Let Me Imagine That for You: Transforming the Retail Frontline Through Augmenting Customer Mental Imagery Ability |
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| Affiliation: | 1. UNSW Business School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia;2. Brightland Institute for a Smart Society, Maastricht University, The Netherlands;3. Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, Maastricht University, Tongersestraat 53, Maastricht, LM 6211, The Netherlands;4. University of Sussex Business School, Brighton BN1 9SL, United Kingdom;5. King''s Business School, King''s College, London WC2B 4BG, United Kingdom;1. Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation, Robert J. Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, United States;2. College of Communication, DePaul University, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, United States;3. Department of Marketing and Information Systems, Richard J. Wehle School of Business, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208-1098, United States |
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| Abstract: | The rapid development of augmented reality (AR) is reshaping retail frontline operations by enhancing the offline and online customer experience. Drawing on mental imagery theory, this paper develops a conceptual framework to reflect how AR emulates customer’s cognitive processes offloading those to the technology. Consequently, the AR-enabled frontline improves decision comfort, motivates positive WOM and facilitates choice of higher value products. The underlying mechanism is a sequential mediation via improved processing fluency and decision comfort. The findings also demonstrate boundary conditions of customers’ visual processing styles and product contextuality. Object-visualisers benefit more from AR induced imagery processes, and the effect of processing fluency on customer decision comfort is moderated by product contextuality. The results are verified with repeat studies to control for novelty of AR, and a field study that highlights the impact of AR on customers’ choice and spending. We discuss implications for theory and practice of AR-enabled frontline retailing. |
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| Keywords: | Augmented reality Customer frontline experience Mental imagery Processing fluency Word-of-mouth intentions |
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