognitive assimilation.
H3b. Novelty is positively associated with positive affection.
The vividness of presentation and aesthetic design of visual elements
are likely to influence users’ cognitive elaboration since it enables
consumers to better depict virtual products and mentally envision
anticipatory experiences with products in future consumption contexts,
thus enhancing confidence in AR retailing (McLean and Wilson, 2019).
Hence, consumers’ beliefs and cognitive states are very likely to be
assimilated by the stimulus of AR vividness. Vividness often increases
visual appeal and attractively presents objects; thus, it can create a
pleasant atmosphere and increase positive affection (Barhorst et al.,
2021).
H4a. Vividness is positively associated with cognitive assimilation.
H4b. Vividness is positively associated with positive affection.
Reality congruence suggests that the object is truly displayed without
discrepancies in AR services (Daassi and Debbabi, 2021). The virtual
image of an object is simulated precisely and displayed accurately, thus
it looks the same as the real appearance of the physical object
(Kowalczuk et al., 2021). AR can faithfully reproduce the shape, color,
and usage effects of physical products; thus, it is easy for consumers to
trust, absorb, and refer to the information while making shopping de­
cisions. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that, the authenticity judgment of
the service and perceived realistic description can provoke consumers’
positive emotions, such as happiness, joy, and pleasure (Kim et al.,
2021).
H5a. Reality congruence is positively associated with cognitive
assimilation.
H5b. Reality congruence is positively associated with positive
affection.
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
The modality richness of AR technology greatly enriches forms of
presenting objects, such as videos, animations, and 2-D or 3-D effects.
Rich modality creates an enjoyable shopping experience through
various sensory stimulations, diverse and colorful cues, and intuitive
product-presenting ways. This pleasant experience often results in a
positive affection towards AR retailing. And the different forms of in­
formation provide consumers with ample opportunities to better un­
derstand the products and absorb the information presented. This
argument is supported by the media richness theory which advocates the
significant effect of media richness in shaping users’ beliefs (Daft and
Lengel, 1986).
H6a. Modality richness is positively associated with cognitive
assimilation.
H6b. Modality richness is positively associated with positive affection.
Researchers argue that AR has great potential to compensate for
information asymmetry by consolidating reality and virtuality
(Kowalczuk et al., 2021). Compared to traditional online shopping, AR
retailing provides more complete, accurate, and timely product infor­
mation, offering consumers mounting knowledge and flexibility,
empowering them to better evaluate products, and confirm or adjust
their shopping decisions (Yuan et al., 2021). With complete, compre­
hensive, and accurate information, consumers may experience a
comfortable and satisfying customer journey, which naturally leads to a
positive effect on AR retailing.
H7a. Informativeness is positively associated with cognitive
assimilation.
H7b. Informativeness is positively associated with positive affection.
S–O-R has verified associations between the consumers’ cognitive
and emotional states and behavioral responses (Donovan and Rossiter,
1982). Cognitive assimilation induces consumers to believe that AR
retailing can meet their needs, have high value, and are worth buying
products recommended via this channel. In addition, the consumption
scenario incorporated AR enhance consumers’ positive affections, such
as perceived enjoyment, satisfaction, and hedonism and thus will in­
crease their willingness to make positive shopping decisions (McLean
and Wilson, 2019).
H8a. Cognitive assimilation is positively associated with purchase
intention.
H9a. Positive affection is positively associated with purchase
intention.
Cognitive assimilation suggests that consumers’ attitudes, un­
derstandings, and cognitions toward AR retailing are adjusted and
enhanced positively. This cognitive state leads to greater consumer
confidence regarding the AR-facilitated shopping scenario (Zheng et al.,
2020). Thereby, consumers are very likely to focus on collecting,
absorbing, and digesting information since they are confident that the
focal tasks can bring the expected benefits. Similarly, consumers are
inclined to engage in dedication behaviors, such as trying AR special
effects in different scenarios with enthusiastic and excitement, since
they believe that their dedication will bring emotional content and
satisfaction to the shopping adventure. In the same vein, the positive
attitude and preferences assimilated by AR service will promote the
consumers to vigorously devote more effort to exploring this novel
shopping scenario since they believe such engagement behavior is very
likely to generate customer value.
H8b. Cognitive assimilation is positively associated with absorption.
H8c. Cognitive assimilation is positively associated with dedication.
H8d. Cognitive assimilation is positively associated with vigor.
Consumers with positive affection towards AR retailing suggest that
they are attracted by AR-facilitated functions in the environment. The
interest and attraction promote the behaviors of focusing on the focal
X.-Y. Xu et al.
targets, concentrating on interacting with virtual products, and
absorbing useful information provided by AR services (Barhorst et al.,
2021). Positive affection is featured with enthusiasm, excitement, and
inspiration regarding the focal interactions, which naturally leads to
engaging behavior with great passion and dedication (McLean and
Wilson, 2019). Moreover, as indicated by Xu (2020), individuals with
positive emotions tend to put more energy into learning about shopping
scenarios, informational cues, and offerings. In other words, the stronger
consumers have positive affection toward AR retailing, the more they
are likely to devote time and effort to explore the activities, functions,
and applications of AR. To conclude, consumers are very likely to show
engaging behaviors, namely absorption, dedication, and vigor while
they develop positive affection towards AR retailing.
H9b. Positive affection is positively associated with absorption.
H9c. Positive affection is positively associated with dedication.
H9d. Positive affection is positively associated with vigor.
5.2. Data collection and results
5.2.1. Measurement development
The scales measuring the constructs were developed based on prior
literature. The items of interactivity and telepresence were adopted from
Lee et al. (2021) and Daassi and Debbabi (2021) respectively. The
measures for novelty were taken by Yuan et al. (2021). The work of
Whang et al. (2021) is adapted to develop scales for vividness while
reality congruence was measured using the items from Smink et al.
(2020). As for media richness and informativeness, the items were
mainly developed by Huang et al. (2019) and Haile and Kang (2020)
respectively. The items measuring positive affection and cognitive
assimilation were modified from the work of Park and Yoo (2020) and
Kowalczuk (2021) respectively. A five-point Likert scale is adopted,
ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. All the mea­
surement items and referent literature are shown in Appendix III.
Panel discussion and pilot tests were conducted to ensure content
validity, avoid misunderstanding, guarantee linguistic equivalence and
improve the readability of the questionnaire. Ten experts were invited
for the panel discussion. Based on their feedback and advice, we
enhanced the preciseness of the questions to reflect the concepts and
measurement items correctly and improved the expression, wording,
and understandability of the questions to ensure the quality of our
questionnaire. In addition, the pretest was conducted by inviting 70 AR
retailing users to answer the questionnaires. Several modifications of
wording and phrases were further modified to ensure the clarity and
suitability of the questions.
5.2.2. Data collection
Considering AR retailing is an emerging context, some concepts and
subjects related to our study may be unfamiliar to the respondents.
Following the suggestions of Qin et al. (2021a), we incorporated GIFs
and videos in our questionnaires that introduced AR and presented
shopping scenarios with AR (such as virtual makeup with AR) to better
familiarize respondents with the AR context. The empirical data used for
examining the research model were collected from November 10th to
20th, 2021 applied to a leading web-survey website (https://www.so
jump.com/). Until now the website has 189 million users and has
collected 14.53 billion questionnaires, which is one of the most reliable,
effective, and commonly adopted web-survey websites in China.
Following the three-step sampling process indicated by Bhattacherjee
(2012), we determined the target population, chose a sampling frame,
and distributed the questionnaires based on random sampling. The re­
sponses are gathered anonymously to ensure the confidentiality of re­
spondents. Monetary incentives were offered to encourage consumers
with AR retailing experiences to provide their answers. We offered 5–10
RMB (approximately 1~1.5 USD) to each of the respondents who
8
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
completed the questionnaire. To better motivate the respondents, the
lottery was also provided as an extra incentive for around 20% of the
respondents randomly.
We have adopted attention check questions including repeated
questions and opposing questions in the questionnaire (e.g., I feel using
AR-based online shopping is boring.) to ensure the validity of responses.
Invalid responses were not included in the data analysis if the re­
spondents: (1) did not provide a complete answer for all the questions;
(2) did not pass repeated and opposing questions; (3) gave the same
answer to all the questions. Eventually, 405 questionnaires were valid
(92.26 %) among the 439 responses collected. To ensure a sufficient
sample size, a priori analysis was applied for the independent-sample t-
test and determining a minimum sample size using G*Power (Faul et al.,
2009). With an anticipated effect size of 0.2, a sample size of 68 is
required to achieve a statistical power of 0.95. Thus, our sample size of
405 is far above the required number, which implied sufficient statistical
power obtained in this study to detect relational effects. As shown in
Appendix IV, the distribution of males (47.5 %) and females (52.5 %)
was almost even, which is similar to prior studies (e.g., Arghashi and
Yuksel, 2022; Nikhashemi et al., 2021). Fifty-one-point-six percent of
the respondents are below 24 years old while 27.3% of them are 25–30,
which is roughly in line with the studies of Qasem (2021) and Arghashi
and Yuksel (2022) suggested that the main users of AR are young and
under 30 years old. Similar to Nikhashemi et al. (2021), the majority of
the respondents’ degrees, about 58.5%, were undergraduate. In addi­
tion, beauty (e.g., Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, MAC), clothing (e.g., Nike and
UNIQLO), and furniture (e.g., IKEA) are the most common scenarios for
launching AR services. The results are consistent with prior studies, such
as Qin (2021), Pascal (2021), and Arghashi and Yuksel (2022), indi­
cating that most respondents have tried AR services in these three
contexts.
5.3. Data analysis (SEM)
5.3.1. 1 measurement model analysis
PLS-SEM is used as the primary analytical tool for the quantitative
data analysis stage by using R-Studio with the cSEM package (Rade­
maker and Schuberth, 2020). Firstly, the measurement quality of the
proposed model was tested through convergent validity, discriminant
validity, and construct reliability. The results show a good convergent
validity of this study. The values of the composite reliability index (CR)
and Cronbach’s alpha exceeded the critical value of 0.70 ensuring
construct reliability (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). The values of AVE were
ranging from 0.565 to 0.674 indicating convergent validity (Kline,
2005). All the results are presented in detail with the criteria of each
index in Appendix V. To ensure there is no potential multicollinear issue
in our study, we checked the variance inflation factors (VIFs). The re­
sults showed the VIF values ranged between 1.051 and 1.273 were well
below the threshold value of 5 (Haile and Kang, 2020), which indicates
there are no instances of multicollinearity among any of the variables in
our study (Appendix V).
Discriminant validity was tested through Fornell and Larcker criteria
(Fornell and Larcker, 1981). All the inter-construct correlations (the
off-diagonal values) were smaller than the square root of AVE (the di­
agonal values) (Chinn, 1998). In addition, as indicated by Henseler et al.
(2015), a novel approach for assessing discriminant validity was intro­
duced by the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) to
measure the similarity between latent variables. The results show all the
data are below the threshold of 0.85, consequently, it demonstrated
reliable and valid discriminant validity. All the results for testing
discriminant validity are presented in Appendix VI and Appendix VII.
5.3.2. Common method bias
Common method bias (CMB) is considered a serious cause of concern
when dealing with self-reported and single-source data (Spector, 2006).
We conducted two statistical analysis methods to examine CMB. First,
X.-Y. Xu et al.
following the principle of Harmon’s one-factor test, the unrotated
principal components factor analysis indicated that the first factor only
captures 17.66 % of the total variance, which is far less than 50% and
suggests that CMB was not a problem in this study (MacKenzie and
Podsakoff, 2012).
Secondly, we applied the marker variable approach as suggested by
Williams et al. (2010). The correlations between the marker variable and
other variables of interest are in the range of − 0.097 to 0.128 as pre­
sented in Appendix VIII These correlations are well below the recom­
mended threshold (0.3) (Ayaburi and Treku, 2020). This reflects that
there is no potential threat to CMB.
5.3.3. Structural model analysis
The structure model analysis shows that the explained variances (R2)
for purchase intention, absorption, dedication, and vigor, are 17.5%,
20.35%, 24.6%, and 16.6% respectively. As for positive affection and
cognitive assimilation, R2 is 37.2% and 38.0% respectively. The
explained variances (R2) of all endogenous variables showed acceptable
levels of predictive accuracy and demonstrate that all of the factors in
the research model can well explain the formation of the dependent
variables. The analysis results are presented in Fig. 3.
Besides one relationship (H7b. Informativeness → positive affection),
all direct paths in the research model were supported by the empirical
data (see Appendix IX). In other words, all seven AR features as stimuli
are positively associated with cognitive assimilation while six stimuli
are positively associated with positive affection. Positive affection and
cognitive assimilation were found to positively affect the purchase and
multi-dimensional engagement in AR retailing.
6. Artificial neural network (ANN) analysis
6.1. Artificial neural network (ANN)
In recent years, artificial neural network (ANN) modeling has been
widely used as a machine-learning tool to mimic the human brain and
reveal the latent relationships among the data (Wang et al., 2022). ANN
has been applied in several contexts such as SMS advertising (Sharma
Fig. 3. Research result. Note(s): * indicates p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001.
9
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
et al., 2021), online payment (Sharma et al., 2019), and online trade
acceptance (Liébana-Cabanillas et al., 2017), etc.
As stated by Henseler et al. (2009) “ANN may be valuable in those
research settings that have a predictive scope, weak theory and which do
not call for comprehending the underlying associations”. ANN is mainly
used for prediction and is not used to test hypotheses that comprise
causal relationships of the “black box” operation of the algorithm (Leong
et al., 2020). Whereas, ANN has the advantages of not only verifying
linear and non-linear relationships against noise, outliers, and small
sample sizes but also ranking the significance of input factors that affect
the outcome and finding out the most key influencing factors (Raut
et al., 2018). To address the limitations of both SEM and ANN and take
their advantages, we adopted the ANN approach in stage 3 as a natural
analytic extension to verify and compensate for the result of the SEM
relationship test in stage 2 (Sharma et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2022).
In study 2 (SEM analysis), we have verified that both the AR features
(indirect effects) and the consumers’ inner states including positive
affection and cognitive assimilation (direct effects) all exert influence on
consumers’ responses (purchase intention and engagement). Thus, to
comprehensively capture all the possible factors that may influence
purchase intention and engagement in our research model, we incor­
porated all the possible factors (e.g., all the stimulus and organism
factors) which may have direct and indirect effects on the outcomes. The
ANN model 1 and model 2 were established by incorporating all sig­
nificant AR features verified by SEM analysis as input neurons to identify
the importance rank of consumers’ positive affection and cognitive
assimilation, respectively. In addition, ANN models 3, 4, 5, and 6 are
developed by regarding all the direct and indirect significant anteced­
ents as input neurons (including AR features and two types of con­
sumers’ psychological states) to reveal the importance degree and
identify the most critical driving factors in promoting purchase intention
and three types of engagement.
Employing IBM SPSS Neural Networks, this research used a
commonly used feed-forward backpropagation multilayer training al­
gorithm with a sigmoid function as the activation function for both
hidden and output layers to train the ANN model, and the number of
hidden neurons was generated automatically by the SPSS Neural
X.-Y. Xu et al.
Network algorithm (Wang et al., 2022). The six developed ANN models
are presented in Fig. 4.
6.2. Validation of neural network
Overfitting is a concern for ANN. This research used a 10-fold cross-
validation technique to avoid this problem with 90% of data points for
training and the remaining 10% of data points for testing (Wang et al.,
2022). In addition, this study applied the widely used
accuracy-measured value, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) to measure
Fig. 4. ANN models.
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
the predictive accuracy and predictive relevance of the findings of the
ANN analysis, as suggested by many scholars (Sharma et al., 2021). The
RMSE represents the error in training and testing. A lower and similar
RMSE value implies a higher level of predictive accuracy and represents
a great fit and forecast of the data. The summary of the RMSE analysis is
shown in Table 1. The average difference between training and testing
RMSE values in the model is small and similar. It can therefore be
summarized that the results of the ANN analysis are reliable.
6.3. Sensitivity analysis
To measure the predictive power of each input neuron, we conducted
the sensitivity analysis to obtain the normalized importance of these
input neurons by dividing their relative importance by the maximum
importance and presenting it in the form of the percentage (Sharma
et al., 2021). Sensitivity analysis was applied to measure how dependent
variables change with independent variables. In this study, it has been
computed by averaging the importance of all the antecedents that pre­
dict consumers’ behavioral responses. Table 2 shows the sensitivity
analysis that ranks the relative importance of input neurons in each ANN
model.
In the ANN model 1 and model 2, we examined the importance of the
effect of AR features on positive affection and cognitive assimilation.
Novelty, followed by modality richness are the most influential features
that showed similar importance in promoting positive affection.
Whereas, informativeness plays the most important role in influencing
consumers’ cognition. As the second most important ones, telepresence
and modality richness show almost equally important effects on cogni­
tive assimilation.
As for consumers’ purchase intention and three distinct types of
engagement, we tested ANN model 3 to model 6. All these four ANN
models indicated playfulness is the most significant organism factor that
influences consumers’ behavioral intentions, including purchase inten­
tion, absorption, dedication, and vigor.
As for the role of AR features in influencing these four distinct re­
sponses, in ANN Model 3, telepresence shows the greatest importance
for promoting consumers’ purchase intention, followed by novelty and
interactivity. Interestingly, different AR features exert different roles in
different types of engagements. Specifically, informativeness and
vividness, together with novelty, have relatively stronger impacts on the
absorption of engagement. Novelty, modality richness, and telepresence
are the top three features that determine the variations of dedication.
Different from absorption, informativeness, and vividness only exert
negligible influence on dedication. As for vigor of engagement, the
relative importance of modality richness shows the greatest value, fol­
lowed by interactivity and telepresence.
7. Discussion
This study was motivated by the need to explore the critical features
of AR that stimulate consumers’ emotional and cognitive states and how
these factors jointly affect purchase intentions and the three reactions of
engagement in AR retailing. By using a three-stage hybrid approach, the
research results were validated and compensated for each other. Even­
tually, this study produced comprehensive and robust results consisting
of qualitative analysis, a linear correlations research model, and the
importance ranking of stimuli.
8. Discussion on organism
The term “organism” represents internal emotional and cognitive
processes through which users can evaluate stimuli in context, resulting
in a specific set of responses (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). These in­
ternal states transfer a holistic impact of the AR features (stimuli)
embedded in AR online shopping scenarios to predict consumers’ re­
sponses. Accordingly, it would be useful to identify the organism
X.-Y. Xu et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682

Table 1
Neural network validation results.
ANN model 1 ANN model 2 ANN model 3 ANN model 4 ANN model 5 ANN model 6

Training Testing Training Testing Training Training Testing Testing Training Testing Training Testing

ANN1 0.086 0.073 0.403 0.098 0.143 0.161 0.127 0.108 0.123 0.115 0.132 0.127
ANN2 0.025 0.110 0.203 0.090 0.127 0.119 0.129 0.121 0.130 0.103 0.138 0.091
ANN3 0.093 0.101 0.439 0.100 0.134 0.110 0.128 0.113 0.124 0.123 0.131 0.135
ANN4 0.074 0.097 0.609 0.100 0.129 0.136 0.124 0.124 0.122 0.128 0.133 0.127
ANN5 0.088 0.102 0.488 0.093 0.132 0.106 0.124 0.134 0.120 0.129 0.130 0.133
ANN6 0.082 0.055 0.195 0.097 0.139 0.149 0.125 0.121 0.120 0.118 0.128 0.134
ANN7 0.086 0.092 0.347 0.097 0.132 0.124 0.121 0.138 0.123 0.084 0.123 0.157
ANN8 0.091 0.106 0.252 0.092 0.136 0.114 0.123 0.130 0.126 0.122 0.134 0.118
ANN9 0.083 0.076 0.713 0.091 0.145 0.148 0.126 0.117 0.125 0.092 0.133 0.109
ANN10 0.081 0.089 0.278 0.100 0.132 0.162 0.126 0.113 0.127 0.109 0.132 0.140

Mean 0.079 0.090 0.093 0.096 0.135 0.133 0.125 0.122 0.124 0.112 0.131 0.127

S. D 0.018 0.016 0.004 0.016 0.006 0.125 0.002 0.009 0.007 0.020 0.025 0.019

Table 2
Sensitivity analysis.
ANN1 ANN2 ANN3 ANN4 ANN5 ANN6 ANN7 ANN8 ANN9 ANN10 Mean importance Normalized importance

Model 1 Output neuron: Positive affection

INT 0.162 0.192 0.193 0.140 0.153 0.147 0.191 0.202 0.173 0.129 16.84% 76.82%
NOV 0.266 0.234 0.270 0.196 0.172 0.166 0.205 0.321 0.171 0.192 21.92% 100.00%
TEL 0.077 0.135 0.144 0.105 0.127 0.164 0.098 0.124 0.117 0.166 12.56% 57.32%
MR 0.206 0.196 0.152 0.253 0.237 0.250 0.285 0.102 0.274 0.209 21.65% 98.77%
RC 0.088 0.035 0.024 0.062 0.058 0.050 0.049 0.017 0.054 0.060 4.97% 22.69%
VIV 0.132 0.171 0.150 0.184 0.184 0.182 0.122 0.173 0.146 0.186 16.29% 74.32%

Model 2 Output neuron: Cognitive Assimilation

INT 0.265 0.265 0.260 0.211 0.308 0.281 0.308 0.325 0.281 0.236 27.40% 100.00%
NOV 0.064 0.055 0.068 0.013 0.047 0.017 0.044 0.041 0.048 0.061 4.58% 16.73%
TEL 0.098 0.135 0.161 0.199 0.128 0.160 0.190 0.163 0.173 0.168 15.77% 57.56%
MR 0.138 0.134 0.173 0.179 0.175 0.166 0.146 0.149 0.192 0.161 16.14% 58.89%
INFO 0.248 0.169 0.164 0.193 0.189 0.195 0.176 0.173 0.174 0.228 19.09% 69.67%
RC 0.104 0.139 0.132 0.168 0.088 0.116 0.057 0.081 0.066 0.086 10.37% 37.83%
VIV 0.083 0.103 0.041 0.036 0.065 0.065 0.079 0.067 0.066 0.060 6.65% 24.28%

Model 3 Output neuron: Purchase intention

INT 0.064 0.142 0.073 0.123 0.120 0.170 0.143 0.147 0.286 0.142 14.10% 62.75%
NOV 0.136 0.149 0.237 0.137 0.155 0.139 0.176 0.121 0.059 0.120 14.28% 63.56%
TEL 0.184 0.236 0.191 0.248 0.213 0.158 0.159 0.242 0.140 0.265 20.35% 90.56%
MR 0.326 0.195 0.202 0.191 0.249 0.102 0.171 0.247 0.300 0.265 22.47% 100.00%
INFO 0.197 0.078 0.042 0.053 0.095 0.083 0.084 0.025 0.044 0.027 7.27% 32.34%
RC 0.021 0.076 0.103 0.030 0.051 0.145 0.114 0.057 0.045 0.032 6.72% 29.90%
VIV 0.072 0.125 0.152 0.219 0.118 0.203 0.154 0.161 0.125 0.150 14.81% 65.89%

Model 4 Output neuron: Absorption

INT 0.101 0.242 0.064 0.070 0.139 0.053 0.108 0.106 0.124 0.055 10.62% 52.13%
NOV 0.093 0.015 0.126 0.108 0.163 0.232 0.110 0.109 0.181 0.174 13.11% 64.37%
TEL 0.209 0.403 0.214 0.204 0.151 0.242 0.134 0.150 0.125 0.204 20.36% 100.00%
MR 0.073 0.031 0.210 0.094 0.136 0.082 0.106 0.090 0.132 0.158 11.13% 54.67%
INFO 0.216 0.162 0.184 0.226 0.167 0.186 0.214 0.245 0.170 0.160 19.31% 94.81%
RC 0.058 0.057 0.024 0.089 0.047 0.023 0.120 0.078 0.037 0.069 6.03% 29.60%
VIV 0.249 0.090 0.179 0.209 0.197 0.181 0.208 0.222 0.231 0.180 19.44% 95.47%

Model 5 Output neuron: Dedication

INT 0.165 0.238 0.107 0.145 0.131 0.172 0.153 0.146 0.215 0.046 15.18% 56.85%
NOV 0.280 0.027 0.391 0.364 0.339 0.245 0.239 0.258 0.281 0.246 26.70% 100.00%
TEL 0.066 0.173 0.094 0.041 0.064 0.078 0.091 0.122 0.051 0.156 9.35% 35.04%
MR 0.159 0.211 0.168 0.167 0.204 0.144 0.259 0.162 0.183 0.288 19.45% 72.87%
INFO 0.068 0.078 0.035 0.021 0.029 0.075 0.049 0.043 0.028 0.053 4.79% 17.94%
RC 0.041 0.170 0.075 0.098 0.066 0.091 0.056 0.124 0.034 0.086 8.41% 31.51%
VIV 0.220 0.102 0.129 0.164 0.167 0.196 0.153 0.146 0.209 0.126 16.11% 60.36%

Model 6 Output neuron: Vigor

INT 0.182 0.198 0.152 0.126 0.098 0.068 0.157 0.171 0.167 0.130 14.50% 51.17%
NOV 0.364 0.108 0.341 0.319 0.238 0.340 0.255 0.277 0.335 0.256 28.33% 100.00%
TEL 0.018 0.162 0.034 0.039 0.100 0.114 0.092 0.081 0.069 0.145 8.55% 30.17%
MR 0.229 0.220 0.228 0.221 0.199 0.190 0.208 0.186 0.186 0.277 21.44% 75.66%
INFO 0.067 0.107 0.030 0.027 0.059 0.072 0.029 0.083 0.064 0.030 5.68% 20.04%
RC 0.022 0.051 0.053 0.097 0.071 0.088 0.146 0.013 0.092 0.039 6.72% 23.72%
VIV 0.118 0.153 0.162 0.170 0.235 0.129 0.114 0.189 0.086 0.123 14.79% 52.20%

11
X.-Y. Xu et al.
constructs evoked by AR features, which would enable revealing specific
stimuli–organism linkages and highlight the contextualization of S–O-R
in AR retailing.
First, this study confirmed the significant effects of AR features on
organisms (including positive affection and cognitive assimilation) in
AR retailing. Except for informativeness, six features of interactivity,
telepresence, novelty, vividness, real congruence, and modality richness
exerted statistically significant effects on positive affection. The results
indicate that the emotional value brought by information is limited,
while the sensory experience is more likely to promote consumers’
positive emotions. Specifically, unique AR features provided an
inspiring customer journey by offering intensive interactions, virtual-
reality integration, novel adventures, appealing displays, realistic-
looking products, and diverse forms of presentation. The results were
consistent with our observations and prior studies, suggesting that
pleasant experiences enriched by AR features can foster positive affec­
tions toward AR retailing (Arghashi and Yuksel, 2022; Brannon Barhorst
et al., 2021; Javornik, 2016a; Kowalczuk et al., 2021; McLean and
Wilson, 2019; Whang et al., 2021).
In addition, the SEM and ANN results verified each other and pro­
duced a similar conclusion regarding the significance of these features.
The novelty was the strongest antecedent of positive affection, followed
by modality richness. The important role novelty plays accords with our
expectations. Because AR technology is a new and creative method of
drawing consumers into a fantasy scenario, the novelty of experiencing
AR retailing naturally catches the eye and evokes excitement and plea­
sure. In addition, modality richness was among the most significant
features simulating positive affections, which implies that a pleasant
shopping experience can be effectively evoked by various sensory
stimulations, diverse and colorful cues, and intuitive images. The results
were also verified by the qualitative interviews in Stage 1 since novelty
and modality richness were among the most mentioned features by the
interviewees.
With regards to cognitive assimilation, all AR features exhibited
statistically significant effects on this cognitive organism. The results
suggested that all the AR features contributed to adjustments and
changes in consumers’ cognition and attitudes. These results are in
accordance with our expectations and those of prior studies (Qin et al.,
2021b; Whang et al., 2021). The SEM and ANN analyses produced the
same group of the top three AR features that influence cognitive
assimilation: informativeness, interactivity, and modality richness.
These three features are associated with the transmission of product
information and facilitate consumers’ ability to digest and assimilate
information (Kowalczuk et al., 2021; Yuan et al., 2021). The SEM
analysis suggested that informativeness plays the most significant role in
its causal relationships with cognitive assimilation, while the ANN
analysis suggested that interactivity has a higher importance level than
informativeness. Since ANN analysis is capable of exploring more as­
sociations among variables and can provide more accurate analytical
results, the findings derived from the ANN analysis revealed the
importance of AR features in impacting cognitive assimilation and rank
them as interactivity, informativeness, and modality richness.
9. Discussion on responses
Behavioral responses are the eventual outcome of consumers’ psy­
chological process and stimuli embedded in an environment; hence,
investigating the underlying predictive power of stimuli and organisms
on responses can better understand consumers’ decision-making pro­
cess. Due to the advantage of ANNs in producing a predictive scope
without the need to comprehend the underlying associations, an ANN
analysis was adopted to unveil the rank of significant predictors in
affecting behavioral responses.
Regarding the effect of organisms on behavioral responses, cognitive
assimilation, and positive affection all exerted significant influence on
four of the responses (purchase intentions, absorption, dedication, and
12
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
vigor). The SEM results are supported by existing studies (Molinillo
et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2020). Compared to cognitive assimilation, pos­
itive affection depicted a stronger correlation with all behavioral re­
sponses, which is also verified by ANN analysis. On the one hand, the
results of ANN model 3 to model 6 verify that positive affection is more
critical in influencing consumers’ purchase and engagement responses
in AR retailing. The results confirmed the basic understanding of
immersive technology; its focal task is to provide a pleasant customer
journey and further induce desired behaviors, such as purchase in­
tentions and engagement (McLean and Wilson, 2019).
On the other hand, the ANN analytical results also indicate that
stimuli (AR features) only exert a relatively smaller impact on responses
directly, while organism (cognitive assimilation and positive affection)
plays a direct and decisive role in predicting consumers’ behavioral
responses. The results verified the underlying assumption of the S–O-R
framework, which indicates that consumers’ behavioral responses are
facilitated by the consumers’ internal emotional and cognitive states
induced by their perceptions of stimuli in context.
With regard to the role of stimuli on consumers’ behavioral re­
sponses, telepresence shows the greatest importance in promoting con­
sumers’ purchase intention, followed by novelty and interactivity. This
infers that the joint effects of virtual-reality integration of AR retailing,
the novel shopping environment and activities, and the direct interac­
tion with virtual products can enrich consumer experience and thus
evoke their purchase intentions. The results unveil the significant role of
AR features in facilitating consumption decisions.
For the antecedences of the three types of engagement (absorption,
dedication, and vigor), the importance ranking of AR features man­
ifested in different patterns. The ANN analysis results reveal that
informativeness and vividness, together with novelty were ranked as the
top three determinants of absorption. This implies that not only the
information in the AR retailing scenario but also the novel shopping
environment with various visual aesthetics and eye-catching interface
designs can exert prominent effects on arousing consumers’ interest and
attracting them to engage in AR retailing. As referred to the de­
terminants of dedication and vigor, modality richness and telepresence
both show their relatively critical role in influencing these two types of
engagement. The results also suggest that the diversity of presentation
form and the virtual-reality integrated shopping environment exert
prominent effects on determining consumers’ usage of AR retailing
services with enthusiasm and their willingness to dedicate time and
effort to exploring the AR-facilitated environment.
10. Implications and future study
10.1. Theoretical implications
Employing a three-stage hybrid research approach, this study applies
and contextualizes S–O-R to advance the understanding of the para­
mount role played by AR features in shaping consumers’ perceptions
and behaviors. Thus, the contributions and implications for academia
are based on two aspects including the contextualization of SOR in AR
retailing, and the methodological contribution with a three-stage hybrid
approach.
First, through applying SOR in AR retailing, sub-contributions can be
manifested in two ways 1) This study provides academic knowledge
regarding how to contextually specify each element of SOR in AR
retailing. 2) This study contributes to academia by unveiling the re­
lationships among the contextualized elements examined and verified
by both SEM and ANN analysis. On the one hand, it reveals the mech­
anism of “stimuli-→organism” in AR retailing. On the other hand, it
offers academic implications on the underlying mechanism determining
customers’ reactions to AR retailing in three specific ways, including the
importance of examining multiple types of behavioral responses, the
significant role of the emotional state in determining all the responses,
and the heterogeneous effects of AR features on distinct inner states and
X.-Y. Xu et al.
behavioral reactions. Second, this pioneering study contributes to
academia by offering a prominent methodological contribution that
demonstrates the contextualization of the S–O-R framework with a
three-stage hybrid approach. This study aims to produce a comprehen­
sive list of contextualized stimuli (AR features), then explore how
stimuli are related to different psychological states and behavioral re­
actions, and finally, rank the effects of key AR stimuli by applying hybrid
analytical techniques.
Addressing the first main contribution, this study provides two sub-
contributions regarding the contextualization of S–O-R in AR retailing.
As for the first sub-contribution, by producing a comprehensive list of
AR features as stimuli, we demonstrate the contextualization of stimuli
in AR retailing and highlight the role of AR features. Importantly, prior
studies have not scrutinized AR features under the tenet of S–O-R (e.g.,
Chandra and Kumar, 2018; Qin et al., 2021b). By applying exploratory
qualitative interviews, this study is a pioneer in offering an in-depth
understanding of AR features as stimuli by extracting critical AR fea­
tures from the consumer perspective.
As for the second sub-contribution, this study contributes to
academia by unveiling the relationships among the contextualized ele­
ments of SOR in AR retailing from two aspects. 1) By applying a mixed
analytical approach, we confirmed the mechanism of stimuli-organism
in AR retailing and produced a more reliable and robust interpretation
of this mechanism. In addition, the consistent findings derived from the
SEM and ANN analyses contribute to building an empirical confirmation
of the appropriate contextualization of stimuli-organism in AR retailing.
In particular, the features associated with product information trans­
mission play an important role in inducing both cognitive and affective
organisms in AR retailing. Moreover, the findings derived from the ANN
analysis substantiated comprehension of the mechanism of “stim­
uli→organism” in AR retailing. Further, it was revealed that the
importance ranking of AR features can vary in determining user
emotional and cognitive processes (organisms).
2) this study offers implications on the underlying mechanism deter­
mining customers’ reactions to AR retailing in three ways.
a. This study unveiled the importance of examining multiple types of
behavioral responses when exploring AR retailing. Along with pur­
chase intentions, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement
in AR retailing should be comprehensively contextualized as re­
sponses in S–O-R.
b. This study highlights the significant role of the emotional state
(positive affection) in determining all the responses in AR retailing.
c. By employing hybrid approaches, this study revealed the heteroge­
neous effects of AR features on emotional and cognitive inner states
and different behavioral reactions. In particular, the findings from
the ANN analysis revealed the ranking of AR features’ effects on
these reactions. Accordingly, this study provides a comprehensive
and robust interpretation of the decision-making mechanism in AR
retailing based on the S–O-R framework.
Addressing the second main contribution, this pioneering study of­
fers a prominent methodological contribution by demonstrating the
contextualization of the S–O-R framework with a three-stage hybrid
approach. This study adopted a comprehensive approach by combining
the strengths of qualitative and quantitative methods while also
employing multiple analytical techniques. Specifically, this study illus­
trates the approach of initially identifying a comprehensive list of
stimuli with in-depth qualitative interviews. Subsequently, this study
contributed to the contextualization of S–O-R by empirically testing the
proposed model in a novel context using an SEM analytical technique.
Finally, contributing to S–O-R from a predictive perspective, the ANN
technique was applied to further explore the importance rank of a
comprehensive pool of stimuli that can affect organisms and responses
and identify the key influencing factors. The results of each stage of
analysis validated and compensated for each other, producing a robust
13
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
and comprehensive contextualization of S–O-R in AR retailing.
10.2. Practical implication
The findings of this study also offer several implications for practi­
tioners. This study endeavored to contribute to industrial practitioners
in three ways, including the understanding of the significant role of AR,
finer-grained research results suggesting specific strategies in AR
retailing operation and marketing, and the scientific methods facili­
tating the effectiveness of designing and identifying the management
objectives and business strategies.
First, this study verifies the critical role of AR in satisfying con­
sumers’ shopping needs, enhancing consumers’ positive affections, and
promoting their positive shopping decisions. Thus, the retailing industry
should apply AR as a valuable tool for marketing, promotion, and sales
strategy. For example, retailing industries should comprehensively
extend the application of AR in more diversified retailing scenarios, such
as furniture, make-up, fashion, and accessories to optimize customer
experience and ultimately promote the sales volume of the retailing
industry. The manufacturing industry can also apply AR to upgrade the
manufacturing process such as flexible customization targeting indi­
vidual consumers’ needs (Xu et al., 2020). In addition, governments at
all levels may issue supportive policies to facilitate the development of
the AR industry and thus promote the upgrade of the manufacturing
industry and retail industries, and facilitate the integration of online and
offline consumption scenarios empowered by new technologies.
Second, this study provides finer-grained guidance for achieving
management objectives. We identified the different critical AR features
for achieving different management objectives respectively, including
three different types of engagement and purchase in AR retailing. Hence,
these finer-grained guidance offers the direction that facilitates the AR
retailers to maximize their cost-benefit, since they can allocate their
resources pertinently. For example, this study unveils that telepresence
is the most critical determinant of purchase intention. Thus, retailers
who are willing to increase sales should focus on increasing the degree of
virtual-reality integration, such as showing the cloth-fitting effect to
consumers more intuitively and improving the quality of virtual prod­
ucts shown in real surroundings. Specifically, the detailed factors are
illustrated in below for the practitioners with different operational
objectives.
1) the research findings implied that telepresence and modality rich­
ness are critical determinants of purchase intention. Thus, as for the
telepresence, the manager should increase the degree of virtual-
reality integration, such as showing the cloth-fitting effect to con­
sumers more intuitively and improving the quality of virtual prod­
ucts shown in real surroundings.
2) The AR features of novelty and vividness contribute to the three
reactions of engagement mostly. Especially, the novel attempts to
incorporate AR in business scenarios have successfully evoked con­
sumer engagement. Thus, the managers should first promote and
advertise the novelty of AR to consumers; second, launch new AR
applications in more business scenarios; and third, expand the
uniqueness and possibilities of AR technology. To increase the
perceived vividness of AR, managers should focus on improving the
quality of images and display, such as the sharpness of the videos and
pictures, atheistic interface design, and eye-catching elements.
3) At last, managers may devote major resources to improving modality
richness since it plays an important role in determining three
behavioral responses including two reactions of engagement and
purchase intention. Thus, AR designers should enrich the presenta­
tion forms of products, while providing appealing functions to inte­
grate multiple presentation forms. The platform designers should
provide convenient access to the consumer to easily obtain infor­
mation from text, pictures, audio, videos, animations, 3D visualiza­
tions, etc.
X.-Y. Xu et al.
Third, the methods employed in this study offer a good demonstra­
tion for industry practitioners. It can contribute valuable indications for
industries on how the practitioners can facilitate the effectiveness of
designing and identifying management objectives and business strate­
gies. It is pertinent to note that the deeper insights generated from this
study were due to the solid research approach and analytical technique.
Employing a three-stage hybrid research approach, this study provides a
scientific and rigorous analytical approach for industrial practitioners.
Industrial practitioners can acquire knowledge about how to precisely
identify the most important factors to achieve different business objec­
tives. Thus, it is recommended that industrial practitioners follow and
incorporate this rigorous analytical approach proposed in our study into
their daily business operations, business data analysis, and strategy
development process. It further will help the retailing industry to
effectively incorporate AR retailing strategies, design specific mecha­
nisms, and operate AR retailing to facilitate consumers to make positive
shopping decisions.
10.3. Limitation
Even though this study attempted to adopt a mixed-method research
approach, produce both qualitative and quantitative data sets, and apply
hybrid analytical techniques, this study is not without its limitations.
The first limitation may derive from the data collection process. The
quantitative data used for SEM and ANN analysis was obtained using a
cross-sectional survey in China. The generalizability of research results
may be restricted. Further studies should extend the analysis to other
populations. Also, consumers’ perceptions and behaviors may vary with
the context in which it is seen, which indicated the cross-sectional sur­
vey may limit to providing adequate information regarding the changes
in consumers’ perceptions and behaviors. Consequently, a longitudinal
study should be applied to future studies as a complimentary and vali­
dated analysis. In addition, survey-based research may limit obtaining
the data on actual user behaviors. Future studies may implement more
advanced techniques to explore users’ actual behavior while using AR
retailing.
The second limitation may derive from the identification of related
constructs in the proposed research framework. This study only explored
the constructs that may be highly associated with AR features, while
future studies may further explore other focal responses and organism
factors. Regarding shopping and technology adoption behaviors, several
other constructs may also be explored in the future, such as personal
characteristics, shopping habits, and product types. Importantly, con­
sumers with different product or service preferences may have different
perceptions and responses toward the different AR features. Thus, future
studies should incorporate the influence of consumers of different
products and service categories since it may be the icing on the cake for
existing studies.
Third, researchers should carry out exploratory studies to gain more
understanding regarding the integrated effects in AR retailing, such as
mediating or moderating effects of related constructs in a research
model. Moreover, considering our research is only based on symmetrical
analysis, which may overlook the asymmetrical association between
variables. Thus, future studies can apply more asymmetrical approaches
such as fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore
more underlying associations between AR features and consumers’
perceptions and behaviors.
Author contributions
Jia Q.D., Xu X.Y. and Tayyab S.M.U. conceived of this study and
participated in the design, administration of the study, and performed
the data analysis. Xu X.Y. and Jia Q.D. drafted the manuscript. Xu X.Y.,
Jia Q.D., and Tayyab S.M.U. revised the manuscript at several stages of
the writing process. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
14
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 77 (2024) 103682
Finding
This work was supported by the Nature Science Foundation of
Shaanxi (2023-JC-QN-0794).
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103682.
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